Homeschooling

Year of the Horse: Chinese New Year Preschool Activities

January 31, 2014 By Thaleia Leave a Comment

Chinese New Year Preschool Activities

Chinese New Year: The Year of the Horse! I’m a Horse according to the Chinese Zodiac.

It’s been a little while since we posted some themed activity ideas. What better time to post new Preschool activity ideas then Chinese New Year! I would have been better prepared and had this post ahead of time but I got my dates mixed up and last week thought I had missed Chinese New Year. Yes, a little crazy but it’s true.

Luckily I had items already on hand from the last couple of years and some miscellaneous activity tray supplies. I was able to create these preschool activities pretty quickly and then allow Lil’ Red to work through them once he woke up today! (Yep, you read that right prepped and posted this post today! I’m an expert at procrastination.)

We do own some books that tell about Asian culture or Asian Folk tales like The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks or Winter in Songming. I’m sure your local library has loads more to choose from.

Spiky Ball Chopstick Sort– use the chopsticks to pick up the spiky balls and sort the three colors into the three compartments of the tray.

Decorating Chopsticks- use washable markers or colored pencils to decorate chopsticks from local Chinese restaurant. Just so happens we’ve ordered take-out a couple times this past month!

Red Envelope Cutting Practice- Print out red envelope pattern and use kid scissors to cut and fold.

Horse Mommy and Baby Match– Match up the baby horses with their mom.

Horse Coloring Page- This tracer page has the Chinese Zodiac years of the horse on the right hand corner. Help your child with proper pencil grasp. Allow to color horse freely.

Since 2014 is the Year of the Horse you may also want to hop over and learn more about horses! Check out our Horses Resource page and have fun learning about horses!

More Preschool Activity Trays:

Preschool Science Tools Basket

January 29, 2014 By Thaleia

Preschool Science Tools Basket

It seems hard to remember to do Science and messy projects. I really do not know why. We have tons of supplies, kits, and mess around the house already. One would think it would be easy to just add it in. So far over the last couple of years of homeschool that has not happened.

I wanted to create a quick and simple way to introduce a Science activity to Lil’ Red while providing some great Science Tools. I made a Science Basket to help make Science simpler and to allow Lil’ Red some self-guided exploration. We are not a Montessori homeschool, but love taking bits and pieces from Montessori to incorporate into our Preschool. I have placed a magnifying glass, magnifying box, and bug jar to our starter Science Basket.

We just happened to have this cute rectangular basket laying around that large card envelopes fit into perfectly. I can quickly change the background color to help highlight what we are learning. If the envelope gets wet or dirty no big deal. Out goes the old and in with the new. (We hit up the stationary department the day after a Holiday when the cards are getting switched out. Cards are returned to manufacturer while the envelopes land in the trash!)
I have seen all sorts of ideas all over pinterest and other blogs. I am not taking this idea from anyone specific but will be sure to share when I do get inspiration directly from other moms.

Friends and Heroes Bible Curriculum Review & Giveaway

January 27, 2014 By Eldest 17 Comments

Friends and Heroes Bible Curriculum

Review & Giveaway

What is Friends and Heroes you ask? Well, it’s a fun animated Bible curriculum to learn about all the great Friends and Heroes of the Bible. This video series is great for home or church classroom. If your children love to learn through animated stories and hands-on activities then Friends and Heroes would be something they would enjoy.

What we’ve got to say about Friends and Heroes:

Eldest thought the animation for the Bible stories to be very interesting. He recognized the animation from another episode he has seen at his grandma’s house. Princess liked them very much and Lil’ Red sat riveted to his seat so we played the entire 25 minutes. We plan to revisit the Episode in order to break the scenes down and do some of the student manual pages. I think the layout of the content looks very promising and does touch a wide variety of subject matter.

Some suggestions on getting started:

First read the 6 page Teacher Overview to get a feel for the curriculum. Next print the Teacher Guide for Unit 1 front and back. Review the guide and gather the supplies suggested. Third, print off the student manual front and back for Unit 1.

Yes, I printed all 49 pages twice! plus print additional Student Covers as coloring pages for your younger students (under age 6). Hole punch all of your pages and use a 3-prong folder or 3-ring binder to keep all of your Student’s Manual together or place in their yearly portfolio as they finish a unit. Gather all the needed materials and supplies for Art, Science, and Craft projects.

