My children love to draw and color. When I heard about The Picture Smart Bible, I was very intrigued on how this Bible study incorporated drawing and visual learning. They graciously sent me a copy to review and giveaway!

What is The Picture Smart Bible?

The Picture Smart Bible is an overview Bible study geared for 4th grade on up. It uses a master drawing sheet with symbols, items to trace, and captions to write in order to help children (and adults) remember the important points in each book of the Bible.

You do not need to be an artist to use this curriculum! The Master Drawings (pictured above) or the Student Sheets (not pictured) contain all the information you need. If you can trace and color–you can do this Bible study! I am currently doing this Bible study with my 3 oldest children, 14 yrs., 13yrs., and 11 yrs. old. Younger children can also participate by using the Master sheet as their coloring sheet. (I hear they are currently working on a K-3 edition.)

I challenged my older children to read through the Bible this year. The Picture Smart Bible is fitting in perfectly because it gives an overview of  each book of the Bible. What I am planning (we are currently working on Genesis) is doing the TPSB lesson before reading that book of the Bible. That way we can discuss what they’ll be reading and they’ll have some background information that will help them read through the Bible. So far all 3 of my children have enjoyed this format. I’ll be sharing more of my thoughts after we have had a chance to really use this program.

You can get a sneak peek at a lesson by hopping on over to their Facebook page. While you are there, be sure to “like” it! They have also started a Pinterest board with many Bible activities, lessons, and craft ideas.

There are several different purchase options:

• printed version (you can purchase OT and NT separately if needed)
• cd of the curriculum
• download of the curriculum

See their site for more information.

Enter the The Picture Smart Bible Giveaway

The Picture Smart Bible is letting me give one of you a cd of the complete curriculum! What the cd includes:

• The Teacher’s Script
• The Master Drawings
• Student Sheets
• Tests/Answer Key
• Materials for both the Old and New Testament

– over 400 pages and an $81 value! Enter via the Rafflecopter widget below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I was given a set to review and offer as a giveaway. All opinions are mine.

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I am excited to be a part of the Summer of Service A.C.T.S. blog tour! You’ll be seeing several other bloggers sharing about this opportunity during the next couple of months. Why? Because serving others is something I want my kids to learn how to do not only in special settings but as a lifestyle. I want them to have eyes to see where they might be able to fill a need for someone, cheer someone up, help someone with a task–without expecting anything in return. This mindset doesn’t come automatically. In fact, I’m still working on it! Half the time I get so absorbed in my life and my schedule that I forget to see how God might use me to help others.

Collecting and crushing cans for a service project.

Having intentional service activities and opportunities through the year helps my kids and I to focus on others. During the fall/winter we worked on collecting items for Operation Christmas Child. In the summer my older children will spend a week serving our local community in various projects such as roofing houses, painting, sorting food for the local food bank and more. My younger children will be doing several service-related projects in their Sunday School this summer (with family involvement too.) Here are some projects/activities that we (my own kids/local church) have done in the past:

• Plan and play games with nursing home residents
• Organize food at our local food bank
• Serve meals at our local food bank
• Collect trash
• Hand out flowers to nursing home residents
• Make fleece blankets for local shelters
• Make hygiene bags for local shelters
• paint things– picnic tables, benches, houses
• weed gardens
• clean bathrooms
• wash cars
• bake cookies

If you need more service ideas, Adventures in Odyssey has a weekly service calendar handout that is customizable! (Save to your computer and then open if it is not viewing correctly.) They also are sharing a free mp3 of one of their radio episodes– Business of Busyness.

Adventures in Odyssey is joining with Christian bookstores across the country inviting kids to participate in a Summer of Service. They’re promoting the biblical message, “When you serve, everybody wins,” encouraging kids to serve their families, their communities, and their world. Whether it’s baking cookies for an elderly neighbor or putting together a care package for missionaries overseas,
kids will discover that serving can be a blast!

How the A.C.T.S. (A Call to Service) challenge and contest works:

Kids who join A.C.T.S. can pick up a service log and collect fun character stickers for hours served at participating bookstores throughout the summer, or download a serving log online at whitsend.org. At the end of the summer, kids can record and upload a short video telling how they serve and why they’d like to become an Adventures in Odyssey Ambassador.

A hundred winners will get the brand new AIO Album, and after online voting, two grand prize winners (one boy and one girl) will get to travel on an exciting Good-Goers Mission Based Adventure trip to another country with a parent! The out-of-country destination will be announced on a live podcast May 22—hosted by AIO actors Katie Leigh (Connie) and Chris Anthony (Chris)—which you can watch at whitsend.org/acts. You don’t want to miss it!

