Favorite Thanksgiving Read Alouds

Since we’ve been reading and learning about the Pilgrims and their first Thanksgiving, we’ve come across some books that we’ve really enjoyed and have made some of them our own because they are ones we will read every year in years to come. I love books like that!

Here’s my list, in no particular order…

One Little, Two Little, Three Little Pilgrims by B. G. Hennessy

Three Young Pilgrims by Cheryl Harness

Off to Plymouth Rock by Dandi Daley Mackall

The Thanksgiving Story by Alice Dalgliesh

Squanto and the First Thanksgiving by Joyce K. Kessel

Squanto's Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving by Joseph Bruchac

The Plymouth Thanksgiving by Leonard Weisgard

Individually, these books are great. Together, they bring the story of Thanksgiving to life. It’s not all about the turkey, stuffing, and pernil. It’s also about the reasons why the Pilgrims left England and took the incredibly difficult journey to a foreign land and what lead up to their three-day celebration of thanks to God.

I know my perspective on Thanksgiving dinner is going to be a little different this year. Do you have any tried and true favorites for this time of year? Please share! I'm always looking out for new ones to add to our library!

First Grade Curriculum 2016-2017

This post does not contain affiliate links.

It’s been 6 weeks since we started our school year. There have been many tweaks and changes in the last several weeks in our schedule and curriculum while we find our flow. Right now, I feel like we’ve gotten to a good place, it took a while, but we got there. There’s always a learning curve when we start something new. I’m sure there will be more changes as we go along, but that’s one of the many benefits of homeschooling, I can change, add, get rid of and tweak as often as I like.

For this school year I planned, and planned, and planned some more (if you haven’t guessed, I’m a planner. Type A much?) I looked into all kinds of curriculum to see what would be the best fit for my daughters. Taking into consideration their personalities, strengths, and weaknesses I chose ones that would suit them both. I also looked into extras for our morning-time basket and made up my own curriculum where I couldn’t find one I liked.

We don’t follow any particular homeschool style. I have become familiar with a few and pull from each what I like and add ideas I find other homeschoolers doing if I feel it would work for our family. I would consider us eclectic homeschoolers. It works well for us!

Morning Basket Time-Everyday

• Worship song from our YouTube list
• The Jesus Storybook Bible We’ll be done with it by the end of this week and will be starting a different storybook Bible the Read with Me Bible.
• Scripture memorization box using this memory system.
• Uncle Arthur’s Bedtime Stories One story a day with some discussion
• The Random House Book of Poetry for Children One or two silly poems because they’re fun to listen to.

Language Arts-Everyday

• All About Spelling Level 1, we may start Level 2 mid-year
• Writing With Ease Level 1
• First Language Lessons Level 1 (Grammar)
• Phonics Pathways
• Read aloud from an assigned book

Handwriting-Everyday

• Handwriting Without Tears Grade 1

Math-Everyday

• Math U See Alpha

Science-Twice a week

I have put together my own curriculum for science. This year we’re focusing on animals and their habitats, the human body and if we get to it, botany. If we don’t we’ll save it for summertime.

History-Twice a week

Here is where the crazy started. I had my entire history schedule picked out and scheduled for the year and then we started it. It wasn’t working. We were using History of the World Ancient Times, but the content, I felt, was too much for my girls to grasp. I understand why teaching history in chronological order makes sense, but the living literature available to children on a first-grade level was sparse. After reading this post I decided to change it all up a week after school started. No big deal! With our new choice, I am able to find living literature geared toward their age and we are getting so much more out of our lessons.

• Truthquest History American History I

Art-Once a week

• Art videos from my Youtube playlist and Pinterest ideas.
• Focusing on one art master a month, last month we learned about Van Gogh.

Music-Once a week

I don’t think the girls are quite ready for music lessons yet, so every month we are getting to know master composers using my YouTube video playlist and good books. Last month we learned about Chopin.

Creative Writing-Once a week

I keep this simple and use a primary composition book like this one to keep all there crazy little stories. I ask them questions like “If you had $1000 what would you do?” and let them tell a story while I write it down for them. It’s interesting to see where they will take it. I keep my ideas on my Pinterest board. I love Pinterest.

