Pages

Saturday, June 27, 2020

Homeschool Highlights 6/22/20 - 6/26/20

Sunday was Silas's birthday! He turned 10 years old! We went to church and Titus was given a Bible and his baptism certificate. We had my parents over for lunch to celebrate Father's Day with my dad and Silas's birthday. I made lasagna, corn, and garlic bread and an ooey-gooey cake for dessert! My mother-in-law and her husband came over for cake and ice cream and presents. Silas got some more horses and cows for his collection! Last week in Texas, he also picked out a new cowboy hat and a few bulls. Eli also got his presents (Thursday was his birthday). He got a new basketball, some Nike shirts, some Under Armor socks he likes, some cash, and an Xbox gift card.



He searched through his Illustrated Cow Encyclopedia until he identified which breed this cow was that he got for his birthday!
Monday Mikaela started her new job! She worked from 8-4. She likes it but says it is exhausting being on your feet all day. We did a bit of school, starting back with Morning Time. Morning Time is such a great way to start out days! We read the Bible first, and we started reading "Grandpa's Box". I also let the kids each read a poem aloud from one of our poetry books for kids. It's actually for little kids, but reading poetry aloud is such a great way to work on reading skills. They also love it! We will be adding in "Road Trip USA" soon.


Tuesday Mikaela worked again from 8-4. She got to decorate cakes and really enjoyed that! I had to mail some Tot Boxes and other products. I'm having so much fun making these! We did some school. The boys watched a video in Experience Astronomy. They were supposed to go outside and draw the sun and shadows, but it was too cloudy. We worked in the garden and picked some more tomatoes, cucumbers, banana peppers, and bell peppers.

Wednesday Mikaela was off! We went to my uncle's house to swim and ate pizza. Mikaela, Zeke, and I ran to the bigger town about 30 miles away to get some more items for my Tot School in a Box kits. I was also out of laminating pouches.We came back home and tried to organize my supplies! We got three more tot boxes ready to mail and started working on the newest one. Then we settled down to watch Chicago Med (my favorite show!). I went to bed about 8:30.


Thursday was Eli's birthday! I made his him own bowl of puppy chow (Muddy Buddies) since we had cake on Sunday. Mikaela had to work 12-7. I ran to town to mail three more Tot Boxes and pick up a few things before she left for work. We didn't do much the rest of the day because it was raining off and on.
Found this picture on my phone! 

Friday morning my computer crashed! I spent a frantic morning trying to buy a new computer and get my printer connected to it. I took Zeke to my mom's after his nap so I could get some things done! He had a great time and I got quite a bit of my to-do list done. My parents took Eli bowling for his birthday and he spent the night over there. That's why my Homeschool Highlights post is late - I've been trying to get everything back that I lost and am having no luck.

Here are a few shots of Zeke's Tot Trays this week:


He loves this felt puzzle I made for him!

Such great fine motor practice matching the craft sticks to the correct cups and sliding them in the slits I made in the bottom of the cups.


Putting straws in the hole in a plastic container was a win! He did this several times. He didn't like threading the straws on the pipecleaners though.



I made Zeke a simple sensory tray with pinto beans, tractors, and farm animals.



Working on learning shapes!

He loved putting stickers on the ice cream cone worksheet I created for him!


How was your week?


You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter



Friday, June 19, 2020

Tot School Ideas Using Goldfish! Plus a FREEBIE!



What toddler doesn't like goldfish? Even my 15 year old son eats them! Today I'm going to share 5 ways to use goldfish crackers in your Tot School. I'm also offering a FREEBIE!

1.) GOLDFISH COLOR SORTING
This is pretty self-explanatory! You can use my Goldfish Color Sorting FREEBIE or you can just make piles. Help your child sort colored goldfish into four colors - yellow, orange, red, and green! Practice saying the color names while you do this. I also have a color graph you can use to graph the different colors.


2.) GOLDFISH PATTERNS
Use my Goldfish Pattern Cards with a bag of colored goldfish. I have AB, AAB, ABB, and ABC patterns in these cards! You could also just make patterns for your toddler to copy or finish!

3.) GOLDFISH COUNTING
You can use my Goldfish Counting Cards to work on counting from 1 - 10. The "baby" goldfish work best on these cards, but you can use regular size as well! You could always write the numbers on index cards and have your child count out the goldfish!

4.) GOLDFISH ADDING
Use my Goldfish Addition Cards to add goldfish. I kept it simple with only a few addition problems, such as 1 + 1 and 2+2. Teach the concept of adding by placing a goldfish on each fish in the fishbowl on the cards. Count the fish. You could also use three small bowls to illustrate the concept of addition.


