The Snail's Trail

BioBlitz 2012 & Our Community

noreply@blogger.com (Kari Jordan Wilcher) — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 23:23:00 +0000

BioBlitz 2012 "is a 24-hour event in which teams of volunteer scientists, families, students, teachers, and other community members work together to find and identify as many species of plants, animals, microbes, fungi, and other organisms as possible." This year, National Geographic is hosting BioBlitz 2012 at Rocky Mountain National Park on August 24-25, 2012.

Because we think our friends might want to participate, I thought I'd blog in advance the resources that we will be using.

We will participate in BioBlitz (in our community) next week and also continue the activities throughout the year and also for Environmental Education Week.

Our Resources that we will use:

NatGeo BioBlitz Home
Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) BioBlitz Home
National Environmental Education Week BioBlitz Home

(you can also google "bioblitz" to find global/local resources)

Tools for Documentation:

Encyclopedia of Life (EOL)

We will use EOL to research biodiversity, to identify species, and to document our findings.

Project Noah

We will use the Project Noah app on our iPad to research biodiversity, to identify species, and to document our findings

iNaturalist
Pocket Guide to Field Skills
Field Notes Data Sheet

Tools for Classification and Identification:

NatureIDs of N.America
FrogWatch Georgia Frogs and Toads List
NatureServ Explorer
eNature Field Guides
our personal guides/books from our home library

Additional Resources we might use:

BioBlitz Field Journal
Illinois DNR BioBlitz Activity Guide and Lesson Plans
Colorado State BioBlitz Guide

Activities we will complete:

Our 2012-2013 Curricula: 1st and 2nd Grade

noreply@blogger.com (Kari Jordan Wilcher) — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 07:17:00 +0000

A Road Map for the Year

If you are looking for Pre-K to Kinder, here is our learning sorted by topic /subject.

Geography and History Based Projects

Paths of Exploration (My POE Pinterest Board for Volume 1)

Columbus (includes people such as Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, Gutenberg)

~~Jamestown (includes people such as John Smith, Pocahontas, and Leonardo da Vinci)~~
~~Pilgrims (includes people such as William Bradford, Squanto, and Galileo)~~
~~Daniel Boone (includes such people as James Cook, Benjamin Franklin, and Handel)~~
~~Lewis & Clark (includes such people as Sacagawea, Thomas Jefferson, and Mozart)~~
~~Trails West (includes people such as Johnny Appleseed, Zebulon Pike, and Jesse Applegate)~~

Nov: We've changed to History of US Book 1 and 2.

Making Thirteen Colonies: A History of US, Book 2 AUDIOBOOK

Egypt Unit Study

Viking Unity Study (an interest from visiting Norway at Epcot at Walt Disney World)

National Geographic National Geography Bee
National Geography Awareness Week (we use these resources and projects all year)
NatGeo and National Environmental Education BioBlitz (we'll be registering)
Georgia Geographic Alliance Lessons and Activities
Mission Explore Food and on iPad
The Geography Collective

Norway at Epcot

Science, Math, & Engineering

We use the Mathematics Enhancement Programme (MEP) from the The Centre for Innovation in Mathematics Teaching (CIMT).

For my second grader, we've added Teaching Textbooks

Year One and Math for the Gifted Student: Grade 1

Year Two and Math for the Gifted Student: Grade 2
Enrichment from NRICH (Stage 1&2 and Stage 2&3) and Beast Academy 3A

Daily Math Journals plus Speed Drills
{When I am working with one kid, the other kid is playing math games on the iPad or working on a project.}

Stanford's Digital Photography Course

Engineering & Programming

First Lego League
LOGO (programming and Math) and LOGO for Beginners
{I'll blog about the other programming resources we use for the kids, but are going to focus this year on LOGO as more "formal instruction" instead of "exploration"}

Gamestar Mechanic

Nature & Science

Nature Study, Project Noah, and National Environmental Education Week (BioBlitz)
Woods, Ponds, and Fields

Science Exploration and Investigation
Apologia Anatomy and Physiology

Music, Art, & Physical Fitness

This is our second year of violin lessons.
We also do Piano for Preschoolers.

Drawing and Sketching --with a focus on technique

Art Projects in addition to the ones with POE
We will be entering artwork into the County Fair again this year.
Tennis, Swimming, and Running

Spelling, Grammar, and Literature

All About Spelling Level 1 and Level 2

Added Getting to the Core of Writing

Michael Clay Thompson's Language Arts Curriculum (Grammar Island, Sentence Island).

What's In The [work]BOX? Handmade Word Family Game

noreply@blogger.com (Kari Jordan Wilcher) — Fri, 27 May 2011 23:12:00 +0000

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This post was originally published May 24, 2009 and has been Pinned on Pinterest over 500+ times, has over 100+ bloggers linking to it, and it has been viewed over 43,600+ times. I am so glad that you love it! Thank you!!!

What's in the [work]BOX: Handmade Word Family Game

This is the first post in a series I am calling, "What's in the [work]BOX?" To see an overview of our system, Click Here. Today I am going to share with you a word family game that I just whipped together with paint chips. If you don't have a paint chip collection, it is time you started one! Paint chips can be used for all kinds of things. I got these paint chips, with precut holes, at Lowes. You can also find them at Home Depot and WalMart. You need aprox. 13 "long cards" for consonants, blends, and diagraphs and 34 cards that have the hole cut out...12 if there are three colors to the card.)

To make this game, you need two kinds of paint chips. The first type of paint chip will have three colors. Each color will have a square cut out of the side. You will be cutting these into three separate cards. The other kind of paint chip is a super long one with lots of colors.

Note: To help your child, keep the same kind of diagraphs and blends on the same card. See how I have them?

Here is a list of the phonograms that I used. The Phonogram Page is a great site that lets your child hear the phonograms correctly. All About Spelling has a list of Phonograms and how to teach them.

I wrote these on the cards with the square cut out on them. These are commonly called word families.

ag
ab
ail
ain
ack
ake
am
an
ank
ap
all
at
ay
eed
ell
est
ew
ick
ight
ill
ine
ing
ink
ip
ob
og
ore
ot
out
ow
uck
um
unk
y

The following consonants, blends, and diagraphs are all written on the long paint chip that has a lot of colors.