Logic-Once a week

• Can You Find Me?
• Lollipop Logic

Nature Study-Once a week

This is going to be a time when the girls and I get out for a while to look at what we find in nature, trees, birds, streams, and journal about what we see. I want them to be more aware of God’s creation and admire the beauty he created for us.

I also have a few subscriptions to add to our lessons DE Streaming Plus, National Geographic for Kids on Roku, BrainPOP, and Epic! We also have a zoo membership and a science museum membership.
Put all these together and I have first grade down!

Raising A Special Needs Child: Abandoned Hopes & Dreams

I was told my girls will always be 3 months behind what was typical for their age because they were born 3 months prematurely. At every doctor visit I had to give their actual age and adjusted age, 9 months old, 6 months adjusted. But I was also told that most kids are caught up by two. So I kept going with all the therapy visits and waiting.

When my girls were nearing two years old, it was obvious that something wasn't right. Sure enough, after testing and a visit to the neurologist, one was a typical two-year-old, the other was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy.

As I came to terms with this news and what it would mean for the rest of her life and ours, I realized that there are things she may never be able to do in life. I was crushed. All the joys and future memories made up in my mind's eye were completely shredded. I grieved.

I had abandoned all hope that my daughter would ride a bike...

or swim...

or walk without a limp.

She's 8 years old now and, although I would love to share the contrary, she still can't ride a bike, or swim, or walk without a limp.

But her life is full, magnificently full, of love, friends, family, and joy and that is what counts.

I haven't given up nor am I in denial. She may never swim, or run a marathon, or may need extra breaks on a walk for the rest of her life or even a wheelchair later in life.

I've learned that hopes and dreams don't need to be abandoned, just changed. I've focused on my daughter, my precious, one of a kind, uniquely talented daughter, and everything else falls into place.

Her education, accomplishments, and aspirations are not limited by her disability. They are only limited by her imagination. As long as I and others who love and support her on this adventure called life, her hopes and dreams will not only be fulfilled but will be higher and better than any dream or hope I had for her.

She's comfortable in the water without a vest on, she rides a horse, she takes hikes in the woods, she's in gymnastics class. She has made tremendous progress and we will continue to push her to her greatest potential. But her value and worth as a person will not be tied to whether or not she can do these things.

So, If anything needs to be abandoned, abandon "typical" and "normal". Abandon "ideal" and "perfect".

My only hope for both of my girls is that they grow to know and love the Lord and have courage enough to follow the path He has set before them. Everything else is a bonus.

What brings your child joy? Does she even care to learn how to ride a bike? Are his interests and dreams for his life taken into consideration? Is she being pushed to her greatest potential?

Podcasts Your Kids (and you) Will Love

Me: "What is that? A show?"
Husband: "Kinda. It's a podcast."
Me: "What the heck is a podcast?"

This was a very real conversation my husband and I had about a year ago. Now that I know what they are I have to share them with you! Podcasts are awesome! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, don't worry, girl, Igotchu!

To put it simply, podcasts are audio episodes. You can play them from a free app like Sticher, iTunes, The Podcast App, Overcast, or Podbean. You can also use Spotify if you have an account.

Podcasts are a great way to add a little extra fun learning while on the way to soccer practice or grocery store, or on a road trip. They're interesting and engaging, both you and your kiddos will love listening to them.

For kids ages 3 and older

Story Pirates

We love the Story Pirates!! The Pirates encourage kids of all ages to get creative and write stories to send into them aboard their ship. Then they get together to perform these original stories. We haven't missed an episode since we've begun listening and we're waiting with great anticipation for the new season.

Circle Round

Circle Round brings us fairy tales and folktales from around the world performed by actors, some you may know from your favorite TV shows. On their site, there are original coloring pages to go along with the episodes so your kiddos can keep their hands busy while they listen.

Jesus is Better

This is the only Christian podcast for kids I have come across that we enjoy immensely. Alisha Yoder reads straight from the Bible and talks about the passage in a way children can understand. Each episode is short, about 20 mins or less. You can hear her love for the Lord and her passion for sharing it in every episode.

