Homeschool Creations

Friday, July 31, 2009

You Are Invited!

To: The Big Curriculum Clean-Out!

When: August 2 - August 15

Why: To win some great stuff and clean out some of the excess from your closets!

RSVP: Just by showing up Sunday morning - pajamas and all. There are some great giveaways coming!!

Click on the button below to find out more!

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Preschool Corner: Workbox Number Cards

I had every intention of posting a different printable this week, but I've been so wrapped up in getting our workboxes pulled together that my focus was a little swayed.

Some of you may be wondering what workboxes are {I'll soon be posting about the system and how we're using it this year} and some of you have already been sucked into the workbox realm. Making the workboxes fun and appealing to both me and the kids is important, so I asked both boys what they wanted on their number cards. The answers were 'Chicken Little' and 'Nemo'. And then Zachary saw the Chicken Little ones and decided he wanted Monsters, Inc. instead. Since I can fit two sets on a page, I had to throw in a Bug's Life too.



Click on the graphic to download and print the document.

The printable has two pages of number cards with the four different character sets above. I'll be printing off two copies - one for the boxes and one for their number strips. Stay tuned to see how we're all piecing it together!

If you are wondering about the different colors, we color code our kids. Yes, I'm serious. Each one has their own color - makes it a whole lot easier to figure out what belongs to who. Blue is for Zachary and green is for Kaleb.

While I'm in the midst of planning and re-organizing our upcoming school year, the world around me hasn't stopped. So share, share, share!! What all have you been doing this last week?

About the Preschool Corner:

The Preschool Corner is a place for us to share the ideas we are using during our "preschool time" with our kids. You can join in the fun and record what you are doing in your house. Please link your exact blog post to the Mr. Linky below (if you have questions feel free to ask). Be sure to link back to this blog post so that your readers can find some other great ideas too!

The guidelines can be found here if you need them.

Share what you've been doing in your house this week!


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Thursday, July 30, 2009

If A Girl Buys a Laminator...

If a girl buys a laminator, chances are she'll feel the need to also buy a pack of 50 laminating pouches to go along with it.

And if she buys 50 pouches, chances are she'll feel the need to print off everything possible in order to fill those pouches.

And if she prints off everything possible, chances are that her printer will begin to despise her and decide that it's time to run out of ink.

And if she runs out of ink, chances are that she'll head over to Amazon and start looking around for the refill cartridges for her printer.

And if she gets on Amazon and starts searching, chances are that she'll end up with way more in her cart than she planned for {all for the sake of free shipping} including an additional set of laminating pouches.

And if she has additional laminating pouches to fill....

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Wednesday, July 29, 2009

What's in My Homeschool Planner?


Are you the least bit curious? I've finally printed off the last of my planner pages, have all my pretty binder clips, found a lovely 3-ring binder, some nice colored dividers...it's pure bliss!

I am using a lot of the forms that I have in the Weekly Homeschool Planner I created {and you can have it too!}, but some of the forms are a little more tailored to our family. Since we have a double-sided printer now, I can print off the forms the way I want them to go in my binder...'cause I can be a little particular like that! You can get an idea on the layout of my pages in this pdf sample of my homeschool planner.


Want to know what's in the planner and how I have things divided out? I found the funky notebook and dividers at Walmart and went from there.

On the back side of my hokey title page {can't stand a blank piece of paper...} I have a page that lists all the homeschool requirements from our state and school district: statute & code specifics, what is required of me, from me, contact information for the local school district, who was notified about our intent to homeschool, where the letter of intent was mailed, and when records are required from us.

The binder then is divided up into the following sections:

Blog

I know not all of you would have this section in your notebooks, but between this blog, No Ordinary Moments {my everyday blog}, and Totally Tots....I need a place to keep track of when things are due, what's due, and a place to write down any ideas that I get. I have a running list of post ideas as well as calendars that I've printed off using Cozi that help me keep tabs on stuff.

Monthly Plans

This is where I keep our 'Year at a Glance' sheet and also copies of monthly calendars so I can map out our school year by date including breaks and what we're planning on studying for geography. The 'Year at a Glance' gives me the overall view of what to plug in and I can get more specific with the dated calendar. At the end of this section I have copies of my Geography Planning Sheets so I can plan out each of the countries we are doing and write in resources as I find them.