Consonants:

Blends:

Diagraphs:

How many words can you make? (there are over 500+ words in this set)

--ab cab, lab, blab, crab, flab, grab, scab, slab, stab

--ack back, pack, quack, rack, black, crack, shack, snack, stack, track

--ag bag, rag, tag, brag, flag

--ail fail, mail, jail, nail, pail, rail, sail, tail, snail, trail

--ain main, pain, rain, brain, chain, drain, grain, plain, Spain, sprain, stain, train

--ake bake, cake, fake, lake, make, quake, rake, take, wake, brake, flake, shake, snake

--am ham, Sam, clam, slam, swam

--an can, fan, man, pan, ran, tan, van, bran, plan, than

--ank bank, sank, yank, blank, crank, drank, thank

--ap cap, lap, map, nap, rap, tap, clap, flap, scrap, slap, snap, strap, trap, wrap

--at bat, cat, fat, hat, mat, rat, sat, brat, chat, flat, spat, that

--ay day, may, pay, say, clay, play, pray, spray, stay, tray

--eed feed, need, seed, weed, bleed, freed, greed, speed

--ell bell, fell, sell, tell, well, yell, shell, smell, spell, swell

--est best, guest, nest, pest, rest, test, vest, west, chest, crest

--ew dew, few, knew, new, blew, chew

--ick kick, lick, pick, quick, sick, brick, chick, click, stick, thick, trick

--ight knight, light, might, night, right, sight, tight, bright, flight, fright, slight

--ill fill, hill, pill, will, chill, drill, grill, skill, spill, thrill
--in bin, fin, pin, sin, win, chin, grin, shin, skin, spin, thin, twin

--ine fine, line, mine, nine, pine, vine, wine, shine, spine, whine

--ing king, ring, sing, wing, bring, cling, spring, sting, string, swing, thing

--ink link, pink, sink, wink, blink, drink, shrink, stink, think

--ip dip, hip, lip, rip, sip, tip, chip, clip, drip, flip, grip, ship, skip, strip, trip, whip

--ob knob, mob, rob, blob, slob, snob

--ock knock, lock, dock, rock, sock, block, clock, frock, shock, stock

--op cop, hop, mop, pop, top, chop, crop, drop, flop, plop, shop, stop

--ore bore, more, sore, tore, wore, chore, score, shore, snore, store

--ot got, dot, hot, knot, lot, not, plot, shot, spot

--out grout, scout, shout, spout, sprout

--ow cow, how, now, brow, chow, plow

--uck buck, duck, luck, cluck, stuck, truck

--um gum, hum, drum, plum, slum

--unk junk, chunk, drunk, shrunk, stunk, trunk

-y by, my, cry, dry, fly, fry, shy, sky, spy, try, why

(word list taken from http://www.literacyconnections.com/Phonograms.html)

Have fun with What's in the [work]BOX: Word Families and encourage your child to make their own games with the set of cards.

You might also like these other ideas that I have done:

Birthday Gift or Teacher Gift: Mickey Mouse paint chips from

Home Depot in a peanut butter jar, decorated with vinyl letters cut from my Cricut.

Birthday Gift or Teacher Gift: The Build A Word Game I invented here,

in a sushi rice jar, decorated with vinyl letters cut from my Cricut.

And oh, yeah...
you need aprox 13 "long cards" for consonants, blends, and diagraphs and 34 cards to cut (12 cards if there are 3 colors per card to cut like suggested).

We Finished Our NaNoWriMo Novel! What's that, you say?

noreply@blogger.com (Kari Jordan Wilcher) — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 20:58:00 +0000

Mr. Goblin Finds Trouble At The Fair

by Big Snail and Little Snail

Mr. Goblin is a gnome. He is five years old. He has a long, white mustache and beard, a red pointy hat, pointy ears, no glasses, black boots, green shirt, and a black belt. He has a best friend, Mr. Snail. He rides on the back of Mr. Snail. Mr.Snail and Mr. Goblin are best friends. They live in a box right around the corner in the woods. They sleep in their sleeping bags at night when they go to sleep.

One day, they went to the fair. They slid down the giant slide with the clowns. There was a lot of music playing and there were a lot of flashing lights. They stopped to eat a hamburger. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, came Allie the Alligator!!!!

“AHHHH!” screamed Mr. Goblin. Allie said, “You can’t walk around me! If you try to walk around me, I will bite you with my giant, sharp teeth! Why don’t you see if you can pass me or I am going to chomp you up!” Mr. Goblin said, “Okay. How do I get around you?” Allie said, “You have to sing the magic song.”

Mr. Goblin and Mr. Snail said, “How about this?” They started to sing their song, but Ellie The Elephant came by. She had a secret. She had orange juice in her trunk. Allie stretched her trunk way up in the air, and she sprayed orange juice all over Allie the Alligator! “Ahhhh! You can’t spray me with orange juice! Orange juice makes me cough!” And Allie began to cough. And cough. And cough. And cough.

All of Mr. Goblin and Mr. Snail’s friends saw the trouble and began to join them around Allie. There was the yellow Monster Clown, Woody the Kitty, Kari Koala, and Mr. Bear. They all looked at Allie, and Mr. Goblin says, “Oh my, oh my, oh my. You are coughing and coughing and coughing all over me. We have to do something about this!”

And then, some clowns came by in their little yellow bus. The yellow Monster Clown said, “How about we call a doctor? The doctor can give Allie some cotton candy to stop this coughing!” Woody said, “I have some cotton candy to share!” Woody gave the cotton candy to Allie. Allie started to eat the cotton candy and it worked! Allie stopped coughing and said, “I am sorry I wouldn’t let you pass and I said I was going to chomp you up.” Mr. Goblin said, “That’s okay. We can all become friends. Let’s all go down the big slide together.”

So, they all climbed up the giant ladder to the top of the giant slide. They had so much fun racing down the slide. They rode the Ferris Wheel, the fire truck, the roller coaster that goes to the top of the hill, and the spinning bus. They had a lot of fun that day. They were all friends and they learned that when a friend is being mean, you have to help them and be their friend.

The End

We are participating in the National Novel Writing Month Youth Competition. It's still not too late for you to join in! If you don't want to participate, but want a great book that takes your child through the story writing process, I suggest you download the NaNoWriMo workbook. It's great! Have fun storywriting!

Unit Study: Circus

noreply@blogger.com (Kari Jordan Wilcher) — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 23:51:00 +0000

The Snail Family at the Greatest Show on Earth. Do you notice that Little Snail is just about as tall as her brother? She is in the 99th percentile for height. She is a giant!

We have been learning about the circus for the last couple of months. We began our unit with questions asked by Big Snail:

Who is in the circus?
What do people in the circus do?
What do animals in the circus do?
What tricks do clowns do in a circus?

Here is our adventure (in no particular order) in learning about the circus...

The Snail's Trail: All About the Circus

We made and walked on stilts

We pretended to be a clown with a clown mask

We made a clown wig out of paper mache and ribbons

We practiced circus skills to circus music

We made a dictionary of circus related words to use in our story writings

We went to the circus!

This is one of their trailers.

