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Hidden Whiteboard Giveaway!!

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GiveawayLargePin2Today we have an AMAZING giveaway from The Hidden Whiteboard!!

This is one of my favorite products and it makes homeschooling in our dining room so much more versatile.

Previously I had a 4′ by 3′ whiteboard that was constantly driving my eyes batty when ever we sat down for a meal:

 

BeforeAfter

 

You can read my entire Review of The Hidden Whiteboard Here but it’s easy to see why I love it.  It contains the chaos by storing the whiteboard neatly out of sight.  I even got to choose what photo or artwork I placed in the frame.  (This is actually a print from a local artist here in Oregon)

 

animation

 

Okay, so just for reference I paid $99.99 for my ugly whiteboard above which is 48 x 36.

 

The Hidden Whiteboard is available in different sizes and prices (This is the current pricing as of this post)

  • 21 x 11.5 accepts 8×10 photo (Retail $79, Sale: $59)
  • 27 x 15.5 accepts 11×14 photo (Retail $99, Sale $59)
  • 37 x 21.5 accepts 16×20 photo (Retail $129, Sale 99)    pictured above
  • 45 x 31.5 accepts 20×30 photo (Retail $169, Sale $119)

 

Plus when you purchase this week you can use the  coupon code: Crafty10 for 10% off

 

GivewayEnter

The Hidden Whiteboard Review

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ReviewHeaderWhiteboard2

The Hidden Whiteboard is officially hung in our homeschool classroom/dining room.

Click Here to read our full Review!

Take a peek at our Before and After Shot:

Before

After

Want to see how The Hidden Whiteboard works?

Click Here to read our full Review!

 

 

 

Shamrock Poetry Printables

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ShamrockGraphic

 

St. Patrick’s day is coming soon, and we’ve got a great freebie for your kiddos!

ShamrockConcrete

This is a concrete poetry template in the shape of a shamrock.  Children follow the brainstorming and  instruction sheet, then compose and write their poem around the shamrock.

Shamrock Template

Concrete Poetry Instructions

 

If your kiddos have fun with this one be sure to check out our complete Poetry Pack in our eStore!

 

 

 

WritingGuideLong

 

 

Siggy

Printable Character Chart

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CharacterChart
Character.
It is sooooooo hard to teach.

Harder then math. Harder then science.
Definitely harder then P.E.

Character is on my TOP list of reasons why I homeschool.
Character is a teach by example sort of subject.

(ouch)

Can I just say without any reserve that the Character has been lacking around here lately.

(yes….I do realize what I’m admitting to here.)

And more honestly,
our house has turned upside down with more Negative then Positive reinforcement lately.

Obviously, that is not going to work for very long.

So in an effort to turn things on the positive,
I made these little Character Charts:

I put the children’s names on them, and then surrounded them with positive behaviors
and virtues that (I’m hoping) we will see through out the week.

HOW IT WORKS:
The charts will hang up in the classroom where everyone has access to them.
They are meant to be colored in, one letter at a time,
when the child displays that positive character trait.

So anytime anyone sees Charlie being peaceful they would color
in one letter of the word peaceful.
Make sense?

RULES:
You can’t fill in your own letters
You can’t persuade anyone to fill in a letter for you.
Try your best to SECRETLY fill in a letter for others, don’t let them see you!

Younger Siblings Rule:
When you catch the babies/tot doing good, PRAISE, PRAISE, PRAISE them by naming the character trait and walking them over to fill in the letter.

I’m hoping my children will get excited to see the new colored in letters each day.
Maybe discussions of, “Hmmm, I wonder what I got that being peaceful letter for?”
or “Boy, I don’t have any helpful letters….”

I’m sure by the end of the month we will all know what character traits we are struggling with.

Even Mommy.

Yup. Giving myself the letter “b” for that move.

Wish me luck!

Click Here If you want to make your own Character Chart
The font I used is called Flick Bold Hollow

 

Teaching Children to Follow Directions

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A couple of weeks ago we got a Super Duper package in the mail!

It contained something I was really looking forward to,
somthing that could only come from a Super Duper Store.