Weekly Plans

This is the 'nuts & bolts' of our day to day school life. My planning pages for each week are four pages long {only 2 pages front/back}, mainly because of the ages of the kids. The bulk of the girls planning is done on two pages {Galloping the Globe, math, reading/writing/language, Bible, science, Latin, and art}. The second page from the girls is the workbox planning sheet - how each day of the week will lay out. {I'll be posting some of my workbox stuff soon!!}

Kaleb and Zachary take up the next two pages. I'm using my Tot School Planning form for Kaleb and a more basic planning form for Zachary since he is Kindergarten this year. I have space for Bible, math, language/spelling, science, handwriting, and geography for Zachary.

Curriculum Plans & Evaluation

This section helps me keep track of what I am using this year for texts, if it is already purchased {I am still hunting down a few things} and what we have/haven't completed. It's great for me to see it all at a glance and remember some of the more obscure textbooks that I have for us to use.

The yearly plans and evaluations sheets are a place for me to keep track of my goals for our kids that year ~ and a great place to periodically check on through the year and see where we are {or re-adjust the goals that we have}.

I also have pages in this section to keep track of our testing results {yes, we do standardized planning at this point} and any other important evaluation information.

Notes & Contacts

Lots of blank pages for me to jot notes and ideas throughout the day and also keep track of the various homeschoolers and resources in our area.

Reviews

A little section for me to keep track of my review due dates and information for review writing.

Ideas

When I see something online or in a magazine that I like I try to either rip out the page or print it off and stash it in this section. I just punch it with a 3-ring punch and can flip through some of the fun ideas to use during our school year.

Household

This section sees {ahem} little use. I think it's really there to just humor me and appease the side of me that likes to feel 'on top of things'. I have detailed lists of all the glorious things that I would like to accomplish in our house on a daily basis. Really, the thought of it just makes me giggle. Seriously.

That's it! A quick glimpse into this years planner for you all! Now I just need to actually USE it and start planning!


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Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Blogging Tip Questions???

Several of you have wanted to know some more blogging tips - and while I can't promise miracles {or all the answers}, I might be able to tell you something. Or at least point you in the right direction.

So....ask away!

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Monday, July 27, 2009

Audiobooks for Kids

At my first homeschool convention I came across several audiobook series from Focus on the Family Radio Theatre and couldn't resist buying them - even though I'd only listened to Adventures in Odyssey prior to these.



The first set I picked up was Classic Stories for a Girl's Heart. It includes Anne of Avonlea, Little Women, & The Secret Garden.



The other set was the Chronicles of Narnia - and includes all the books from C.S. Lewis. The cds are presented in chronological Narnia order {and the Amazon price is amazing!}.

Over the last two months we have been listening to the Chronicles of Narnia. The kids have been completely absorbed in the storyline. We've barely back out of our driveway and they are asking me to turn on Narnia to listen too! Needless to say, they are sad that we are now on the last disk in the series.

The audio series is done wonderfully. Each disk includes musical scores, lifelike dramatization and will pull you in! It was a great way to introduce our kids to some great classics and get them excited to read them together as a family.

As we're wrapping up listening to the Chronicles of Narnia we've started reading the series through, a chapter a day. I can tell you that I will be looking at some of the other audio dramas from Focus on the Family and getting more in the near future!

Shhh!! Don't tell, but even I am enthralled and listening along!

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Sunday, July 26, 2009

Tot School ::28::


~ Kaleb is 32 months ~

There were a lot of other things that we did this week for school, but I didn't have my camera out this week.

Monday: Kaleb pulled out a huge box of stuff to play with. Apparently he doesn't feel that he is doing enough, so he put together his own "Tot Time". He and Zachary sat on the floor together and stacked beads, used the color matching clothespins and also the sort by shape blocks. I was SO excited to hear Kaleb name all the colors!!



Tuesday: Trip to the Children's Museum as a family. One of Kaleb's favorite parts is the riding lawnmower. And Mommy forgot her camera. Again.


Wednesday: The weather has been beautiful early morning, so the kids were sent outside for a bit to play. This is how I found Kaleb. Fully dressed. Soaking wet from head to toe. Needless to say, the pool has been drained and put away.



Thursday: Much more time spent outside.



Reading with Daddy.



Don't forget to visit Carissa at 1+1+1=1 for some more Tot School posts.

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Friday, July 24, 2009

Preschool Corner: Spelling Fun

For weeks Zachary has been asking to do spelling with me. Really, I was hesitant to start with him. I'm not sure why, but I think it's because I envisioned pure mayhem with the letter tiles.

I was so wrong!