Join Adventures in Odyssey this summer to discover how fun it can be to serve others!

What tips do you have to help children learn to help others?

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My oldest daughter and I have been experimenting with our essential oils lately! She occasionally has eczema flare-ups on her hands so we thought we’d try to make our own salve. Since I have never made anything like this before, I needed a recipe and a video how-to. I had recently picked up (affiliate) My Buttered Life: The Baby Edition and found a wonderful (and easy) recipe to use there that included video step-by-steps too.

All I needed was:

• wide-mouth jars or other containers
• shea butter
• coconut oil
• beeswax
• Young Living Lavender essential oil (optional)

I thought I had a bag of beeswax pellets, but could not find it. My local store only had a beeswax bar. If you get a beeswax bar, it will be helpful to have a scale to weigh the right amount. I had to eye-ball 1 ounce of beeswax.

Everything was melted in a double-boiler. I added lavender essential oil to our batch because lavender may be used to soothe and cleanse common cuts, bruises, and skin irritations. It is also an essential oil that can be used safely by all– babies to adults.

We couldn’t believe how easy it was to create our own salve! I feel good about letting my daughter use this, my infant son, and my elderly father-in-law. I know the ingredients in this product are all beneficial to our bodies and not filled with harmful additives.

Next on my list is to make my own Bug Off! bars for the summer. It is basically the same ingredients, except you’ll need either lavender, citronella, lemon grass or peppermint essential oils (See my essential oils store or contact me.) The recipe can be found in the MadeOn Summer Edition ebook.

How have you been using your essential oils?

You Might Also Be Interested In:

Gentle Baby Lotion for Newborns

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We’ve already picked out and started our science for 1st grade! We will be using and reviewing  Nancy Larson Science 1 this year.

With the age-ranges of my children,there is just enough of a gap that we can’t combine sciences. Well, I could, but it would be over the heads of my younger set. Since I love to teach science and have been doing science-related things with my toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergartners — I wanted them to have their own hands-on curriculum for this year. I was drawn to{affiliate} Nancy Larson Science 1  because:

• The target age-level is ages 5-8 years (note: the levels do not necessarily correspond to grade levels. See site for more  info.)
• It contains everything I need–from books, student booklets, specimens to examine, picture cards and more.
• It is scripted. Normally I don’t care if things are scripted because I’m good at coming up with things on the fly, but right now I need something easy that doesn’t require much prep work from me due to my current workload. Everything is already planned for me!
• It combines science with language arts.
• It is created to reach multiple learning styles: auditory, visual, and kinesthetic.
• It introduces several themes: Describing the Life Stages of Human Beings; Observing Trees; Exploring Sunlight, Water, and Soil; Investigating Animals and Their Habitats; Discovering What Is Inside Our Bodies; Examining the Characteristics and Life Cycles of Insects.

Currently we are almost finished with the first unit: Describing the Life States of Human Beings. For each unit, students have their own little booklet. I like that the paragraphs are numbered because it is a gentle way to introduce the concept of paragraphs to early readers. It also helps them follow along. My 6yr. old loves that she can read the text.

Each lesson contains one or two vocabulary words. We put them in our pocket chart and also write them on the science vocab. sheet in our binders. This first unit had the students learning words such as scientist, infant, toddler, child, adolescent, and adult. We had fun pulling out our old scrapbooks as a part of this unit.

I am also having my 4.5 year old do this science too. Though I knew the reading and writing would be above her, I also knew that she would not have been content if she didn’t have the same student booklets as her sister. In order to help her out, I write all the answers on labels and then she is able to place them on her page. There is only one worksheet per lesson, so it is not overwhelming at all.  The content is not above her — just the writing aspect. I toyed with getting Science K or Science 1, but I went with what would be on target for my 6yr. old and what would still work for my almost 5yr. old. My 2yr. old sits in on the lessons too and can even tell you what we are learning.

I really love that I have everything I need to teach each lesson. I don’t have to remember to go to the store to get an item. I have all our items stored in a large scrapbooking file folder and a 3-tiered Snap-container. (Oh, I have the Ladybug Land and Butterfly Garden on a shelf since we don’t need them yet.)

Colored pencils, props, specimens (wood chips, plastic bugs) magnifying glasses, and science vocab. cards are all stored in this tote. All I have to do is carry this to the table and we are ready to go!

So far we are enjoying  Nancy Larson Science. I’ll be writing a couple of updates through the year to let you know how it is working for us.