Isn’t is marvelous?

teach following directions

HearBuilder Following Directions CD ROM
Created by by Susie S Loraine, M.A., CCC-SLP and
Mark Strait, M.Ed., CCC-SLP

This fun and intereactive software will teach your child to
follow increasingly difficult directions using 40 basic concepts in five areas:

Basic Directions
Sequential Directions
Quantitative & Spatial Directions
Temporal Directions
Conditional Directions

Before recieveing this product to review,
I had never heard of such a product!
(You can be sure that I would have ordered it much sooner if I had)

You see I have one particular child who can really take advantage of this program.

Getting real for a moment here:
I have a boy that struggles so badly with listening
that I literally had his hearing checked.

Long story short:

He hears fine.

He just listens poorly.

You can imagine the problems this creates with three other children and a homeschool agenda.

So, I was almost giddy tearing open the package, and loading up the game.

This little child also LOVES his computer time,
so this was akin to giving him candy and ice cream for breakfast.

He kept saying, “Thanks Mom!” over and over through out the lesson.
(yes, he was talking during his lesson….hence the need for the software)

The main goal of the game is to build toys.

But you can’t build toys without tools.

And you have to earn your tools baby.

You earn a tool by listening to the directions and acting them out correctly.

Directions are based on the five concept areas I listed above.

To begin with he was told, “Click on the small boat under the car”
As the game progressed, the directions became increasingly harder;

“First, set the size to small. Second, set the temperature to hot.
Third, set the shape to square. Then, set the color to blue, and press start.”

You cannot start following the directions until all of the directions have been said.

The boy HAD TO STOP TALKING in order to get them correct.

He struggled at this point. He was not happy to get the questions wrong.
But instead of reverting to frustration, he became all the more determined
to earn his tool.

He went silent and really focused.
(I knew he had it in him)
The incentive to listen was great enough to override all the other
distractions going through his 6 year old ADHD brain.

And I hovered over him the entire time, congratulating him with each success.

After his lesson time was over he literally beamed with pride
at accomplishing something he knew was difficult for him.

And also, because his worn out mother has so often yelled said,
“You need to listen dear boy” and here he was being rewarded for such
a good job listening.


Pros:

-My favorite part about his program is that the directions are auditory.
I feel my son needs the most work in this area and that progress will help our homeschool experience immensely.
-Can be used with multiple children, up to four and game progress is saved.
-Classroom size program is also available. (also compatible with SMARTBoard)
-No subscription, you get an actual CD-Rom that you can keep forever.

Here are some other features that you as the parent can set:
-Set levels of difficulty for each activity
-Identify and print learning objectives for all levels
-Add background noise at any level (obviously unneeded in our house…snicker)
-Monitor progress and track data for an unlimited number of students
-Track all relevant data
-Customize and print reports

learning to follow directions homeschool
Here is a wonderful video
that explains the software in much more detail.

super duper publications

HearBuilder Following Directions Home Edition retails for $69.95
You can purchase this software from Super Duper Publications You can save 30% by using the code BLGFD30 before August 31st.

Super Duper Publications has HUGE selection of educational resources,
if you’re shopping for next year you want to check them out!
They offer free shipping to USA and Canada on $20+ orders
Be sure to check them out on Facebook for exclusive deals and coupons!

Disclaimer: As a member of TOS Crew I received free product in return for an honest review.
Read what other TOS Crew Members thought of HearBuilder here.

Not-Back-to-School: Curriculum Week

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Not Back to School Blog Hop

Today I’m joining up with the Not-Back-to-School Blog Hop
in order to share what we’ll be using in our classroom for the upcoming
2011-2012 school year.

I will be homeschooling a 3rd Grader, and a First Grader next year,
and I’m going to do my best to OVERLAP learning where ever possible.

In order to prepare for our school year I’ve come up with a basic
outline of the different tasks I want my children to complete.

This here outline will pretty much serve as our
entire schedule for the WHOLE year.

Once it’s finished I’m just going to make myself
a weekly calendar and then I plan to
simply fly by the seat of my pants.
(I think that’s a type of homeschooling…right?)