Big Snail got to try on costumes.

He got to meet some circus performers.

Big Snail wanted a hug from one of the main performers, the Tiger Tamer.

Sitting on the motorcycle was really cool, too.

Little Snail was nervous and didn't want to do anything but she was really happy to be there.

Big Snail jumped rope for the very first time in his life! Definitely a moment to remember forever! He also got to be a trapeze artist. This really made his day!

We made a book about the circus

We read books about the circus

We learned clown tricks from CircusFit

We watched some short little circus movies: Clifford at the Circus and Kid Songs: Circus

We listened to Tom and Jerry at the circus, Dumbo, Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, and Bozo at the Circus

We watched some experiments on tight rope walking

We will continue to learn about the circus, primarily through dramatic play (or "pretend play"), until The Snails are tired of the topic. When they are older, we will visit the circus again and learn about the physics of the circus and the ethical treatment of animals that perform in a circus.

Outdoor >Not< Challenge: Resources for Summer Learning

noreply@blogger.com (Kari Jordan Wilcher) — Wed, 26 May 2010 23:04:00 +0000

We have been participating in 5OrangePotatoes' Outdoor Challenge....except for us, it's not much of a challenge. We are naturally outdoorsy people and spend our days outside. As a Project WILD, Project WET, and Project Learning Tree instructor, I can tell you that you can create an entire nature-based, or environmental education, curriculum from these three resources.

Project Wild

Project WET

Project Learning Tree

Add these nature activities from the National Wildlife Foundation to your list this summer:

And here are the Snail Family's Outside Golden Rules:

1. No whining!
2. If you "pack it in, you pack it out."
3. You can only pick flowers and plants in your own backyard.
4. Watch your step!

The kids with their Grandpa.

Spittle Bug spittle mass

Wool Sower Gall on Oak

We wondered how this was made. We were on an uninhabited island.

Made by a gall wasp

We explore an island in the middle of a lake.

While in the middle of Lake Nottely, my phone thought "I was a little far from Lake Nottely".

We love to rent bikes when we go on vacation.

Yeah, that was fun for Momma Snail to clean up.

Driving a go-cart takes serious concentration.

I am in love with wild purple thistle.

Snakeberry is not a "wild strawberry". It's poisionous.

Which lead us to....

National Moms Nite Out...So Much Fun!!

noreply@blogger.com (Kari Jordan Wilcher) — Fri, 07 May 2010 09:47:00 +0000

I attended National Mom's Nite Out (#mno10, #momsniteout) at the

Atlanta Ronald McDonald House (@ARMHC)

hosted by the fabulous girls at The Blog Rollers (@theblogrollers)

I felt like a really cool VIP Mom Blogger!

I got to meet some fabulous women who are doing amazing things like...

Dawn (@DawnMHSH) from My Home Sweet Home Online

and

Christie (@chatterboxcgc) from Inside the Chatterbox, The Chatterbox Show, and The Blog Rollers Media

..and all of these beautiful girls!
Mami2MommyAskWifey (she's also co-owner of The Blog Rollers Media)FunkidivagirlMy Inner DialogKrystal GrantLovesGumbo JewelryRockStar

Regina Belle sang live for moms celebrating National Moms Nite Out via Twitter

She is about to tour the country with the McDonald's Inspiration Celebration Gospel Tour

While LIVE Tweeting, we see my dear friend TeachMama at the party and I give her a little shout out! {Yes, y'all, I really do sound that country)

I also got to see my friend Hanginwitmrsc, Angela Cooper, tweeting during the event

The food was really, really good.

Good Times

...she's laughing because everyone at the table was Tweeting at the same time

Yeah, this guy followed us everywhere....paparazzi.....

Want to know what they are tweeting?

"Regina Belle and mommy bloggers 2gether supporting the great work of RMHC and the RMH program!" ~@ClaraCarrier

and

"Incredible work that they do at The Ronald McDonald House ATL @ARMHC #MomsNiteOut so important" ~@Mami2Mommy

We took a tour of the Atlanta Ronald McDonald House

I'll post more about that soon....

Thank you to all of the generous sponsors!

Little Snail is super excited that My Little Pony was one of the sponors

I can't wait to attend next year!

Kudos to The Blog Rollers, The Atlanta Ronald McDonald House, and National Moms Nite Out for giving this mom the best night out, ever!

Keep Learning in the Summertime: National Park Resources

noreply@blogger.com (Kari Jordan Wilcher) — Mon, 03 May 2010 22:26:00 +0000

The National Park Service has a passport program that is a lot of fun and is perfect for kids. We keep ours in the car and whenever we enter a national park, we get the ranger to give us a cancellation stamp. There is also this nationwide club for die-hard passport holders. We also participate in the National Park Junior Ranger program. Want to add this program to your homeschool curriculum but don't want to leave the house? Try the WebRangers! Want to take your homeschool learning on the road this summer? Here are some day tripping lesson plans from PBS to learn more about our national parks.

If you ever travel up 441 into the Smoky Mountains, be prepared for a dizzy ride!

We visited one of our beloved National Parks and got our passport stamped.

OCT 2003, JUL 2004, MAR 2004, and MAY 2010

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Harvard's School of Education just published an article that resonated within my soul as a parent and as a teacher. The article, "Einstein May Never Have Used Flash Cards, but He Probably Built Forts" (by Lory Hough), discusses the power of outdoor play. While in graduate school, I wrote a gigantic paper on the power of play (and also used Einstein Never Used Flash Cards as a source) and as an early childhood educator, and a parent, I am an advocate for unstructured, no-grown-ups-allowed, play. It is what makes kids smart. I was thrilled to see that research is now showing that taking the same kind of play outdoors makes your kids even smarter.

Here are some adventures from this week...

The Snails are going to start their very first garden soon. This iris belonged to my grandmother. It touched my heart when Big Snail said, "we are going to have a garden so we can grow vegetables we can't afford." (He is referring to the gigantic, pricey pumpkin I denied him last October)

It's okay to share your ice cream, and your spoon, with your best friend.

Getting really, really dirty is really, really fun.

This is Larry Moo Moo Frenchfry Burrito. We call her Moo Moo.

She lives next door and visits whenever we are outside.

Her owner has another name for her.

Tinkerbell.

Climbing trees is not just for boys

Giving your brother a ride, Little Snail, brings joy to your heart.

It's written all over your face.

I wish I would have captured the moment when

Big Snail wanted to know what a minnow tasted like.

I want my kids to learn that this is a way of life.

And that it's okay to send your kids out into the rain.

Handmade Mother's Day Brooch

noreply@blogger.com (Kari Jordan Wilcher) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 18:40:00 +0000

I found this genius tutorial from Roots And Wings Co. and thought it would make the most wonderful Mother's Day present for The Snail's Great-Grandmother.