5.) GOLDFISH SIZE SORTING
You will need two different kinds of Goldfish for this activity - the "baby" goldfish and the regular size. Give your child a small bowl with a mixture of mini and regular size goldfish. Show him how sort them on the mat or into two piles - small and large. Work on the concept as well as vocabulary of "small" and "big".

Click HERE to get your Goldfish Color Sorting Mat for free, and click HERE to buy the entire digital set for $1.50 from my Etsy shop or I'll mail you the physical set, already laminated and cut apart, for $10.00!

What are some ways you've used goldfish in your toddler school?

Homeschool Highlights - 6/15/20 - 6/19/20

Saturday we went bowling again! Silas has a birthday on Sunday, so we stopped by Tractor Supply and let him pick out some more cows and horses for his collection. He also got a new cowboy hat since his was getting out of shape. Not many kids ask to go to Tractor Supply for their birthday, but he loves working with the cows and wants to be just like his daddy when he grows up.






Monday we spent traveling home from Texas to Louisiana. It is about a 9 hour drive! Zeke was so good and didn't cry at all, compared to the trip to Texas when he cried and got carsick several times.

Tuesday Mikaela had her doctor's appointment, so we had to drive again. It's an hour and a half drive to the doctor's office! (We live very in a very rural area.) She had her anatomy ultrasound and everything looks great! Afterwards we stopped at McAllister's Deli and ate lunch, then did a little bit of shopping. 


Wednesday morning Silas and Titus watched their first video in an astronomy course that we're reviewing. Then Titus worked on his literature guide on "A New Coat for Anna." My father-in-law then picked up Mercie, Silas, and Titus and took them to the livestock auction in a neighboring town. They love going to the auction, especially when they get to buy cows!
Mikaela watched Zeke while I ran to town and ran a few errands, including delivering two of my Tot School in a Box kits and mailing another one. Then she had a job interview! She got her first real job working at our local grocery store in the Deli. She starts on Monday.

When the kids got home from the auction, they worked in their stem kits from Pitsco Education. Mercie was making a maze, Silas was working on a birdhouse, and Titus was using materials to build a large structure.


Thursday Mikaela picked her car up from the shop (her back window had gotten broken by the lawn mower) and took Mercie to her friend's house for a sleepover. She is also going to be feeding the friend's mother's dogs and cleaning her house next week while they are going to be gone.

Titus finished his literature guide and baked a Silver Cake, which was one of the activities to do after reading the book. It was very sweet but delicious! He had a blast using the electric mixer.

Titus and Silas made a Shoe Box Planetarium (using an Eggo box) for their astronomy course. We took it into the closet and shined a flashlight through the hole and watched as the constellation Leo was projected onto the ceiling. It was pretty neat!
Mercie did her first lesson in IEW, another review product that I think we are going to love! Mikaela and Eli both worked on CTC Math this week.
I was assigned to review My Father's World, the 2nd and 3rd grade curriculum, which I am going to use with Titus. So I've been scrambling trying to get a few things changed for him because it includes math and language arts! It is actually going to save me quite a bit of money, because I am ordering the other kid's curriculum today. I was able to take out his math and language arts since I will be receiving some from My Father's World.

Zeke had several fun Tot Trays this week! Here are a few pictures.






I still have several Tot School in a Box kits left! Click on the menu above and choose "Tot School in a Box" for more details. Visit my Etsy shop - link in the sidebar - and take a look at the products I've listed this week.


Our garden is producing like crazy! We have so many green tomatoes and I counted seven watermelon that aren't ready yet. Look at these cucumbers! We have banana peppers, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, and some tomatoes ready.

How was your week?


You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter



Wednesday, June 17, 2020

The Mayflower at Cape Cod

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

Unit studies are always fun ways to sneak in extra learning, especially during the summer! I was eager to use "The Mayflower at Cape Cod: Stories, Activities, and Research That Connects 1620 With Life Today" by Rebecca Locklear with my rising 7th, 5th, and 3rd graders. I knew it would be a great addition to our summer learning!

"The Mayflower at Cape Cod" is a 7-lesson unit study on the Pilgrim survival story - the time before they settled at Plymouth. Each lesson begins with a Story which is around three pages and includes full-color maps and photos. 


The lessons are:
  1. The First Encounter between Pilgrims and Native Indians
  2. Exploration Overview
  3. The Mayflower Landing at Cape Cod
  4. Search Expeditions
  5. Native Indians
  6. After the First Encounter
  7. Present Awareness

Following the Story is a list of Activities. These activities range from discussions to art projects to poetry to cooking! There are several pages of activities listed to go along with the Story.