Zachary loved the time that we worked on spelling and he did so much more than I even expected him to do. Like his sisters, I started him with All About Spelling Level 1 {review here}. We worked through the first three lessons together and I was thrilled to see how much he is learning. He knows his letter sounds and picked up how to 'alphabetize' the letters so quickly. He also loved slowly sounding out words into their individual sounds {segmenting}.



I asked him if he knew the vowels and he quickly listed them out for me {insert my surprised look here}. When I wanted to know what a consonant was, he gave me this look and said, "It's a letter, Mom." Not exactly what I was looking for, but it was so cute!

We now have a little something more to add to our week with him {he feels like such a big boy!}. I'm excited about it, because the tactile part of the spelling program really appeals to his learning style, which will make it so much easier to motivate him and have him involved in the process.

That's a quick peek at our week - but now it's your turn to share what's been going on in your house!

About the Preschool Corner:

The Preschool Corner is a place for us to share the ideas we are using during our "preschool time" with our kids. You can join in the fun and record what you are doing in your house. Please link your exact blog post to the Mr. Linky below (if you have questions feel free to ask). Be sure to link back to this blog post so that your readers can find some other great ideas too!

The guidelines can be found here if you need them.

It's your turn to share!



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Thursday, July 23, 2009

You Asked! ::1::

I try really hard to answer any questions that you all have when you either email me or leave a comment. I'll mention again that it's SO much easier for me to respond if your email address is 'shown' only to me. It's quick and simple in blogger to enable it {I promise!!}.

I've been saving some of the questions you all have had because it would be helpful to reply via a post so others {who might have the same question} can see the answer too. I'm going to try to answer a few of them every now and then for you all.

Today I'm focusing on the ones that related to printables I've made and Scribd.

Q: I was able to download all of the printables except one. It still takes me to Scribd, but instead of having a choice to "download", like all of the others, this one does not - only allows me to print. I was wondering if you knew what the problem might be? Or perhaps you could send me a .pdf of the document??

A: Occasionally I have issues with Scribd and the 'download' option does not appear. Please let me know if this happens! I believe that I have fixed all the problems so far, but I really do want to know if you have problems with something I've posted. Several readers aren't able to download things because of where they live, and I will happily send you the pdf via email if needed!

Q: Do you have any new cards coming? (LOL) - they are just SO great, I can't wait to see what you come up with next!!

A: Should I get my bum in gear, I have two different sets of cards coming up along with some workbox tags. For preschoolers I am working on words with four letters {similar to my 3 letter ones} and for geography I have some flag cards coming soon! Of course, I'm always open to suggestions!

Q: How do you upload and publish documents to Scribd so they are multi-page documents. I use Microsoft Publisher to make my documents. HELP!!??!!

A: I use Microsoft Publisher also to create my documents but convert them to pdf files before uploading them to Scribd. I found a great FREE pdf converter called Cute Pdf Writer and love it! It is super-quick and simple to convert any file - you choose the 'pdf writer' as your 'printer' and it saves it as a pdf within seconds! I am then able to upload the entire document to Scribd as multi-page documents instead of page by page.

Q: How do you get a picture {thumbnail} of your document in your sidebar? Do you do it through Scribd?

A: Scribd is bypassed on this one! I actually use the 'print screen' feature on my computer and make a small graphic of the page that I want to feature. I add text using Picasa and then upload the edited graphic to Photobucket. I can use the html from there to create a button that links to the document itself.

Hope that helps you all out! Keep the questions coming - I'll do my best to answer!

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Wednesday, July 22, 2009

AHHHH!! The right code!!

I posted the wrong code for the Curriculum Clean-Out button! If you grabbed one and posted it on your site, could you update it to this please?

<center><a href="http://homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com/search/label/Curriculum%20Clean-Out" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/vv146/homeschoolcreations/curriculumcleanout175.jpg"/></a></center>


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The Places We'll Go...

I made a new form {surprise, surprise} to help me visualize our year in segments. I haven't pinpointed exactly when we're going to start...considering it would be most helpful to maybe get our schedule in place a little more before starting.

Truthfully, I'm stalling because I'm a little more nervous with figuring out a day with the three oldest. But shhhhh....