First, Big Snail drew a flower. I love the happy face...I hope all of his flowers always smile.

Then I placed his drawing on top of the felt and sewed directly onto his drawing with the sewing machine. I only had craft felt so I used a double thickness on each layer. I added green ribbon and hand embroidered their names onto each "stem."

Visit Roots And Wings Co. for some great crafty inspiration! It is one of my favorite blogs.

How To Make A Clickable Header in Blogger

noreply@blogger.com (Kari Jordan Wilcher) — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 22:34:00 +0000

{Here is part one of the impromptu "Trick Out Your Blog" series where you learned how to use a custom domain on your blog. Some readers had questions about that post. I answer them at the end of this tutorial.}

***************************

My hobby is playing with my blog's HTML/CSS code. I took a basic class for my Master's degree (Technology in Education), and also learned HTML in my undergraduate, but I am totally not a professional. I love reading code and figuring things out on my own, which is why my long time blog followers notice constant changes on my blog... all. the. time. My newest trick that I ingeniously figured out on my own: a clickable blog header! Here is how to trick it out on your own Blogger blog (remember, I'm not a professional...just a genius)...this tutorial looks complicated because it is wordy, but it is very easy to do. If you use Wordpress, you can use this tutorial. Please remember that when it comes to code, there are a million ways to "skin a cat". This tutorial is just one way of how to do it.

The Tools I Use

MeasureIt Firefox Extension
This handy tool lets you measure any element on your screen, if you use Firefox as a browser. This is great for easily finding out how big you want your header to be without looking at code. This is great because my template, and header size, might be different from yours. I use this ALL THE TIME! I also used it to figure out that I can have a custom 200 x 500 pixels Facebook profile picture.

CTR+F or Apple+F
   This keyboard command lets you search for specific code within your HTML. This keeps you from going cross-eyed. When you use this command, a little tiny search bar will come up on somewhere on your screen. You can copy, and then paste, code into this search bar to find the strand of code you are looking for.

Scrapblog
    I don't have the time to create my images from scrap with Photoshop (which I can seriously spend days doing..it's so addicting!), so I use Scrapblog for all of my custom images on my blog. Once you use it, it's fun to spot the blogs who use it, too. I like Scrapblog because you have "free use" of the graphics, especially if you pay for them (except the licensed images like Disney). You just can't create and sell the images to other people.

Photobucket
   I prefer Photobucket because I can change the image and allow the new image to keep the same URL. This is great if you want to change a button for your blog, but don't want to tell everyone who has the button on their blog to change it... it will change automatically. I also use TinyPic for image hosting, too. Use whatever you like, but your image has to be hosted somewhere.

Pixlr
   This image editing software is much like Photoshop. Only, it's online and it's free. Whoo hoo! You can also use Phoenix and Photoshop Online. If you have CS5, shut up. No one wants to hear it. :o) If you want to give me CS5, God Bless You!

Image Maps: Online Image Mapper
   The clickable header on my blog is called an image map. It is one big picture with areas that you can click on. You can create an image map by hand, but why would you do that when there is this handy tool? It's genius!

Okay, let's take this step by step:

Preparing Your Image

I created my image in Scrapblog. My image filled up an entire "page."

(you can click the image to make it larger)

After you create your image, you will save and then publish it. Then if you go to File-->Export as JPEG, you can select your page and save it to your computer as a JPEG image. If you do this, and use this as your header image, your header will be gigantic. How can you fix this? You can upload it to Photobucket and change the dimensions of the image (remember, you can use MeasureIt to get the exact dimensions you want) in Photoshop, Paint, or Pixlr, or, this is how I did it a different way....

With my Mac, I did Shift+Apple(command)+4 (your cursor will become crosshairs...click and drag to select) and did a screen shot of just the image (not a screen shot of the whole page). If you have Windows Vista, search for "screenshot" and choose the "snipping tool" to do the same thing. These two tools allow you to specifically select your screenshot, without capturing everything that is on the screen. You can also use Skitch. This is my .png image that was taken as a screenshot:

If you don't have those tools, you can just use the print screen key on your keyboard and then use a crop tool in your image editing program and crop exactly what you want. Please know that an image of an image is lesser quality.

Next, I uploaded my photo to Photobucket and took note of the URL...you will need that for the image map.

Preparing Your Image Map

If you don't have pages to link to, you now have to prepare your links for your image map. In Blogger, I created post-dated blog posts ("About Us," "Friends", etc.) and used the permalinks for the posts.{In Blogger, to post-date your new pages, select "Post Options" and then pick a very old date (like 1994) so that these posts don't show up on the front page of your blog or in your friend's readers}. Blogger also offers you the options of creating your own pages, instead of posts. If you are using Wordpress, you can also do post date posts. If you have your own website, and not a blog, you can just create pages.

Next, I went to Image Maps: Online Image Mapper. You can upload an image from your computer, or from a URL, and then "start mapping your image." Follow the directions, it is easy. When making your map, you will see "link for this map." This is where you put the link to the page you want your visitor to go to when they click on that spot in the image. When you are finished, "get your code." You want to use the HTML code. Once you make your image map, you can't resize it. Your "hot spots" are actually coordinates on the map. If you resize your image after you mapped it, the coordinates change and your image map won't work.

In case you want to know (so that you can trick out your image-map in the future),
Here is a brief look at some of the anatomy of your html code:

src= this is the link of your image at your photo hosting place (if you hosted at photobucket, it will begin with: http://img.photobucket.com......) If you ever want to change your src picture, you have to go back into Image Maps: Online Image Mapper and start over again.

coords="10,10,111,79" (your numbers will be different) These are the coordinates of the clickable area of your image map. Can you imagine having to do an image map by hand? This program makes it so easy!

href= this is the link that people will go to when they click on an area of your image map...you can change your href's if you want to! All it will change are the links. It won't effect your image map.

***************************

Now, delete all of the following code out of your html code (because you don't need it):

<div style="text-align:center; font-size:12px; font-family:verdana; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; width:667px;">
    <a style="text-decoration:none; color:black; font-size:12px; font-family:verdana;" href="http://www.image-maps.com/" title="Untitled">Untitled</a>
|     <a style="text-decoration:none; color:black; font-size:12px; font-family:verdana;" href="http://www.image-maps.com/" title="Untitled">Untitled</a>
|     <a style="text-decoration:none; color:black; font-size:12px; font-family:verdana;" href="http://www.image-maps.com/" title="Untitled">Untitled</a>
|     <a style="text-decoration:none; color:black; font-size:12px; font-family:verdana;" href="http://www.image-maps.com/" title="Untitled">Untitled</a>
|     <a style="text-decoration:none; color:black; font-size:12px; font-family:verdana;" href="http://www.image-maps.com/index.php?aff=mapped_users_2201004241511331" title="Image Map">Image Map</a>
</div>


</div>

***************************

Now, Trick Out Your Header!