Currently Nancy Larson has 5 levels:

• Nancy Larson^® Science K is recommended for ages 5-7 and is appropriate for older children with limited science experience.
• Science 1 is recommended for ages 5-8 and is appropriate for older children with limited science experience.
• Science 2 is recommended for ages 7-9 and is appropriate for older children with limited science experience.
• Science 3 is recommended for ages 8-11 and is appropriate for older children with limited science experience.
• Science 4 is recommended for ages 9-12 and is appropriate for older children with limited science experience.

If you have any questions, the support at Nancy Larson Science is very helpful. I talked in-length with Madon Dailey about which level I should start with- Science 1 or Science K.  She helped me figure out the best fit for us. You might want to see what my friend Jolanthe thinks about this program too–she’s used several levels already.

Disclosure: I received Nancy Larson Science 1 for review purposes only. I am also an affiliate. I’m sharing our thoughts on the program as we use it. All opinions are my own.

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Normally I focus on preschool activities and educational things. I realize though,that I’ve never shared my blogging story. Humor me as I share mine today. When you get to the end you’ll find a giveaway too.

Once upon a time…

I was a young mom with two little children living in a small town where I was the newcomer. I was lonely. One day I heard a radio program about a Creative Memories consultant making a special 50th wedding anniversary for Mr. & Mrs. James Dobson (Focus on the Family). Something deep within me got excited about the thought of combining my love for crafts and family history! I now had a reason for crafting– creating memories! That week I looked online and found out that there actually was a Creative Memories consultant in my little town! Not only that, she held monthly crops!

I believe God gave me scrapbooking as a gift. Through that craft I made new friends in my town and other doors began to open for me.

One of my earlier paper layouts.

About a year or two after I started scrapbooking, I actually had one of my layouts published in a scrapbooking magazine!  I remember how excited I was that day–something I never expected when I started this hobby. From there I had several more published, won a contest, became a creative editor for a scrapbook magazine, traveled and taught scrapbooking workshops, worked on design teams for several manufacturers, and met so many awesome and creative people! During that time I even had a blog— on Typepad. I blogged before blogging was really a big thing. It was a way for me to share my crafty creations with my family and friends.

A digital layout of mine.

Then after about 5ish years of working in the scrapbooking industry, I knew it was time for me to stop. I deleted my blog and gave away most of my scrapbooking stash. For a year or so after this happened, I asked God why did He give me this gift only to take it away?

I moved to a new town. One of the first things I was invited to was a crop. How funny. I kind of gave that up. I went. Only God could do this— there in the room was a digital scrapbooker (before digital was mainstream) who I had worked with online. She recognized my name and realized we had worked together on an ezine (before ebooks.) That was the beginning of my digital scrapbooking phase. It was still part of the gift God had given me, but I didn’t realize that through this whole process He was also preparing me for other things.

What Does This All Have to Do with Blogging?

I’m so glad you asked!  For some of you, your blog is not your calling— it is a step that will get you to your calling. It is a training tool and a vehicle to get you to the place you really need to be. I’m not saying that it’s wrong for you to be blogging and that you don’t have a message– but rather you have a season of blogging that God is using to help prepare you for your next step. For others, your blog and online presence is your mission.

Now that I’m 40 I can look back and see some of the threads and themes that God has woven in my life and it makes a little more sense now. My professional scrapbooking career taught me many of the skills that I needed to be the blogger I am today:

• strong photography skills
• writing process-focused articles
• working with manufacturers (brands)
• working on creative teams
• layout design
• photo editing skills
• networking
• teaching
• meeting deadlines
• and more.

I never planned to be a blogger. It just happened. As I look back though, I can see that God was already preparing me for this phase of my life. I love blogging and can’t believe the opportunities that have come about through this venue. More than opportunities, I am amazed at some of the special friendships that have occurred because I am a blogger. We never would have met if we weren’t working online.

Now that I have been blogging for several years, I can see how my blogging has prepared me for several new endeavors in my life. For the past year I have worked behind the scenes as a social media manager for several small businesses. In addition I also do virtual assistant work and social media consultation. I never would have thought I’d be doing what I am doing today, but God did! He pulled a Mr. Miyagi on me– using one job to prepare me for another.

When I first started out blogging, I fudged my way and learned many things through trial and error. Today there are so many wonderful resources to help get you started and to help you refine your skills. One new resource that I am proud to have contributed to is {affiliate link} iBlog–your owner’s manual for blogging: created by bloggers for bloggers.