After the Activities, there is a page of Research Topics for the lesson. Your child can choose one or two topics to research, or you can assign all of the topics if you are going in-depth with the unit study!

Following the Lessons, there are four Appendices. Appendix A is "A Chronology of Events of Cape Cod" and consists of a timeline from September 6, 1620 - December 16, 1620. Appendix B is a short list of "Mayflower Statistics", and Appendix C contains the answers to the questions in the lessons. Appendix D is "Seafood and Game Cards" to be used with Lesson 5.

HOW DID WE USE THIS?

We completed three lessons during this review period. I would read the Story to the kids, and then we would choose several activities to complete over the week. We chose not to do the extra research topics at this time. 

In Lesson 1, we learned why the Pilgrims left Europe, where they landed, and what the "first encounter" was. We looked at a painting of the First Encounter and discussed the things that were wrong with the painting compared to the facts we learned. This was pretty fun, and the kids really remembered much more than I expected! 

The next day, we drew a picture of what a Pilgrim may have seen from the Mayflower when it anchored, and how they may have felt. The kids did a great job on this one!
Some of the research topics included were "Ships and Flowers: Why did the British name ships after flowers? Both the Mayflower and Speedwell are flower names. When did the British name other ships after flowers?" and "Weapons: Examine English light armor, muskets, or swords of the 1600s. How were Native bows and arrows made in the 1600s? How did bow design change into the next century? Find out about obsidian arrowheads made by Native people in the West."

In Lesson 2, we learned a quick overview of the Age of Discovery in the 1400s, 1500s, and 1600s. While I read the Story, the kids one of the activities listed - "Note-taking Through Drawing." We folded a sheet of paper into 9 squares, a 3 x 3 grid, and listed the 1400s, 1500s, and 1600s at the top of each row. After I read each section in the story for the century, the kids and I discussed what to draw in each square and then they drew it before I read the next section. They really liked this activity!
The next day they had to pretend they were moving overseas and could only take 100 items with them. Each item of clothing counted as one item, but they didn't have to include food or some furniture. They also loved doing this, and their list was pretty eye-opening to them! At first they didn't think they would be able to list 100 things, but it didn't take long to fill up the list! 

Some of the research topics included were "Slavery: Slavery is not unique to America. Colonists didn't invent slavery. Research Spanish galley slaves of the 1600s, and write a newspaper article about being sent to a place that was considered "worse than death." and "Tides: Explain how high and low tides are caused by the moon and why tides are higher with a New Moon and Full Moon. Then describe the tidal changes in Cape Cod Bay."

In Lesson 3, we read about the Pilgrims landing on Cape Cod and the Mayflower Compact. The first activity we did was have a discussion on being a "separatist" and how hard it is to go against the grain! We talk about this quite a bit as a family anyway, but it was nice to talk about it with the younger kids and hear their point of views and experiences. When I asked them if they had ever had to "go against the grain" they immediately thought of Halloween and Easter! We don't celebrate either holiday (we do celebrate Resurrection Day) or participate in any of the traditional activities like trick or treating, dressing up, egg hunts, and things like that. They talked about how it's hard sometimes to see their friends and cousins do those things when they can't, but they also know that we choose not to do these things because of our religious beliefs. It's even hard for me sometimes to go against the grain!

I also had them design a commemorative postage stamp based on the Mayflower Compact. They did a great job!

Some of the research topics for this lesson were "Oil Lamps: As the alternative to candles, what did oil lamps look like in the 1600s? What animal fats were used as fuel and how were they obtained? What plants were also used for fuel?" and "Food on Land: Some birds the Pilgrims killed while on Cape Cod in the winter months included partridges, geese, and ducks. Learn how to prepare one of the fowl for eating. Document with photos."

WHAT DID WE THINK?

I really like this study! It is very well-written, and the Stories are engaging and interesting! We all learned so much just from the first three lessons. I also love her choice of activities! There was a nice selection to choose from, although it was hard to choose just a few! There were activities for my art-loving daughter, my talkative, creative thinking son, and my quiet and thoughtful son. They all really enjoyed the activities! I was also impressed with the list of research topics. There was such a variety and they were all thought-provoking and interesting. I highly recommend this unit study! It could be used as a 7-week study or you could definitely extend it to last a lot longer by incorporating the research topics! It is listed for grades 6-12, but even my 3rd and 5th grader got quite a bit from it! It is available as a 74-page digital download for $8.50, which is a great deal!

Sign up for Rebecca's newletter by clicking HERE! Click the banner below to read more reviews on this study as well as Exploring the U.S. Life-Saving Service 1878-1915: 17 Student Workshops with 120 Activities! 
***