Homeschooling

Back to School Tips and Tricks

August 31, 2015 By Thaleia Leave a Comment

While my family and I are still in Summer vacation mode, most of the local school districts have started back to school or will be in the next week or two. What better way to start a new school year then with some back to school tips and tricks.

back to school tips and tricks

Fun Back to School FIRST Day Ideas-

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL PRINTABLES from Carrie Elle
Free printable First Day of School signs (PreK to College) from Gift of Curiosity
10 Memorable 1st Day of School Keepsakes – Artsy Momma
Printable Keepsake to record first and last days of school memories – My Sister’s Suitcase

Creative Ways to Save Money on School Supplies & Clothing-

5 Easy Ways to Save on School Supplies from Saving Sarah
DIY School Supplies Using Recycled Materials from 3 Boys and a Dog
Save money during Tax Free Weekends from Something 2 Offer
Back to School Clothes on a Tight Budget from The Jenny Revolution
School Supply Scavenger Hunt from B Inspired Mama
DIY Back-to-School Homework “To-Do” Notepad – The Idea Room

Quick and Easy School Supply Personalization-

3 Easy Ways to DIY Your Notebook from hand made kids art
Free Printables Backpack Checklists from JDaniel’s 4 Mom
water bottle labels from Mom Endeavors

Coping with First Day Jitters and Tears-

First Day of School Interview from Pleasantest Thing

Ten Top Tips For Getting Ready for School from The Mud Kitchen
Separation Anxiety and dealing with Tears from the Mud Kitchen
Lunch box Jokes from A Mom with a Lesson Plan
First Week Back to School: What Teachers Want Parents to Know
A Back to School Prayer for our Kids – I Can Teach my Child
A Back To School themed dinner for setting goals– Dating Divas

Back to School Book Resources-

Great books for Preschool to 6th grade -KC Edventures

Back to School Breakfast Resources

Healthy Smoothie Recipes from Reviews, Chews & How-to’s

Back to School Lunch Resources

August 28, 2015 By Thaleia 9 Comments

Not sure if your students are back to school or not but most of the kids around us are. We homeschool and aren’t quite ready to start officially just yet but we can still use a nice list of back to school lunch resources no matter what time of year it is. Everyone’s gotta eat right?

Back to School Lunch Resources-

Lunch Box Must Haves – Life, Love, and Thyme

5 Easy Ways to Make a Healthy Lunch -The Jenny Evolution
Free Printable Lunchbox Notes with Cow Jokes for Kids – Fantastic Fun and Learning
Pencil Box Lunch Box – Life, Love and Thyme
How To Pack a School Lunch Printable – While He Was Napping
Lunch Ideas w/many healthy options – Meet the Dubiens

Teaching Kids to Pack a Lunch – Rage Against the Minivan

Lunch Box Riddle Jokes – A Mom with a Lesson Plan!

School Lunch Notes – Reasons to Skip Housework

Little Miss Spider – Keitha’s Chaos

The Sneetches – Bento School Lunches

Pinkalicious – Bent On Better Lunches

The Giving Tree – Becoming a Bentoholic

The Very Hungry Caterpillar – Eats Amazing

Free Printable Lunchbox Jokes -Paging Supermom
Tales of My First Lunch Box & Printable Notes – A Little Claireification

Felt Leaf Number Line Activity

August 27, 2015 By Thaleia 2 Comments

Does is feel like Fall in your neck of the woods? The local school district started school this week and temperatures have been 20 degrees cooler overnight then the last few weeks. I felt it was perfect to introduce a new fall counting activity to Big Red as part of Kindergarten. What could be more prefect then a felt leaf number line activity?

I had bought a handful of packages of some super cute felt leaves from the Dollar Tree a couple of years ago. I say a couple but probably bought more like 6 packages to divide and swap. I made an upper and lower case alphabet match game and still had enough big red leaves for more activities. I saw a border number line near our school desk and immediately thought of sharing the Montessori version of a number line with Big Red.

I grabbed a pair of scissors and cut the 1-10 strip into 1-5 to start since we only had a small table to work on. I also didn’t have enough time to count the leaves to be sure I had enough to do the entire line. I’ll be honest I just wanted a quick activity that would keep my boys learning and occupied!

I want to try a number line activity again with smaller counting items so they don’t “run into each other”. I try to keep things real and FRUGAL! So use what you have. Grab a piece of paper and a pen and write the number line out if you don’t have a fancy border like mine. Have the kids collect sticks or rocks from the yard or neighborhood if you don’t have felt leaves or store-bought items. Don’t let a small budget keep you from finding ways to teach your children new things!

Stay tuned over the next few weeks for more Fall themed activities as well as a Kindergarten blog post round-up! If you need more Fall activities TODAY then check out the following for some super quick and easy ideas:

Simple Fall Busy Bags

10 Fall Tot Trays

Free Apple Printable plus lots more Apple posts

10 Apple Tot Tray Ideas

Fun Ways to Play with Natural ABC’s

August 21, 2015 By Thaleia

Welcome to Day 5 in our five day series about fun ways to play with ABC’s. I’m so glad you are with us today to see what you can do with natural materials while you play with the alphabet. What could be more fun then using natural materials to learn your letters!

Today I am going to share the rock ABC manipulates that we made. I had to cheat and buy the rocks because I forgot to have the kids collect enough on vacation that they didn’t care about to allow mommy to use. You can check out how we played with our Homemade Alphabet Stones.

Fun Ways to Play with Natural Material ABC

We hope you join us each day this week as we share some fun ideas for handmade ABC’s, Seasonal ABC‘s, Sensory ABC‘s, Natural ABC’s, and Store Bought ABC‘s. Each day I will be featuring one of my own projects as well as the projects of the other bloggers!

ABC and Birdseed Sensory Bin from Teach me Mommy

ABC Herbarium from Creative World of Varya

Read Around the World: Thirty-Three Multicultural Tales To Tell

August 21, 2015 By Thaleia Leave a Comment

Everyone loves a good story, and fables from around the world are a great way learn about other cultures. As part of the Read around the World Summer Reading Series I am sharing a collection of multicultural tales called Thirty-Three Multicultural Tales To Tell.

This collection of stories from around the world ranges from the serious to the humorous, featuring clever and foolish folk of all ages, supernatural creatures, hearty humor, low levels of violence, and deftly delivered messages. DeSpain has included something for everyone-trickster stories about Coyote and Anansi, Creation stories, and tales of fools. Each selection is short (two to three pages) and is accompanied by a full-page, black-and-white, pen-and-ink illustration. The use of the same simple style from one tale to another tends to blur cultural distinctions, however, so that a story from Korea sounds much the same as one from North America.

I have many fond memories of listening to Aesop’s fables and the many tales of Brer Rabbit. As time went on, I was introduced to the stories of Anansi the trickster spider and other stories from around the world. These stories provide a great way to learn about cultures around the world without ever leaving the comfort of home.

I hope you share fun stories from far away places with your family and friends including Thirty-Three Multicultural Tales To Tell.

Do you like learning about new or far away places? Please share your favorite stories for others to enjoy.