• How do I take better photos for my blog?
• What is the secret to balancing motherhood and marriage with blogging?
• What is the best way to write a product review?
• What is an elevator pitch and why do I need one?
• How can I make the most of SEO (search engine optimization)?
• How can I get traffic to my blog and get visitors to subscribe?
• Are link-ups really worth the effort? And where do I find them?
• What is a media kit and how do I create one?
• Is guest posting important?
• How do you hold a Facebook party or Facebook hop?
• What are the insider secrets to using Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook?
• How can I sell my own products or give away freebies on my blog?
• Can I really earn money from affiliate programs?

I’m giving away two copies of iBlog with the hopes that it will help and encourage you on your blogging journey. This giveaway will end on 5/5–but if you don’t want to wait to get your copy, if you win, your money will be refunded.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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EEME: educational hands-on project kits and online video curricula to teach 7-12 year old kids electronics.

Though I love creating printables, I don’t like to reinvent the wheel and if someone already has a quality product, I would rather save my time and use what they have already created! Three programs that we have used in our homeschool for my preschoolers/kindergarteners are the Raising Rock Star program from 1+1+1=1 , K4 curriculum by Confessions of a Homeschooler and Truth in the Tinsel.

We made glow-in-the-dark Raising Rock Stars shirts

Confessions of a Homeschooler’s Size-Sort Sheet

The K4 Curriculum by Confessions of a Homeschooler is also based around the alphabet (which is why I like to combine the two programs.)

What’s Included?

• 34 Weekly LESSON PLANS!
• Bible
• Math
• Reading
• Writing
• Art
• Music
• Movement
• Motor Skills
• Logical Thinking
• Sight Words
• Vowel Sounds/Blends
• and More!

You can see a sample lesson plan here: K4 Lesson Plan

K4 Curriculum by Erica @ Confessions of a Homeschooler ($15.00)

Truth in the Tinsel for Advent

Another program I love to use with my young children is Truth in the Tinsel. Yes, it is for Advent and it is currently spring, but it’s a great program to remember to plan for the holidays.

I love this program because it focuses on Christ during Christmas time. There are several options for using this during the holiday season–which I appreciate. Each day during Advent you read a scripture, create a special craft, and talk about the symbolism. Easy to implement and keep Christ the reason for the season. (Note: The printable ornaments pictured above are not included in the book but can be purchased as a supplement to the program. The printable ornaments take the place of the crafts.)

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I am the proud mom of 7 children ages 14 down to 3months.  I really can’t remember a time when I didn’t have a toddler or preschooler around.  I’m often asked what I do with the toddlers or preschoolers while the others are learning, or how could I possibly have time to teach the toddlers when I have to teach everyone else. Here are some of my strategies for teaching toddlers in a large family:

1. Change My Expectations

A little marker won’t hurt anything!

With babies, toddlers and preschoolers around, it is rare that I get a long chunk of time for lessons with my older children without having to help one of them out with something. I had to readjust my idea of a perfect homeschool day and come to grips that our learning times would be different with little children around. Little children need to move, play, and explore with their senses. So sitting around quietly for a long time is not a realistic expectation. I had to make sure that I wasn’t seeing my younger children as nuisances in our homeschool day–but rather as little blessings who are very eager to learn with us. I learned early on to restructure our day in such a way that would set my toddlers up for success. One of the key things that helps is to have some 1 on 1 time with them early in the morning. Rock them. Read to them. Sing songs together–when I take time for them early in the day, they are less likely to seek your attention in negative ways later. I encourage you to read Do Toddlers and Well-Ordered Days Mix?

2. Create Multi-Age Learning Opportunities

Many times my younger children want to be right in the middle of things with us. They often will pull out paper and crayons and join us in our lessons. I also have a closet of age-appropriate activities that I will let them play with quietly next to us. Many of our toddler/preschool science activities have occurred because they wanted to do what their older siblings were doing. I just paired it down to their level.

3. Provide Independent Activities

Transferring cherries aka pom poms onto a Play-Doh sundae

I do not do formal teaching of my toddlers. When I do want to incorporate learning activities, I add them to our day as art activities, reading activities, nature walks, games, and pretend play. I don’t expect my toddlers to sit longer than 15 minutes. Many of our activities are completed within that time-frame and don’t require sitting still. I wrote a post awhile ago about the Art of Winging It. This is one strategy I use with my younger children often. I have independent activities such as Play-Doh activities, various fine-motor activities, and special educational toys that I will set out for them to choose to do for the day.

4. Play is Learning

Freedom to build forts

Play is learning for young children and I try to encourage them to do that–and spend a good portion of their day playing. This often results in a mess, but also provides an opportunity to learn how to care for things and clean up after themselves (we are still working on this.)