Little Stories for Tiny People

Rhea's original stories are always entertaining. She is a great storyteller and brings her tales of forest friends to life. She always has a guest or two visit her at the studio, which s always a treat. My kiddos squealed with delight when they were featured on one of her episodes. We can't wait for her first picture book to come out!

Noodle Loaf

My girls are sad when Noodle Loaf ends. The episodes are too short for them lol! In a very short amount of time, your kiddos are entertained with a highly interactive episode. My girls sing, dance and even draw.

For kids 7 and older

In addition to the ones above:

WOW in the World
Mindy and Guy Raz are your hilarious hosts on this science podcast for kids. Your kiddos will laugh along as they travel with Mindy, Guy, and Reggie (their pet pidgeon) and learn about space, the weather, and dinosaurs. We have at times taken to the internet to research a topic because we couldn't believe it to be true (of course, it was). *They do take an Evolutionary perspective of science. I'm always listening with my girls so I can filter the info through a Creationist perspective.*

Tumble

Tumble is another great science podcast for kids. Loads of different topics are covered from space, volcanoes and dino poop! Tumble always brings on a scientist on the topic so they can share their expertise with your kiddos. We have learned some cool stuff about the world around us that has caused us to do our own research!

Earth Rangers

This podcast is fairly new to us and it's already a favorite. Earth Ranger Emma takes us all over the world to learn about animals in their natural habitats. You can also join Emma by becoming an Earth Ranger yourself and help protect the environment with her.

But Why

But Why? is a unique podcast in that it's listeners, your kiddos, are the ones who come up with the episodes. If you have a curious child, they can send in their questions to But Why? and they will try to answer those questions for you. Questions that have been answered in the past include "why is milk white?", "why do we need to sleep?" and "why is tape sticky?". One of my girls still talks about the "Why do we need sleep?" episode and asks for fish to eat because it will help her sleep lol. 

The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian

Finn Caspian is what I would call a novela, just like the ones my grandmother watches. You have to start at the beginning or the story won't make much sense. These sci-fi episodes are loaded with adventure and mayhem, perfect for everyone in the family to enjoy.

For kids 10 and older

These you may want to preview first before you have your little ones listening to it. They're still great for kids, but little ones may find it difficult to follow the episode. Also, the main characters are older and in middle school.

Becoming Mother Nature

Becoming Mother Nature is a brand new podcast just out this September. My daughter (8) and I listened to the first episode together and we were hooked! The sound effects, music, and performers are on point. So much so I had to show my daughter that there really wasn't a video playing, it was just audio! We will definitely follow along with Chole and her grandmother as the story unfolds.

The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel

Mars Patel is a great podcast for middle-grade kids and is one you have to start at season 1, episode 1 in order for it to make sense. The mystery and suspense might be too intense for young listeners, so use your judgment. This one is definitely one I will share with my kiddos in a couple of years. I may just listen to it myself before then it's that good.

Mayan Crystal

My daughter (8) and I binged the first 4 episodes of The Mayan Crystal. You'll find adventure, mystery and girl power! I was especially excited to discover this podcast is set in the Central American country of Belize and full of ancient Mayan and contemporary culture. I love the diversity this podcast brings to the podcast-table.

Is there a favorite of yours, or your children's I've missed? Please share it! I'm always on the lookout for an exciting podcast. What new podcast would your kiddos like to listen to next?

Happy listening!

Mini Pumpkin Unit

Two of the things I look forward to when we stay up North are apple picking and pumpkin picking. 

It’s just not the same back home in Florida. #sorrynotsorry

Here, we go into the patch where the pumpkins have grown and pull them off the vine ourselves. There’re not in pretty little rows all cleaned up for us. We get to see blossoms and little green pumpkins just starting out. We go on a hunt for the best pumpkins, making sure we don’t trip over the vines and get our hands dirty. It’s all part of the fun!! 

If you haven’t experienced this, take a trip one year. It’s totally worth it.