Click on the thumbnail to print off the form

I have figured out a rough plan of action and in case you were wondering what countries are in the works for this year and roughly when to expect them, here's our outline:

Weeks 1-6: Intro/review, Spain, Italy and the solar system

Weeks 7-12: New Zealand, Australia, koala bears, and South Africa

Weeks 13-18: South Africa, Kenya, and Morocco

Weeks 19-24: Nigeria, Egypt, {insert something related to Egypt here - specific, eh?}, and Brazil

Weeks 25-30: Brazil, Venezuela, Peru, and Argentina

Weeks 31-36: Argentina, Mexico, and Canada

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Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Curriculum Clean-Out! ~ The Details

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If you would like to participate in the Curriculum Clean-Out! here are a few guidelines to go by. I'll try to explain everything as best as I can, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask! No questions? Then start going through your stuff!!

What exactly IS the Curriculum Clean-Out?

Essentially, it's a blog carnival. Homeschool Creations will be the host site for all the permalinks to the various curriculum giveaways. I have quite a few extra books and homeschool things on my shelves that we won't be using, and it's a shame to have them sit and collect dust. I'm cleaning off my shelves in order to pass along some great products to other families. Other families will be cleaning off their shelves and holding giveaways on their blogs and linking back here.

What can I use as a giveaway?

Any curriculum or item for homeschooling that is in usable shape {i.e. not a workbook that only has one page empty or textbooks that are highlighted 'til the pages are see-through}. While these are freebies, we don't want to give away something that really should be thrown away.

Is there anything that is not okay to giveaway?

This isn't for coupons and entrants should not be expected to pay anything for the giveaway prize.

Do I have to giveaway something in order to enter other's giveaways?

No. Feel free to browse the links and enter as many giveaways as you would like! Anyone can play along.

Do I need to have a blog in order to enter the giveaways?

No. If you do not have a blog, but have something you would like to give away, we will have a way for you to participate using my Blog Frog community forum! You will be able to create a conversation in the forums and link it up to the giveaway post!


Who is responsible for shipping?

The person hosting the giveaway will cover the shipping costs. If you are hosting a giveaway, be sure to specify where you are willing to ship your 'prize'. Continental US only? Canada?

How will readers enter?

After linking up your blog post to the MckLinky here, your readers will enter the contest by leaving a comment ON YOUR BLOG POST.

Can I link my giveaway at any time?

Absolutely. You don't have to have your giveaway post ready the first day. You can join at any time.

Should I post pictures of my giveaway item?

If you can ~ great! If you can't, you can also link to a similar item on Amazon. If it helps your readers visualize it, that will help you out even more!

What if I want to giveaway more than one item? Do I need to have two posts?

Woohoo! If you want to create two posts, feel free to link them both up. It's up to you how you would like to run your giveaway.

Who will pick the winners?

You are responsible for choosing your winners {random.org is a great help for picking numbers} and you are responsible for notifying the winner of your giveaway. Please don't ask the entrants to check back to see if they have won. And entrants, please be sure to leave adequate contact information!

How in the world do I use MckLinky?

If you need to know how to find and use a permalink, click here. Please use your permalink and NOT the main page of your blog as your URL. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask {I'd be happy to help you out!}. I will be going through the links periodically to check and will let you know if your link needs to be changed.

What is the best way to link my giveaway?

There are several different ways you can enter your link. It would be helpful for readers to know what you are giving away to. For example:

Jolanthe {A Beka K Phonics Guide} or
A Beka K Phonics Guide {US shipping}

Is it okay for me to create my own MckLinky on my blog for the Curriculum Clean-Out?

Please link your posts to the Curriculum Clean-Out! here at Homeschool Creations. That way we have a central spot for everyone to check for the giveaways.

Are there any other requirements?

Yes. Please be sure to use the button {html link is below} or link back to the giveaway post here at Homeschool Creations. If you are not sure how to do it, here are some directions on how to create a permalink. Linking back to my site will also help other readers find other giveaways to enter.

Here is the html for a 175 x 175 button {pictured above}:

<center><a href="http://homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com/search/label/Curriculum%20Clean-Out" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/vv146/homeschoolcreations/CurriculumCleanOutButton.jpg"/></a></center>

If you have any other questions, feel free to comment and ask! Be sure to let your friends know about the upcoming giveaways!

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Monday, July 20, 2009

Curriculum Clean-Out!



From
August 2nd
- August 15th I'm hosting a curriculum 'giveaway' of sorts here. Everyone loves to win things and giveaways are fun ~ so lets do it all together!

Why? My shelves are overflowing! I have unused books and curriculum that are just lonely sitting on my shelves. They need a home that will appreciate them - and yours might just be the place for them. I'm talking about those great books that have so much life in them they are almost brand spankin' new.