Watch the video ahead of time as suggested so you know what topics and themes will be discussed. This will allow you the teacher/parent time to collect your own thoughts/ideas on those topics and be able to be that much more insightful. Watch the video together as a family as part of your Family Devotion or Bible time. Allow your children time to talk about and/or ask questions about the episode they just watched. Work on the Student Manual together and plan to do a craft or Science project.

Allow your students time to interact online after watching the episode to play a game or take a quiz to further their learning.

What Friends and Heroes have to say:

“Friends and Heroes award-winning adventures and Bible stories on DVD accompanied by an exciting cross-curricular Homeschool Unit Study – easy-to-use, hands-on, attractively designed, colorful and FUN! Each unit provides a wealth of interdisciplinary studies for your home educated children. The material is highly adaptable and may be easily incorporated with your other homeschool activities.”

(Disclosure: There are affiliate links within this post. The links provide a way for us to support our site and provide great ideas and content to you! Thanks for your support.)

Here’s the awesome January deal:

· 20% off all Friends and Heroes Homeschool Resources
· 10% off all other Friends and Heroes resources with curriculum
· 10% off all Friends and Heroes Home and Family DVD Collections

This wonderful sale ends January 31, 2014. So stop on over and grab yourself a deal today!

GIVEAWAY:

Friends and Heroes has graciously allowed us to offer a giveaway of Homeschool Unit Study #1 to one random family.

The Friends and Heroes Homeschool Unit Study #1 includes:

Friends and Heroes DVD Episode 1- Long Journey – which serves as stimulus material for cross-curricular studies
All teacher and student’s materials – included on CD-ROM – printable and reusable
Learner-centered, self-guided Unit Study manuals
Teacher’s Guide – with learning goals, background details, answer keys, internet links
Certificates of Achievement and binder covers

Unit Study #1 covers:

History/Geography: The Romans; Roman Trade; Roman money; Roman import and exports
Creative writing: Journal writing; Written expression and narration; Copy writing
Bible study: Daniel and the lions’ den and Jesus and the miraculous catch of fish; The Early Church
Science: Silver; Sand and cement; Greek and Roman discoveries
Crafts: Sculpture; Paper weaving; Pottery
Discipleship: Trusting others; Pride; Worries

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: I was provided a copy of Friends and Heroes Homeschool Unit Study #1 for my honest review. I did not receive compensation for this review. All words are mine and my children’s opinions.

Free Spanish Resources

January 23, 2014 By Thaleia 2 Comments

Free Spanish Resources

Your child comes to you and says, ” Mom, Can you teach me Spanish?” Of course, this is probably totally out of the blue and you may not know where to go or look.

What do you do if you do not know or speak a language fluently? Do you pay for lessons or buy a pricey program or hire a tutor? Not me. I go to the internet and library for FREE Spanish resources FIRST! We do happen to know a dear lady who is native to Hondorus and would love for her to teach my children to speak and cook.

Another friend of mine mentioned how she needed some additional resources to help her children learn Spanish. I set out to help her find some free resources to help encourage her children and their homeschool journey.

[Tweet “Frugal ways to learn #Spanish with FREE resources! #homeschool”]

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Valentine’s Day Fine Motor Skills

January 21, 2014 By Thaleia 10 Comments

Valentine’s Day Fine Motor Skills

What do you do when your Tot grows up and are a little too big for Tot Trays? Continue to work on Fine Motor skills by bringing out new fun activities! My niece and Lil’ Red were very interested in doing “school” so out came some fun Valentine’s Day Fine Motor Skill activities. My sister and I were taking inventory on activities and came up with quite a few. I am only showcasing 5 Fine Motor Skills that are for Preschool and Kindergarten age.

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Homeschooling

Chinese New Year Preschool Activities

More Preschool Activity Trays:

Preschool Science Tools Basket

Friends and Heroes Bible Curriculum

Review & Giveaway

What we’ve got to say about Friends and Heroes:

Some suggestions on getting started:

What Friends and Heroes have to say:

Here’s the awesome January deal:

GIVEAWAY:

Free Spanish Resources

Valentine’s Day Fine Motor Skills

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