(don't be afraid, it's easy!)

Here is a genius look at the anatomy of the html/css of a Blogger blog. This guy did a great job!

Save your template before you begin any work! If you mess up your blog, you can use the saved version.

***************************

1. First, go to Layout---->Page Elements. Click on a top horizontal "Add a Gadget."

Don't have one there? Move a gadget so that it is horizontal, at the top. (If that doesn't work, go to HTML, find this code: "<b:section class='header' id='header' maxwidgets='1' showaddelement='no'>" and change maxwidgets="1" to "3", save, and go back into layout).

Choose an HTML/JavaScript gadget. DO NOT put in anything for the title...leave that blank. Add your HTML code from your image map. Click on "Save."

If you look at your blog now, you will have two headers: your new clickable header and your original header on top of it:

You are now going to make that original header "disappear."

***************************

2. Go to your Blogger account and go to Layout----> Edit HTML ----> DO NOT click on "Expand Widget Templates". (please note that everyone has a different template and different HTML.) You want to use CTR+F or Apple+F and search for 'header-wrapper'.

Your code might look like this:

<div id='header-wrapper'>
<b:section class='header' id='header' maxwidgets='3' showaddelement='yes'>
<b:widget id='Header1' locked='false' title='my family (Header)' type='Header'/>
</b:section>
</div>

Delete this entire string of code. You will get this warning:

Click "delete widgets."

Your old header is gone and you now have a clickable header!

If this doesn't work for you, email me at thesnailstrail at gmail.com with your questions and I will see if I can help and I will modify these directions.

I actually didn't do it this way, I actually changed the dimensions of the original header and set everything to 0px....but, whatever...a million ways to do the same thing.

Okay, here are the answers to your questions from the first post:

Q: I helped set up a blog for a non-profit that participate with andI set it up as a .com. The only problem is, is that it won't show the "followers" gadget for me so we can see who's following. I've tried several times to find out on the q &A boards from google but can't get an answer. Would u happen to know? I thought maybe it was something to do with it being .com instead of blogger.com, bc my other two blogs show followers w/no problem???
A:Instead of just trying to add the followers widget, you should try to add it manually. Go into your account, and choose "google friend connect." Click on the blog/site that you need to add the followers widget to. Click on "add the members" gadget. You can customize it and then "generate code." Copy the HTML code and place it into an HTML widget on the side of your blog or site.

Q: If I do this little trick (use a custom domain) will it replace my current blog? Will I loose I everything I've written in the past (my biggest fear whenever I mess with the settings?
A: Nope. You won't lose your blog, or any posts, if you switch your .blogspot url to a custom domain name. And, Blogger also forwards your old .blogspot address to your new address so that your readers won't get lost.

Outdoor Challenge: Popsicles and Wedding Receptions

noreply@blogger.com (Kari Jordan Wilcher) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 04:26:00 +0000

We're playing in the Great Outdoor Challenge with 5OrangePotatoes...

Are you going to be camping out at the Great American Campout this year? We can't wait! (Click the link to help Work of Childhood raise funds for the NWF)

He is Risen! Happy Easter!

noreply@blogger.com (Kari Jordan Wilcher) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 21:22:00 +0000

He is risen indeed! We had a blessed Easter! Can you believe that those Easter baskets are almost 30 years old? They belonged to my sister and me when we were little. I wish you and yours a Happy Easter and a Wonderful Passover. May God bless you!

Get Outdoors Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Kari Jordan Wilcher) — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:38:00 +0000

We're playing in the Great Outdoor Challenge with 5OrangePotatoes and good thing, too. President Obama began an initiative to get families outside today.

We got to ride "Captain Tiny's" duck boat that was featured on Undercover Boss.

We had a picnic on top of a very, very large rock.

Momma Snail got a new pink fishing pole, that lights up in the dark. Big Snail got one, too!

(Sorry to my Vegan friends) Little Snail caught 2 fish and Big Snail caught 16! Now that fishing season is here, we will be out on the lake A LOT. Did you know that if you are in Georgia, you can participate in free (or almost free) fishing events for kids? Like this fun rodeo!

If you hate fishing, how about having some Earth Day Fun at your local state park? Don't live in Georgia, visit the State Park website for your own state.

{more outdoor fun and photos to come! we're busy playing outside right now}

Review and Giveaway: Pick and Draw Game...Genius!

noreply@blogger.com (Kari Jordan Wilcher) — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 23:24:00 +0000

Pick and Draw

Pick and Draw is my new lifesaver! Seriously...let me tell you why (giveaway at the end):

It's a simple game that will fit in my purse. With a small notepad and pen, I can entertain my kids at places where they need not be noticed. Like at church. Or, a waiting room. Or when I need a few minutes on the phone for an important conversation. And, it completely saved my day last week when I was working with a group of gifted 6th graders and had 15 minutes to spare. I was about to freak out. What am I going to do with these kids? All I know are finger-plays, hot potato, and freeze dance. Just as I was about to say, "just hang out and talk" {can you imagine the doom}, I remembered I had Pick and Draw in my purse! I pulled it out and said, "this game is so easy, my 3 year old plays it by herself."

Do you know how to play and what this game is about? {click the image below to play online}

"Pick and Draw is a fun, one-of-a-kind drawing game that teaches you how to make very creative cartoon faces. It is simple and easy to use providing endless hours of fun and learning. In five minutes or less you will know how to play!" (taken from pickanddraw.com) Basically, it's a deck of cards. There are five types of cards: face, nose, eyes, mouth, and hair. You pick a face....and draw. Easy! It's so simple, that there are a million uses for this game. It's the perfect game for parents, teachers, therapists, health care professionals, babysitters,...and the uses are endless!

I really loved it when I introduced this game to the gifted 6th grade students. Their first response: "how do you play? do you just draw it?", "do you draw it exactly like it is on the card?", "what is the reason for this?" It was so much fun to explain to them that it was simple...just pick and draw! They were so trained in gifted thinking that they couldn't get past the simplicity of it. Once I gave them the freedom to make their own rules and play simply by picking and drawing, they had a lot of fun. In fact, my 15 minute filler became 30 minutes of "Oh, no! We're late for the next activity!"

Little Snail loves, loves, loves this game. When she plays, I have to literally take it away from her...she could play all day. Her confidence in drawing has jumped through the roof! She has learned how to draw faces and really elaborate on her drawings. This is perfect because kids who learn to draw first (circle and lines) can move on to writing their letters. She is just learning to write her name. If you have a child who is an emerging writer, you need this game!