Also….as a disclaimer:
This isn’t complete
Yet.
So if there are blanks or spaces in my outline it’s not a mistake
I just haven’t gotten there yet,
but I really, really wanted to join up in the blog hop,
so I’m posting now even though
there is still work to be done.

And really is a homeschool Mom’s work ever finished…?

Okay, disclaimer over
On to the fun stuff:

Bible Study


Goals:
• Identify biblical character qualities
• Memorize Scripture: 36 verses
• Memorize Entire Awana book

Resources:
• Seeds Family Worship Music w/Bible Printables
• We Choose Virtues (Review Coming Soon!)
• Awana Program
• Homeschool Creations Printables
• Printable Memory Chart
• Lessons in Righteousness

In Action: (Listen to Song each day, Virtue Stickers each day)
Day 1: Seeds Full Verse, Awana Verse, New Virtue
Day 2: Seeds Minibooks, Discuss trait/promise, Awana Verse, Virtue Game
Day 3: Seeds Copywork, Children say Awana Verse to Leader, Virtue
Day 4: New Awana Verse, Look up in Bible, Virtue
Day 5: Memory Chart Day, Sticker, bonus for last week

Reading/Language Arts


Goals:
• Expand Vocabulary
• Expand Comprehension
• Expand Spelling List
Resources:
• Christian Light Reader Grade 1 & Workbook
• Christian Light Reader Grade 3 & Workbook
• Dynamic Literacy

In Action: Children will have 1 week to complete each CL lesson. They can work at their own pace and will be responsible for making sure their work is completed by Friday.
Day 1: DL
Day 2: DL
Day 3: DL
Day 4: DL
Day 5: DL

Writing


Goals:
• Write at Third Grade Level
• Expand Vocabulary
• Learn Self-Check Methods
• Produce variety of papers
• Keep a basic daily writing journal

Resources:
• Write Source
• Writing Guides (I’ll be posting these as I make and use them)
• Hmmmm….Should I purchase an actual Writing Program?

In Action:
Each week Sissy will complete one paper, Each week Bubba will complete a writing project.
Day 1: Topic Choice, Brainstorming
Day 2: Details, Outline
Day 3: Rough Draft
Day 4: Revision
Day 5: Final Draft, Written or Typed.

Math


Goals:
• Proficiency with Multiplication & Skip Counting Facts 1-12.
• Prepare for 3rd Grade State Math Test, Meet all marks.

Resources:
• Math-U-See (Beta & Delta)
• Various Math Workbooks (Singapore Mental Math, Coordinate Graphing,
• Multiplication Pocket Folder (I might make a Division one too!)

In Action: Hmmm….better get to planning!
Day 1:
Day 2:
Day 3:
Day 4:
Day 5:

Foreign Language


Goals:
• Successfully complete 1 year in Spanish

Resources:
• Speekee Spanish w/Homeschool Curriculum
• Spanish Co-op 1x/week
• Spanish Workbook Level 1 & Level 2
• Library w/Spanish reading material

In Action:
Day 1: Speekee, Workbook
Day 2: Workbook
Day 3: Speekee, Workbook
Day 4: Workbook
Day 5: Co-op

Geography


Goals:
• 50 States w/Capitals and Locations
• Oregon State History, Industry, General Statistics

Resources:
• States Song (Both my children have almost got this song down!!)
• Sequence States & Capitols
• Scrambled States Game (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this game!)
• Road Trip USA from Confessions of a Homeschooler
• USA File Folder Game
• USA Atlas
• USA Map
• Stack the States iPhone Ap
• Oregon State Mini-Lapbook

In Action: (New State every week)
Day 1: Song, Map State, Nickname
Day 2: Song, State Flashcard, State Facts
Day 3: Song, Coloring Page, State Abbreviation
Day 4: Song, Map State on own, w/Capitol
Day 5: Song, State Flag added to “Passport”

Technology


Goals:
• Increase WPM typing skills
• Learn basics of MS Word, Type up Writing Project
• Learn basics of Power Point, Create Presentation
• Learn basics of Photoshop, Create Custom Graphic
• Demonstrate Online Skills in Researching Topics
• Navigate Online Library
• Use CPU for Reference tools (dictionary, calculator)
• Understand Online safety rules.