Water play with baby dolls

5. Teach with Technology

Learning on the iPad

Yes, my young children already know how to navigate an iPad as well as me!  There are times when I have to work with my older children and I need to know for sure what my younger children are doing. I will have them read a book, watch Sprout, listen to music (we have our scripture songs and toddler songs loaded on the iPad) or play one of their special games on the iPad. If you are looking for a list of apps, check out some of Carisa’s iPad App Posts.

Honestly, these techniques work with any size family. My house is just a little more used, a little louder, a little more chaotic than smaller families. Have realistic expectations of young children, set them up for success, combine ages when possible, keep them near, let them play, and include them in everyday activities. For more practical tips and ideas about homeschooling with tots, be sure to stop by 1+1+1=1′s blog and read her tot series.

Do you have any toddler tips? Share them in the comments!

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Our family enjoys nature studies. Whenever we can get outside and move and learn at the same time—it is a good day!

This month Notebooking Pages is offering free tree/plant notebooking pages– perfect for nature study! Just sign up for their newsletter to access the download. While you are there, be sure to enter their giveaway (ends 4/26.)

Use coupon code nature50 for 50% off any of their other nature study notebooking bundles (ends 4/30/2013.)

You Might Also Like:
Nature Walks with Young Children plus free printable

Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Notebooking Pages. Thank you in advance for supporting this site.

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EEME: educational hands-on project kits and online video curricula to teach 7-12 year old kids electronics.

Today I am guest posting over at 1+1+1=1′ blog!

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EEME: educational hands-on project kits and online video curricula to teach 7-12 year old kids electronics.

On one particular cold, dreary, winter day I decided we needed to get out and go somewhere. So we piled in the car and headed to Pet Smart for an impromptu field trip. Usually I can walk into that store and not come home with anything. This day, however, I couldn’t resist. The girls were so interested in all the fish!  We left that day with a table-top tank and fish supplies but no fish. When I got home, I started planning our preschool fish theme.

The first day we set up the tank and talked about what our fish would need in their home. My kids added the gravel, real plants, and water.  We waited a day in order to prepare the tank environment.  We added  water conditioner to the water to  help stabilize the environment (get rid of rid of any chlorine, ammonia, or chloramine) which hopefully would allow the fish to acclimate to their new home easier. Then we let the water sit in our table-top tank for 24 hours before going back to Pet Smart to get the fish. We decided to get guppies.

Fish Vocabulary:

I like to introduce vocabulary while observing items. So while we  sit and watch the fish, I try to bring up the following terms naturally.

“Do you see the fish’s tail?”

“Look at the fish. Does it have skin like we do?”

“How do you think fish breathe under water?”

“Do you see those ‘slits’ on the side of the fish? Those are gills– and they help fish breathe.”

• gills
• fins
• scales
• mouth
• eyes
• tail (actually a caudal fin)

Preschool Fish Journal

Click Here to Download

Once again I created a paper bag science journal for the girls to use. I really like this size booklet because it’s not too overwhelming for beginning writers and readers. When asked to draw what they see, the size of the space on the page is not intimidating to fill.

Take two paper bags and place one on top of the other with the flaps alternating. Fold in half and staple. Glue the pages on the booklet. You can create other things and stick it inside the openings too. There are so many possibilities.

Fish Pretend Play Activities

We had some left-over gravel from setting up our own aquarium so we poured that into the bottom of a plastic shoe box. Then the girls decorated their own pretend aquarium using items from the Coral Reef Toob. Though I did this activity more for my toddler and preschooler, my kindergartener loved it too!

They played with this for quite awhile–using their imaginations. It looks like a scene from Finding Nemo.

We also made Under the Sea stick puppets. Using wooden ocean-related items from Hobby Lobby, we glued each figure onto a colored craft stick.

Then they used their stick puppets to produce their own fish-related puppet show!

Fish Books

We read and looked at many different fish-related books. After reading Fish Eye, each child made their own foam fish design. Here were some other books that we used:

Fish Eyes by Lois Ehlert

My Visit to the Aquarium by Aliki

What’s It Like to Be a Fish? by Wendy Pfeffer

Under the Sea by Anna Milbourne

Goldfish: Watch It Grow Series

We are enjoying our guppies very much! And much to our delight, we also found a snail in our tank! It must have hitched a ride on the plants we put in the aquarium.

If you subscribe to  Spell Outloud Let’s Learn newsletter, you’ll find a supplemental set of fish printables for your journal. Each month I’ll send out an activity or two that you can do with your children.

Have you ever had a pet fish? What kind?

You might also be interested in:

10 Days of Preschool Science

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EEME: educational hands-on project kits and online video curricula to teach 7-12 year old kids electronics.