You can join in! If you have some books or materials that you would like to give away, you can be a part of this! You can give away something on your blog and/or you can visit others giveaways and enter to win some great stuff!

Sound like fun? Start scouring your shelves, closets, and check under the couch for books and products you can use as giveaways. Check back soon, because I'll be posting the specifics in the next few days to answer all those questions swirling around in your head right now!

Feel free to grab the html for the button up above and start spreading the news to your friends! Here's the code:

<center><a href="http://homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com/search/label/Curriculum%20Clean-Out" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/vv146/homeschoolcreations/curriculumcleanout175.jpg"/></a></center>


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A Bite of Geography

There may come a day when our family will be world travelers, but until then we are exploring our world from the comfort of our home. We might be sprawled out on the floor using an atlas, globe, and some great literature to learn all about the world around us, but in our own way we are traveling and having a great adventure.

Read more of my post at Heart of the Matter Online...

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Saturday, July 18, 2009

Preschool Corner: A Little Late


Sorry that this is a little late in getting up. Blogger was giving me some issues and decided not to save all I had been working on...so I had to start all over again.

Next week I will be posting some more printables that I'm working on but meanwhile this week was spent traveling to visit Rick's family and also having company here with us.

Which is to say...not much in the tangible "Hey, look what we did for school this week!"

I've been meaning to share some links that I enjoy searching, so here are some fun resources for you:
  • No Time for Flashcards ~ Allie is a full-time mom who worked with preschoolers prior to her mommy days. She posts some fun and great ideas on her blog.
  • First School ~ craft ideas, lesson plans and so much to sort through
  • PreKinders ~ lessons are sorted by theme, topic, etc...cute site!
  • Preschool Express ~ Jean Warren's site has some great and amazing resources!
  • Little Giraffes ~ math, alphabet, center ideas and more...
  • It's Storytime ~ the site is broken down by theme and has book suggestions and lesson plans to help you out.
  • Everything Preschool ~ one of my favorite sites. :) Themes, lesson plans, craft pages, coloring pages...and so much more!
  • ABC and 123 ~ a newer site but it is chocked full of information and they love your input too! Katie and Katie have some great giveaways going on this summer too!
If you have any sites that you really enjoy, leave a comment with the link or link to it in your Preschool Corner post! We can all use more resources!

About the Preschool Corner:

The Preschool Corner is a place for us to share the ideas we are using during our "preschool time" with our kids. You can join in the fun and record what you are doing in your house. Please link your exact blog post to the Mr. Linky below (if you have questions feel free to ask). Be sure to link back to this blog post so that your readers can find some other great ideas too!

The guidelines can be found here if you need them.

Share what you've been doing in your house this week!

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Thursday, July 16, 2009

HOTM 2009 Conference

Were you unable to attend a local homeschool convention this year...but wish you still had the chance? Would being able to attend in your pajamas be an incentive?



Heart of the Matter 2009 Online Conference might be your answer! The conference will be from August 3-7, costs only $12.95 and here's what is in store {from HOTM site}:

* Live sessions, entirely online, with some of the homeschooling community's most popular speakers and authors.

* Free access to download and save the MP3's from all the sessions, as well as all the handouts, chat logs, and presentations.

* Participation in real-time question and answer sessions with all your favorite speakers.

* More than $200 worth of freebies in your goodie bag.

* A chance to win some amazing prizes including a $259 Rosetta Stone software package, a complete Workbox System including shelf and boxes (value $85), and products from Lego...we have over $700 worth of giveaways!

* The opportunity to make some new life-long friends and experience some fun and fellowship.

Be sure to head over and check it out!

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Friday, July 10, 2009

Preschool Corner: Vacation Version

This week has been a whirlwind of activity while we were packing up to travel to visit grandparents and traveling. So there was nothing done.

Other than reading. And enjoying the beautiful weather. And swimming. Or the children's museum.

Nothing but fun...and what might actually be considered a 'break' from school. A new concept for summer, I know. :)

While we're traveling I'm hauling along planning materials to work on next year's plans. Now that I've officially finished printing off my planner I can start the REAL fun! Since we're going to be using workboxes, I've been having fun making forms and pulling together ideas for those in the upcoming year.

But don't let my sitting back and {semi} resting hold you back! Please, please, please share what you all are doing! I have loved visiting your blogs and meeting all you ladies that are new to joining up each week! Link away!