I was quite impressed with Little Snail's ingenuity when, after using a billion sheets of paper, she got her Leapster and said, "I think I will use this to draw with the game now. I'm using too much paper." I love her genius idea and think that I will add the game and a doodle board for our next car trip.

I think this game would make the perfect "end of year" (or first day of school) gift for teachers. I also think this would be great to give as a gift to your speech, occupational therapist, or pediatrician. And, a set for the grandparents and babysitter. It would also make a perfect gift if you are already making your purchases for Christmas or Hanukkah. I think that this game plus some drawing supplies would make a great birthday present for friends.

One thing I love about the creator of Pick and Draw is that he has a blog with drawing lessons. If you are a homeschooler, this would be fun to add to your art curriculum!

You can purchase Pick and Draw for $10 from their website by clicking here. You can win your own Pick and Draw Game by leaving a comment and telling me how you would use this simple game. In order to win, you must follow Pick and Draw on Facebook. You can follow Pick and Draw on Facebook by clicking here. I will pick the winner via random.org and will verify that the winner is a fan of Pick and Draw on Facebook. The winner will be chosen on April 30, 2010. The winner will be notified by email. If I remember, I will modify this post that the winner has been chosen. That is, if I remember.

By 3 year old, Little Snail:

By 6th grade gifted students:

FTC: I was given the game Pick and Draw from creator, Rich Davis, to review and one to giveaway. The opinions in the post are mine and I was not given any compensation for my thoughts. I can't guarantee that my readers will like this game...but I'm pretty sure that they will.

Handmade Word Family Game for Easter!

noreply@blogger.com (Kari Jordan Wilcher) — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 20:36:00 +0000

{Originally posted April 09}

In the spirit of Easter and learning about rabbits, I made a word family game for Big Snail. I got everything at Michaels. I used little clay pots and wooden carrot cut-outs. I painted the carrots. Then I wrote the word family on the clay pot and the words on the carrots. To play the game, he puts the carrot into its matching pot. Easy peasy and it's going to last through the destruction of Little Snail!

How to get a website almost for free (or trick out your Blogger!)

noreply@blogger.com (Kari Jordan Wilcher) — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 01:45:00 +0000

Are you a Mommy Blogger who wants to move to her own domain and get rid of that .blogspot address?

Are you a small business owner wanting your own domain, but don't want to pay a monthly fee for web hosting?

Do you want a website that has dynamic (that means it can change) content?

Here's a trick to help you out! Now you can get a website with free hosting...

My website, Social Girl Media...is actually a Blogger blog! But you knew that, right?

Here is how you can do it:

IF YOU DON'T HAVE A BLOGGER BLOG

If you do not have a site, or a Blogger blog, you will go to Blogger to get started. You will need a Google Account. If you've never used Blogger before, I suggest you watch the videos or take the quick tour. Once in, set up your blog. Tip: When picking your template, pick Minima because if you want free blog backgrounds, the majority are based on this template. Before you click on "Start Blogging," you can click on "Advance Setup Options" -> Set Up A Custom Domain. This takes you to the next step below...

IF YOU HAVE A BLOGGER BLOG

If you have a Blogger blog, go to your dashboard -> settings -> publishing.

Click on "Custom Domain"

If you do not have a domain name, you can buy it from Google. It is $10/year...(shh, you can get one cheaper at other places and I personally think that eNom/Google has horrible customer service). Type the domain you want in the box and click on "Check Availability." Google will lead you the rest of the way. It's easy, don't worry.

If you don't want to use Google, go buy your domain name and then go back to your Blogger Dashboard for directions.

If you do have a domain name, go to "Switch to Advance Settings." Google will tell you what to do because there are specific directions for each company (I use GoDaddy and FatCow). If you shop around, you can find the cheapest offer. I love GoDaddy's customer service and FatCows user interface.

Safety tip to bloggers: There is a public database called the Whois. The Whois is like a phonebook. You put in the domain name and it tells you who owns it...and their address and telephone number. When you register your domain, make sure that you pay extra to keep you private or "unlisted." If you don't do this, stalkers will know your EXACT location.

Now that you have your blog with it's own domain, now you need to make it look and act like a website.

If your blog is brand new, this is what it will look like: {naked}

Coming next in this mini-series:

how to make a navigational side bar
how to make all those borders go away and how to make things seamless
how to MAKE A CLICKABLE HEADER!!! {you've been waiting for that one, eh?}

Have a question? Need help? Want to know how to do something specific? Leave a question in the comments and I will answer it in the next post. Were my directions confusing? Tell me that, too, and I will clarify them. Are you playing along or have a blogger blog with a custom domain? Leave it in the comments and I will feature it in the next post, too!

Exploring and Loving God's Beauty

noreply@blogger.com (Kari Jordan Wilcher) — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:40:00 +0000

As a former professional Outdoor Educator, and as a natural lover of Mother Nature, I believe in teaching my kids to "Pack it in and pack it out." On our last trail hike, we came upon what we believe was an old trash dump site. This was such a great opportunity to show my kids about the impact of littering and not taking care of our Earth, especially since they've been little litter bugs in their own backyard. If you would like to incorporate Leave No Trace into your nature study, or just want to teach your kids about stewardship, you can download a complete game and activity based program to use with your kids from the Boy Scouts at Teaching Leave No Trace. You can also contact your local REI store to learn more about the Promoting Environmental Awareness with Kids (PEAK) program and learn how you can get an REI backpack filled with Leave No Trace materials.

Get Out. Get Dirty. Get Fit.

noreply@blogger.com (Kari Jordan Wilcher) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:50:00 +0000

We are participating in the Georgia Junior Ranger program. You can get your free Junior Ranger Guide Book here. Don't live in Georgia? That's okay! This Guide Book would be great to use for nature study no matter where you live!

Order Up! Mooshed Moo Shoo

noreply@blogger.com (Kari Jordan Wilcher) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:02:00 +0000

Welcome to our restaurant...

"Mystery Mooshie Juice"

"The Kitchen"

"Cutting the food up."

"I'm the mooshie maker."

"Decorations"

"The Moosher that mooshes the flowers for the mooshie juice."

I must of ordered something off the menu...

"Mooshie Moo Shoo"

"Drinking the Mystery Mooshie Juice"

"I'm the dog catcher and I've got a SMP-3000 and a sword"

Does Charlie Brown Have a Cake?

noreply@blogger.com (Kari Jordan Wilcher) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 17:14:00 +0000

If Charlie Brown has a Christmas tree,

(from A Charlie Brown Christmas)

Then Papa Snail has a Birthday cake....