Resources:
• Typing Instructor for Kids
• Photoshop
• Power Point/MS Word & Online Tutorials for Kids
• Library

In Action:
Day 1: Typing
Day 2: Software (PP, Word, PS, or….)
Day 3: Typing
Day 4: Software (PP, Word, PS, or….)
Day 5: Typing

History


Goals:
• Begin to Learn Biblical History
• Create Visual Timeline book
• Expand American History (Unit Study Native Americans)
• Learn State History
Resources:
• Mystery of History (36 weeks)
• Blank Timeline Printables
• Library System

In Action:
Day 1: Lesson & Activity
Day 2: Lesson & Activity
Day 3: Lesson & Activity
Day 4: Review & Timeline
Day 5: Review & Quiz

Science


Goals:
• Learn the scientific method
• Complete Science Projects (Hands on)
• End Year with Science Presentation w/Oral Report

Resources:
• Hmmmm….You’re thoughts? I’m trying to decide between Truth in Science & Apologia!

In Action:
Day 1:
Day 2:
Day 3:
Day 4:
Day 5:

Physical Education / Health


Goals:
• Play one team sport per season.
• Show and understand sportsmanship

Resources
• P.E. Co-Op
• Community Sports
• P.E. Co-Op

In Action:
Day 1: Nutrition Lesson, Team Sport Activity
Day 2: P.E. Co-op
Day 3: Nutrition Lesson, Team Sport Activity
Day 4: P.E Co-op
Day 5: Free Play

Homemaking for Sissy


Goals:
• Learn to cook 3 different meals
• Learn 5 different embroidery stitches
• Expand knitting, sewing, skills (Sissy)
• Earn 5 badges in Club

Resources:
• Club
• Sewing for Kids
• Recipes for Kids

In Action:
Day 1:
Day 2:
Day 3:
Day 4:
Day 5: Project Free Time

Leadership for Bubba


Goals:
• Learn to cook 3 different meals
• Identify 10 different tools and their use
• Learn to hammer, screw, sand, and bond wood.
• Complete Little Contenders of the Faith Workbook

Resources:
• Little Contenders of Faith

In Action:
Day 1:
Day 2:
Day 3: Contender Project
Day 4:
Day 5: Skills Project followed by Free Time

Okay, so there it all is!
Now I’m off to explore all the other great Week One entries at the blog hop,
I’m sure I’ll have my blanks filled in in no time!

Soapstone Sculpture

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Yesterday for art we enchanced our plain white clay with an ancient Inuit technique:

soapstone crafts for kids

*snicker

Black Pepper really did add some texture to our clay, and reminded me of the appearance of soapstone:

eskimo crafts homeschool

(I would have put more in, but eyes were starting to water)

inuit crafts for kids

We paired this craft with the book Missuk’s Snow Geese, which is about a little girl who wants to learn from her father, how to carve into soapstone.

My kiddos were a bit to young to do the traditional carving technique (we’ll be picking up bars of soap for this later in the week!) so we just molded our clay into shapes:

inuit crafts kids

This was Bubba’s “Shark”….made me giggle how much it looks like a whale, but if he say’s it’s a shark….it’s a shark!

Framing it all……

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Just in case
your children make something fantastic while learning about Japan

Which is likely to happen,
with all the amazing art techniques they’ll get to explore)

Show them how to make this fun Origami frame to present their art:

Japan Crafts for Kids, Children's Crafts

This frame has an adorable little Fishy I dug out of my new scrapbook set…

See, I told you I would use it.


Anyway,

Chances are you’ll find just the right Woodprint, Haiku, Caligriphy, Sumi-e, or photograph to put inside!

Wrap it up, and send it to Grandma.

Japanese Crafts for Children

These are so much fun you’ll want to make one for yourself….

….and you can because they’re Super Duper Cheap.