About the Preschool Corner:

The Preschool Corner is a place for us to share the ideas we are using during our "preschool time" with our kids. You can join in the fun and record what you are doing in your house. Please link your exact blog post to the Mr. Linky below (if you have questions feel free to ask). Be sure to link back to this blog post so that your readers can find some other great ideas too!

The guidelines can be found here if you need them.

Share what you've been doing in your house this week!



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Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Centering Blog Sidebar Buttons

You know those cute little buttons over in people's sidebars? You know how when you put one in your sidebar sometimes it might be centered in the sidebar....or all the way over to the left of the column....and then they end up all funky looking? Or maybe you put them on your sidebar and they all clump together with no spaces between them?

Does it drive you nuts? Well, it drives me nuts and I get a little, ummmm...particular about having things 'just so'. 'Cause I'm just picky like that.

If you want to center those buttons in your sidebar, be sure to add the following html code when you copy/paste their button code:

Place this before the code: <center>

And place this after: </center>

If you would like to add some spaces between your blog buttons here's a quick and easy way. Between the two codes at the following: <p></p>

Quick and simple....now go fix your sidebars!


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Saturday, July 4, 2009

Tot School ::27::


~ Kaleb is 32 months ~

We got back into a better routine this week and had a great time making 4th of July crafts {go figure} and just having fun! Here was the layout for the week:

Tuesday: 4 pc. block puzzles, 4th of July shaker, 4th of July hat
Wednesday: star painting/stamping, Wii, color card sorting
Thursday: Children's Museum with grandmother so Mommy could CLEAN
Friday: building w/ colored blocks, scrunchies on a stick, coffee filter 'fireworks'

Some of our pictures {and from the looks of it, you'd think Kaleb only wears orange, eh?}

The 4th of July hats and 'sparklers' we made were a HUGE hit with all the kids, but Kaleb kept his on the entire time we watched the parade. Some foam sheets and duct tape is all it takes to make kids happy!



Our cookie cutters get so much use {HA!}, so we pulled them out this week along with our red and blue paint to make some star prints/stencils with all the kids. Kaleb was MOST thrilled to paint...he loves, loves, loves it and cries every time we put it away {while Mommy rejoices that the mess is cleaned up!}.



We've been playing Wii carnival and Kaleb was given a remote this time and did great on the horse races...no, we're not raising a future horse racer...but he was too stinkin' cute flapping that remote up and down as fast as he could!



I have some great colored building blocks and we had fun seeing how tall we could stack the blocks before Kaleb chose to knock them down. He also imitated building arches with me...his, not so much an arch.



Kaleb's favorite game {and he's getting rather quick!} is putting scrunchies on a stick from one of our other games. I love it because we name colors as he does it and he also get to work on some fine motor skills.



That's it for this week! Don't forget to visit Carissa at 1+1+1=1 for some more Tot School posts. If you are participating I'll hopefully get a chance to stop by and visit you too!


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Friday, July 3, 2009

Preschool Corner: 4th of July Style



Since I have done little {if anything} over the past few years to celebrate the 4th of July with the kids, THIS was apparently my week to shove holiday activities to the front and make up for years gone by.



We picked up a book by Sheri Dean called Fourth of July {Our Country's Holidays}, a book from the Weekly Reader Early Learning Library. It was simple enough for Zachary to follow and explained how Independence Day came to be and the different ways Americans celebrate the holiday.

Other activities from this week:

~ We worked on learning the Pledge of Allegiance

~ We made some fun hats and sparklers to wear at the parade on Saturday



~ Used cookie cutters and paint to make star prints



~ Made 'flower fireworks' to hang from our dining room light using markers, coffee filters, pipe cleaners, and some water. These turned out so neat and are basically tye-dyeish. CUTE!



~ Tried to draw Uncle Sam....but Zachary got a little distracted and just drew a boy. :)



If you didn't happen to catch my post with Fourth of July resources, there are some great links for Independence Day activities for your kids. :)

We're still working on our "School's Out Challenge" which is going GREAT with all the kids, but Zachary has worked his way through about 2/3 of the chart so far!! Yeah for incentives!!

Books we used

About the Preschool Corner:

The Preschool Corner is a place for us to share the ideas we are using during our "preschool time" with our kids. You can join in the fun and record what you are doing in your house. Please link your exact blog post to the Mr. Linky below (if you have questions feel free to ask). Be sure to link back to this blog post so that your readers can find some other great ideas too!

The guidelines can be found here if you need them.

Share what you've been doing in your house this week! {Just a note: I'm trying out the MckLinky this week to see how it works...so we're learning together on this one!}.



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