Thursday, April 30, 2015

Field Trip #168 Friday Blog Hop

Field Trip Friday!
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Blog Hop designed to share 'FIELD TRIP' related Blog Posts

(does not have to be a 'home school field trip', can be any trip to any place with your children!)

**NOTE:  Before linking up please review guidelines HERE

 

    The kids still enjoy attending Past Times History Classes at the Carroll County Historical Society.  This was their 3rd class this year.  This class they read Pancakes, Pancakes by Eric Carle.  They made pancakes, as well as other activities.  The craft at the end was a paper plate pie pan with a pancake to flip!  They brought home baskets of produce as well! 
    PicMonkey Collage

C has technically aged out, but she still lets him come.  Classes are the 3rd Saturday of each month.  It’s $6 per class or 6 classes or $30 if paid in advance. 

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

ABCs of Homeschooling with The Schoolhouse Review Crew

ABCs of Homeschooling Essentials

Starts Tomorrow!

Be sure to check back each Thursday and Saturday from April 30th to July 26th for lots of great ABC Homeschooling fun with my pals at The Schoolhouse Review Crew!
I’ll be featured for W – bet you can’t guess what I’m writing about Winking smile

Workbox Wednesday–Animal Trackers Club–Gazelle (FREE Printables)

Chestnut Grove Academy
 

Welcome to Workbox Wednesday!  If you use workboxes, tot trays, or anything similar, feel free to post a link to your blog post or a picture (pictures can be from facebook, but please make sure they are PUBLIC so we can see them, or use a host like photobucket.com to get a URL for your photo) that shows WHAT IS IN YOUR BOXES!

Also appropriate:  Free Printables or other fun activities that could easily be used or adapted for workboxes! 

Please visit my co-host at Tots and Me and Line Upon Line Learning

Visit others that link up, leave comments, follow, etc.  The favors will be returned!  Feel free to grab a button too, so others can find the link up and join in the fun!

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Not Pictured are the activities included in the package from Animal Trackers Club!

You can get these printables (and others) FREE by subscribing to my newsletter!
The Safari Pack has a coupon for Animal Trackers Club! Don’t miss it!

PicMonkey Collage

PicMonkey Collage

Gazelles (Jump!)
Lion vs. Gazelle (Predator Vs. Prey)
The Enchanted Gazelle (Once Upon a World)
The Tale of The Arabian Gazelle
The Swift Gazelle Can Run Quite Well: Grassland Animals (Animal World)

Want to see more of our Animal Trackers activities:

Initial Review
Printables for Month #1
Activities for Month #2 & #3
Printables for Month #4

Disclaimer:  I receive a discount on this product in exchange for featuring it in my post. Animal Trackers Club is also a paid sponsor of this blog.  Affiliate links are used in this post.  All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family.  I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC Regulations.

 

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Review: La La Logic (TOS Review)

PicMonkey Collage

I've removed the link for this product because I've been informed that it no longer goes to the actual curriculum, but may now be a site inappropriate for children.  My filters blocked it when I went to confirm this, so decided it'd be better to just delete the site.  It's a pity because it was a great little curriculum.

For this review I used La La Logic’s Preschool Curriculum with my 4 year old.  La La Logic is an online based preschool curriculum that is based on logic.  It incorporates online games (which work on tablets), printable hands on worksheets, and other enrichment activities.
The program is designed for one lesson a week, one activity a day, 5 days a week.  However, you could do it quicker, particularly with older children.  It is recommended for ages 3-6 years of age and includes 100 weeks of lessons.
We took the one lesson a week approach, typically breaking the lesson up over 3 days.  The first day would be the online game portion (Brain Challenge), the 2nd day was the Extension Activity, and the 3rd day was the Worksheet.  Though sometimes the order varied. 
My son really enjoyed the online portion, though wished it was longer.  (There is an option to just do consecutive online lessons (called Continuous Brain Challenge Mode) and you can also repeat specific subject areas for extra practice.  I tried it with my 6 year old, he found it too easy, BUT did enjoy the Continuous Brain Challenge Mode, as opposed to the individual lessons.  He also would sit in on some of the Extension Activities. 
Brain Challenge activities consist of finding patterns, counting, solving puzzles, matching, etc…  The worksheet would generally be related to one of the activities completed in Brain Challenge (or similar), cutting and gluing were typically part of the worksheet activity. The Extension Activities consisted of reading stories, having children summarize or repeat stories, answering comprehension questions, playing games, etc…
La La Logic Review
Examples of Brain Challenge Mode
La La Logic Review
Examples of worksheets
Each week you log in to the program and print that week’s schedule, worksheet and extension activities.  There is a place in the program to type notes at the end of each week, and a box to check when completed.  This is great for keeping track of where you are at in your lessons.  I didn’t find that I needed the note box at all, but can appreciate it’s usefulness.   
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Activities pictured above are a few of the ones we completed during this review period.  They consist of the Brain Challenge games with the iPad, exchange ‘cookies’ for pennies with a cute poem, cutting out and sorting animals by similar characteristics, cutting out and matching animals with their shadows, dotting (or coloring) shapes a color as directed, cutting out pictures of shoes and matching them into pairs, and bottom right we are playing a game of passing the pen with our toes!  These are just a few of the activities we did!
My son really enjoyed this program.  I love the enrichment/hands on activities as well as the online aspect.  The cutting was a bit difficult for him, but was good practice.  The shapes are not always straight lines to cut, so that was hard, he did much better on the straight lined objects.  The worksheets are not in color, which saves on ink, but also makes them a bit bland.  Not a big deal, but I would have loved to have had a color option!  I love that the lessons are short, preschool need not be labor intensive, just a few short lessons a week!  It can stand alone as a preschool program or be added on to another program. 
The price is right!  It’s $29 for a Lifetime Membership and can track up to 5 children.  You can get a free trial and there is a 30 day money back guarantee!  A