....and a back scratcher....

...and the most precious birthday card ever!

What's in our Nature Study Kit?

noreply@blogger.com (Kari Jordan Wilcher) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:57:00 +0000

When I first started homeschooling, I knew that we would do nature studies. Yet, I had no idea what to take with us. Most of the time, nature study is done in our own backyard. If we need anything, we just run in the house and get it. Yet sometimes our nature study happens at our family's 400 acres and pond, the zoo, the nature center, or...just out in the woods somewhere. In that case, we only want to take what we need. I don't want to end up lugging everything we own.

I have a large backpack that we stuff everything in. Sometimes, the Snails fill their own little backpacks with stuff that they want to take (which, in Little Snail's case, is sometimes a baby doll or two). Here is what I bring:

Field Guides for Plant & Animal Identification

The guides above are called Fandex guides.

I am in the process of making some compact, pocket size, leaf identification cards and will offer them as a download on the blog. I can't wait! We also have a free guide to native Georgia trees that we use. You can find resources for your state here.

Art Supplies

We use watercolor pencils and bring a water bottle. It is much easier for my kids, because they are so little, to draw with the watercolor pencil and then add water on top of their drawing. I also throw in two washcloths to use to wipe our brushes. We also bring oil pastels. Little Snail is very picky about her crayons. They can't have paper and they can't be broken. We went through sooo many crayons until I discovered oil pastels. They are like crayons, only thicker and creamier. They don't break as easily and ours seem to last forever. (That is Little Snail drawing a sun with rain in the picture).

We also take acrylic paint. I put our paint in a little container that baby hair elastics came in, but you can also use one of those M-F pill boxes (they have them at the Dollar Tree). We also use the Canson watercolor and drawing papers. Watercolor paper is great because it can hold up to water. We take clipboards to hold the paper. We also take pencils and pens.

We also take binoculars, magnifying glasses, bug nets, a compass, and containers for sample collecting. We have taken several types of containers: mason jars, disposable ziplock food containers, zip lock bags, brown paper lunch bags, grocery sacks, old spice jars, old and clean medicene bottles, etc. We learn what is appropriate to take from nature and what is meant to stay in nature. For that reason, we also take a camera. We don't have a huge butterfly net...we just use those green little nets you use for a fish tank.

When the Snails get older, we will be taking a small field microscope, butterfly nets, blank field journals, and other "big kid" equipment.

Finally, I throw in bug spray and sunscreen. I also always make sure we have my cell phone....because Hubby Snail thinks we might get chased down by snakes or hunted by a Florida panther.

So, this is what we take on our nature study trips. We believe that kids should spend time outside everyday. If you haven't ever done nature study with your kids, don't be afraid to get started. For more information, check out:

Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv (one of my all time favorite books)
Charlotte Mason and Nature Study: here and here with a good "how-to" here
Why Christians Need Nature Study (by Jimmie)
for a complete free '"curriculum", visit Handbook of Nature Study
and Nature Journaling for Kids

Get your kids outside! My one tip...don't be all "teachery" about it...give them the tools and let them explore the earth on their own.

2008-2011 Prek and Kinder

noreply@blogger.com (Kari Jordan Wilcher) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 06:27:00 +0000

My Beliefs of Technology & Little Kids
Tech Tools: Google Map

Handmade Math Counters
Living Math: Cooking
Living Math: Measurement
Living Math: Seriation
Living Math: Sorting & Patterns
Living Math: Sorting Money
Math Games
High School Conics Section Song
Non-Standard Measurement: Worms

E=McQ: Making Paper
Fearless Nature Boy
Field Trip: Exotic Bird Sanctuary
Field Trip: Tellus Science Museum
Make a Mummy with our Friends
Making Geological Formations
Nature Discovery: Black Swallowtail
Nature Discovery: Lizards
Nature Discovery: Slugs
No Child Left Inside
Outdoor Hour Challenge #11
Pond Adventure
Presentation: Earth and Sun
Rock & Gem Show
Science Experiments: Lemons
Spring Nature Collection
Tree Identification Cards
What's in Our Nature Study Kit?

Anatomically Correct Self Portrait
Field Trips
Hibachi Scares & Chopsticks
Holidays: Easter
Holidays: Mother's Day
Homeschool Socialization
Little Man in the Map: Part 1
Little Man in the Map: Part 2
Little Man in the Map: Part 3
Saying the Blessing
Sing About Money
States & Their Capitals
Virtual Field Trips

More Alphaboard Ideas
Sight Word Games
The Alphaboard
Animal Handwriting Cards
Vacation Work Boxes
Handmade File Folder Games
Handmade Alphabet Game
Handmade Word Family Game
Make a Dictionary
Writing Aid
Kindergarten Copy Work
Homeschoolers Writing Program
Labeling the Environment
Unschooled Writer
Manipulating Words
Meaningful Writing: Signs
Writing Environmental Print
Caps for Sale!
A New Milestone!
Dictating Writing
Teaching Your Kid to Read for Free
Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

Posh Artwork for Kids
Paint Like a Cat
Exploring with Clay
Favorite Songs for Learning
YoYo Painting
Circus Fit!
Just Painting
Make a Wig
Make Stilts
Make a Jellyfish Costume
Make a Felt Mask
Make a Handprint Christmas Tree
Marble Game
Piano: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Relief Painting
Children's Drawing into a Brooch

The Circus
Japan: Coming Soon
U.S. Geography: Coming Soon
One Duck Stuck: Coming Soon
The Napping House: Coming Soon

Back to [home]School Traditions
Fireworks & Decapitation
Our 2009-2010 Curriculum
Our Workbox System
Field Trip: Exotic Bird Sanctuary
Little Snail is A.O.K!
Please Pray for Little Snail
Staycation & Princess Party
Our Favorite Family Moments
Tips for Going to Convention
I Am On The Crew!
More Handmade Gift Ideas
Handmade Doll House & Dolls
Free Vintage Teaching Resources
Classroom Makeover
Our Living Room
Our Christmas Card: Sock Hop
Beer Bread
Bloggin' Love
Makin' New Friends
Reduse, Reuse, Upcycle!
Wall-E & The Dreidel?
Visit with Grandma & Papa Snail
My New Fave Song
Day at the Beach
Springtime Fun
I Am Not a Dork!
Cherishing Memories
Best of Show at the Fair
Super Saturday Sales
T-Ball & Flower Picking
Lovin' Vinyl & The Cricut
I'm Speechless
Ultimate Blog Party!
Organize Your Home Library
Lemonade Award
Reupholstered Hope Chest
Our Classroom
The Penny Update
Ms. Piggy Bank
Kookie Dresses
Sick Momma
First Hair Cut
Questions of the Day
Kickin' Off The School Year
Field Trip: Tellus Science Museum
Happy Furlough Day & Daddy Snail
Handmade Halloween Blog Carnival

The Napping House
I Stink!
A House is a House For Me
My Truck is Stuck
I Like Me
Silly Sally
My Friends
Do You Want to Be My Friend?
Mrs. Wishy Washy

TOS Crew Review: Kinderbach

noreply@blogger.com (Kari Jordan Wilcher) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:35:00 +0000

As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, we received a 3 month free membership to Kinderbach for review.