As an Early Childhood Education major, I think this is a quality program for young kids!  I will continue to use this program, and since it’s a lifetime membership, I can use with subsequent children as well! 
La La Logic Review
Crew Disclaimer
Social Media:
http://www.facebook.com/lalalogic

Monday, April 27, 2015

Poppins Book Nook–Usborne Books and Farm Activities

Poppins Book Nook
<div align="center"><a href="http://enchantedhomeschoolingmom.org/2014/02/poppins-book-nook/" title="Poppins Book Nook"><img src="http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/n597/enchantedhomeschoolingmom/ProfileImage_zpse3f27ae8.png" alt="Poppins Book Nook" style="border:none;" /></a></div>
Grab the code above to come and link up each month and share what YOU do with the theme!  We look forward to hearing from you!


This Year’s Co-hosts

PicMonkey Collage


Gobble, Gobble, Moooooo Tractor Book
Noisy Farm
Peek Inside the Farm
Farm Fun
1001 Things to Spot on the Farm
1001 Things to Spot on the Farm Sticker Book
Busy Farm
Flippy Floppy Farm Animals
Complete Book of Farmyard Tales (C/V) + CD
On the Farm
Wipe-Clean Farm Activities


Here are some FUN workbox ideas for Tots and Preschoolers
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Down on the Farm Bundle Giveaway! Swing your partner round and round and come on down to the farm this month with the Poppins Book Nook! Every month this group will be offering readers a chance to win a brand new storybook or product that ties in with our theme for the month. This month one lucky entrant will win the Down on the Farm Bundle. The winner will enjoy two fun farm themed learning items. The two items that they will win is the Farming storybook by author Gail Gibbons and Safari Ltd Farm Babies TOOB. Let the farm themed learning fun begin!
Entrants must be 18 years or older and reside in a country that receives U.S. Postal mail. This giveaway is brought to you by the company Enchanted Homeschooling Mom who is owner and founder of the Poppins Book Nook. By entering this giveaway you are also acknowledging that you have read and agree to all of the PromoSimple terms & conditions as well as Enchanted Homeschooling Mom's disclosures found here {http://enchantedhomeschoolingmom.org/disclosures/}. 
Just enter the PromoSimple below to win
















Mother’s Day #Giveaway, $100 Target GC and Ju-Ju-Be! 6 Winners!

It's finally here! I'm super excited to be working with some pretty awesome ladies in order to bring you this AMAZING giveaway. As most of us are mothers ourselves, we know many of the challenges and rewards that come along with being a mama. So we thought it would be great if we could bless several of our readers with some awesome prizes this Mother's Day! This giveaway just-so-happens to feature two amazing things: Target & Ju-Ju-Be! Ju-Ju-Be make high-quality diaper bags and accessories, and their "coin purses" are prefect for helping to organize your purse or diaper bag. And of course, who can't think of a way to spend $100 at Target?!? There are SIX prizes we're giving away in total, and I'm confident any of them would make for a great Mother's Day for yourself or someone you love.




Saturday, April 25, 2015

Share it Saturday!

Share it Saturday- final

Please visit my co-hosts:

Colleen & Leann from Sugar Aunts
Mary Catherine from Fun-a-Day
Devany from Still Playing School

Guest Hosting for April
Emily at Mom on the Move

If your interested in joining us as a Share It Saturday host, please contact me!

Check out our Share It Saturday Pinterest Board!

Each week I will highlight a few previously linked posts.  Visit my co-hosts to see how they “Share It Saturday”

Highlights from last week:

Easy DIY Pool Noodle Garden for Pretend Play          paint blot craft to go with It Looked Like Spilt Milk book

Friday, April 24, 2015

Week 36 in Review

week

Last weekend:  The kids had history class at the historical society (pictures coming next week!).  Hubby spent the day doing an orienteering activity with the Young Men and Young Women of our church, then helped someone move.  We had the Sister Missionaries over for dinner on Sunday (always fun!).