Kinderbach is an online, or DVD, piano instruction program. It is designed for preschoolers and reminds me of Blue's Clues (real teacher in a cartoon world). It's cute. We own a piano and Big Snail has been very successful with Piano for Preschoolers, so I used this program with Little Snail. She adores it! I think 3 is the perfect age for this program.

I just sat my computer on top of the piano during the lessons, but you could also use the DVD and have your child sit on the couch with a keyboard.

Check out the free demo. The first two weeks are free! I love this program because it is great for non-readers. I also like that it takes kids step by step and scaffolds their learning as she moves along.

The entire program is 60 weeks long (6 levels that are 10 weeks long). Little Snail completed a lesson a week.

The online program offers to types of payments: $7.99 a month that is billed in a one time annual payment of $95.88 (60% off) or $19.99 monthly subscription (Billed monthly).

You can also purchase the Kinderbach program on DVD. The first level can be purchased for $40.45, and each additional level is $40.45.

We love it and recommend it for little kids. It is the perfect introduction to learning how to read music and how to play the piano. Well worth the money if you are planning to focus on music in your homeschool and have a preschooler in your house.

For My High School Mathy Homeschoolers!

noreply@blogger.com (Kari Jordan Wilcher) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 02:42:00 +0000

I hope she gets Teacher of the Year! So cute!

{Have you entered the contest yet?}

Our Year in Review

noreply@blogger.com (Kari Jordan Wilcher) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 02:33:00 +0000

The Snail's Trail is almost a year old! Here is our year in review featuring some of our favorite posts. Thank you for joining us this year. We have made so many new friends, have felt a lot of support within the homeschooling community, and have had fun sharing our lives with you. This year really did go by fast!

My first blog post, No Child Left Inside, was written in January of 2009. On February 13, I moved The Snail's Trail over to Blogger and this is how the year unfolded...

We sort money.

We paint.

I talk about meaningful writing.

Little Snail gets a first hair cut.

We share some field trips.

We write environmental print.

We learn some math.

Little Snail swallows a penny.

We practice non-standard measurement.

We learn about spring.

We learn math through cooking together.

I talk about meaningful writing.

We manipulate words.

I make some curtains.

We celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday.

I showed you our classroom.

I showed you how I reupholstered a hope chest.

I talk about dictation.

We visit with nature.

We made yo-yo paintings.

I talk about writing development in unschooling.

We made a dictionary.

We went to the Rock & Gem show.

Little Snail works on her fine motor skills.

We make a mask out of felt.

I painted a picture for our Grandmother.

We made stilts.

We made a clown wig.

We played T-Ball.

We label our environment.

We learn about the circus. A lot.

We experimented with clay.

We had a spring nature table.

We made a new friend.

We learn to use chopsticks.

I share some favorite memories.

We have some springtime fun.

We make a word family game.

We celebrate Easter.

Big Snail learns to write on his own.

We sale some caps.

We visit with Grandma & Papa Snail.

We played with clay.

I upcycled.

Big Snail uses technology to give an oral presentation.

Little Snail paints like a cat.

Big Snail gets a new friend.

We met The Dairy Family.

We made a new friend.

You share your bloggy love with me and pass along some awards.

I share an idea for copywork.

I share a way to learn how to write letters.

We do a science experiment.

I share how I occupy the kids during road trips.

We made a Mother's Day brooch.

I made beer bread.

We share some nature discoveries.

We learn about how the earth was made.

I show you are now non-existent work box system.

I teach you how to create art with toilet paper.

I paint a picture for Little Snail.

I quit smoking (since I was 14) and redecorated the playroom.

This handmade game made The Snail's Trail famous.

We made an alphabet game.

We made file folder games.

We made butterfly math counthers.

I share a great, easy to make, cheap birthday present idea.

I share some homemade goodness.

We begin learning with Little Man in the Map.

We have a princess party.

We have a staycation.

Some of you realize I can be a bit OCD and neurotic.

I share our favorite family moments.

I share several activities for learning how to recognize states on a map.

I share our word family games.

We learn about the States.

We were traumatized at the 4th of July party.

Our readers share back to school traditions.

Little Snail perforates her ear drum.

We visit the bird sanctuary.

I made a pony apron.

We have a staycation.

Little Snail learns to draw.

School started.

I shared an entire week of school work.

Aunt Snail takes us to the museum where she works.

We went to the beach.

Little Snail learns with The Napping House unit from Itty Bitty Curriculum.

I share my home management binder.

I talk about inventive play.

I talk about living science and learning in the moment.

We learn about living and non-living.

We visit the park.

We take a field trip to the landfill when we learn with Little Snail's Itty Bitty Curriculum.

We visit the zoo.

We visit the Children's Museum.

20 of you agreed that this bothered you.

We do nature study in the backyard.

Little Snail turns on the charm.

Big Snail begins learning to play the piano.

I got a Cricut.

We made handmade paper.

We went to a Sock Hop.

I gave you a peek into my living room.

Handmade Halloween was born.

Things get a little hairy for Little Snail.

Big Snail loves soccer.

We dress up as jellyfish and visit the zoo.

I showed you what is in our nature study kit.

I made these super cute handwriting cards. I love vintage art.

I made some tree identification cards that you can download.

We won some ribbons at the county fair.

I shared with you how we store some art supplies.

We made a Christmas tree with our hands.

I showed you how you can teach your child to read for free.

I show you how to use Google Maps to drive around your neighborhood.

Handmade Holidays was born. Remind me next November to start the 2nd annual Handmade Holidays. I am sure I will forget.

You got to meet my dad.

I shared how I am constantly changing the design of my blog and I just did it again!

Homeschool Techies was born (and is coming in January!)

Big Snail participated in NaNoWriMo.

A worm crawled out of Big Snail's ear.

We got ready for Chistmas.

Little Snail got something stuck in her hair again. I found it funny when I saw all the Zhu Zhu Pets in Wal-Mart with "Keep Away From Hair" stickers on all of them.

I got real with my readers. A lot has changed since that post and when the dust settles, I will share the new changes that are coming for The Snail's Trail.