Monday:  We worked on our Lewis and Clark Unit Study, and then in the evening I signed the 2 oldest up for swim team this summer! 

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Tuesday:  We started our Earth Day unit by watching Magic School Bus and Schoolhouse Rock. 

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Wednesday:  More Earth Day fun!

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Thursday:  Co-op, we missed it last time, was nice to be back!  We brought cupcakes to celebrate Zs birthday!

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Friday:  Swimming and light school day.  It’s Zs birthday, we have a talent show tonight and I think we’ll take the kids to Pizza Hut to spend their Book Its!

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6 years ago – Happy 6th Birthday Z!!

Family is coming Saturday for Zs birthday, hoping the weather holds out…they are calling for rain Saturday night.

This was a rough week, I’ve had a major bout of PMS or something, and some horrible hip pain, which finally seems to have stopped after taking lots of NSAIDs all week.  I’ve been crabby, the kids have been crabby.  Two nights baby girl did not sleep well, so I didn’t get much sleep….and it’s just been rough!  I’m so ready for the weekend!  Hoping for a better week next week!!!  This one was emotionally brutal!  But sometimes there are days/weeks like that….I still wouldn’t trade it!  Open-mouthed smile

Link Ups this week -

Workbox Wednesday – Earth Day
Field Trip Friday – Zoo
Share it Saturday

Post you might have missed -

Deals!!

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Next week:

I’ve got some giveaways and more reviews over the next 2 weeks…as well as some more FREE Printables for Animal Trackers {Gazelles} and More Chinese Worksheets coming up!  So Stay Tuned! 

Linking up at:

and Weekly Wrap up with Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers Blog

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Thursday, April 23, 2015

Field Trip #167 Friday Blog Hop–Maryland Zoo

Field Trip Friday!
Photobucket
Blog Hop designed to share 'FIELD TRIP' related Blog Posts

(does not have to be a 'home school field trip', can be any trip to any place with your children!)

**NOTE:  Before linking up please review guidelines HERE

 

    zoo

This wasn’t our first time to the zoo, but it was so much fun with K being a bit older and more aware.  We got to practice the signs she has been learning, and c got to see the animals he has been studying in Animal Trackers Club

It was a beautiful day and Oh so crowded (for a weekday), I was a bit disappointed about that, apparently lots of schools had field trips that day!

This will be our last trip for probably a year, I plan to get passes again when we hit life science the next school year (2016-2017).  Though Homeschoolers can get in free if scheduled as a field trip at least 2 weeks in advance, and they have homeschool classes….so maybe we won’t need a pass??!!  I did not know all this when I bought passes the first time, right after moving here.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Workbox Wednesday–Earth Day

Chestnut Grove Academy
 

Welcome to Workbox Wednesday!  If you use workboxes, tot trays, or anything similar, feel free to post a link to your blog post or a picture (pictures can be from facebook, but please make sure they are PUBLIC so we can see them, or use a host like photobucket.com to get a URL for your photo) that shows WHAT IS IN YOUR BOXES!

Also appropriate:  Free Printables or other fun activities that could easily be used or adapted for workboxes! 

Please visit my co-host at Tots and Me and Line Upon Line Learning

Visit others that link up, leave comments, follow, etc.  The favors will be returned!  Feel free to grab a button too, so others can find the link up and join in the fun!

earth day

See also these EARTH Themed Activities from our Earth Science unit.  We are repeated some of this activities from last year, and using some of the same printables. 

More FREE Printables:

10 Earth Day Freebies for Little Learners (#1, #2,#4, #7,#9) from Educents
Earth Day FREE from Teacher’s Pay Teachers
Earth Day Fun by Embark on the Journey
Earth Day: The World We Live In Emergent Reader from Teacher’s Pay Teachers

Streaming:

Netflix – Schoolhouse Rock Earth
Netflix - Magic School Bus – Holiday Special:  Recycling – Season 3, Episode 10

We will also be watching a few videos from Visual Learning Systems that are Earth Science related and doing the worksheets and projects.

In the Boxes:

Using the free printables above, here are a few that I added to or tweaked a bit for our boxes (others are just as they were printed).

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Instead of dotted dice, I use numbered dice so they have to add, instead of count!

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For these subtraction cards, I added earth shaped erasers as manipulatives, I didn’t include the answer cards, instead he can write the answer with dry erase marker! 

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For younger kids, use this sheet (R) as a magnet page with pompom magnets!

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For Life of Fred we are doing counting by 5s, so this was a perfect one to throw in!

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I included the cards for the ABC order so he can put them in order and then copy, and he is going to love this cursive copy sheet!

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Some science project fun with The Magic School Bus: Going Green and Tedcotoys Recycling Kids Educational Science Activity Kit

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Added some M&D stickers to find the Es to accent this page

We are doing some other fun stuff from the free printables listed above!  C is going to be surprised I replaced almost every subject with an Earth Day themed activity! 

And before Z even knew it was Earth Day, he requested an Earth birthday cake for his birthday…so that will be a project this week too!