Prior to our pumpkin picking day (say that 3 times fast) I took out some books from the library. Some are fictional stories and some are about the life cycle of a pumpkin, but all are fun. Here were our picks this year:

Pumpkin Day, Pumpkin Night by Anne Rockwell

Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman

Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White

Pumpkins by ken robbins

Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper

Pumpkin Day by Candice Ranson

From Seed to Pumpkin by Wendy Pfeffer

We had a ton of fun at the pumpkin patch. Besides filling our wheel barrel with pumpkins, we went through a corn maze, had a tractor ride around the field, ate apple fritters and enjoyed feeding and petting goats, a calf, and chickens. When we got home we decorated our house inside and out with our pumpkins. I also got some beautiful Indian corn. It's amazing all the colors they come in! Our favorite are the purple ones, of course.

Mini Unit

Now here is where a family fun day doubles as a “school field trip”. The next day we enjoyed a notebooking activity for our nature journals.

Drawing on their experience from our trip, the books we read, and some extra research my girls were able to fill out this Pumpkin Investigation flip book printable. It really helped them pull together everything they learned about pumpkins.

You can also head over to Handbook of Nature Study for more idea including a notebook page if that strikes your fancy.

For some added fun we created a craft to decorate our classroom.  There are so many choices out there you may have trouble settling on one. While we were crafting our pumpkins the girls spontaneously told me about its parts. Score!

Combining home and school is simple and easy to do. You don’t have to create a huge lesson for everything. All you need is a library card and some art supplies. Simply talking about pumpkins (or trees, birds, volcanoes, etc. ) with your children opens up their world to learn new things. You create great memories in the process, too.

How to Homeschool for Free (Or Almost Free)

There are those who know they are going to homeschool even before they have children. Then there are those who are thrown into it very unexpectedly. I'm of the latter group. My girls were enrolled and ready to enter kindergarten at our local elementary school, but I just couldn't do it. I went to Plan B: Homeschooling.

Homeschooling can be very expensive with all the curriculum that is available, but it doesn't have to be. I firmly believe that all you really need to begin homeschooling is

• a positive attitude
• a love for learning
• resourcefulness
• a library card

When you are first starting out, don't panic and don't spend tons of money on curriculum. Instead, you and your kiddos take full advantage of the empty zoo, park, aquarium, science center and library in your area because everyone else is in school. Spend some time diving into what's interesting to you and your kiddos. Finally, check out these free resources, or low-cost resources, to get your homeschool started without busting the bank.

Math

Prodigy

My girls were seriously into Prodigy. They would ask me to play it! Students have to battle wizards and in order to cast a spell, they had to answer math questions. Parents can also schedule certain math activities for the student to practice such as telling time or multiple-digit addition. There are other students using the game and can interact with your kiddos, but you can control that in the settings.

Kahn Academy

Kahn has math practice for students kindergarten through high school. They also have other subjects for older students including science & engineering, computing, and economics.

Language Arts

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Lessons

I have seen this title at my local library. If your library doesn't have it, put in a request for them to purchase it.

The Good and the Beautiful

The Good and the Beautiful offers Christian-based language arts curriculum, levels 1-5, for free in the form of printable PDF files. Each level includes phonics, reading, spelling, grammar, writing, and literature. It even ties in art, art appreciation and geography. For some of the levels, there are readers that go along with the curriculum available in the form of PDF files for a small price. For other levels, the books can be borrowed from your library or bought second hand.

Science & History

Library & YouTube

The best part about history is it's already written down for you! If your kiddos are K to 3rd grade, I would recommend starting with American history. There is a lot more available at the library for this age for this period of history. Then jump back in time to ancient history and move forward. Get yourself a world encyclopedia from your library as a spine and take one time period at a time.

You could also jump around history depending on interest. Ancient Greece, WWI, Egyptians, or kings and queens of the UK, whatever floats your boat.

The same can be done for science. There are loads of books on different subjects to choose from at the library including books dedicated to experiments. You could also watch and follow along with an experiment on YouTube. We did that for slime once with our co-op.

Art

ChalkPastel

Art with Nana is always a good time. She takes your student step-by-step through an art piece using her favorite medium chalk pastels. Many times her projects center around a holiday, season or another occasion such as the Perseid meteor shower, or Star Trek

YouTube

For our first grade year, I didn't buy a curriculum for art at all. I gathered a bunch of kids art videos online from youtube and made my own playlist. Check out channels like Art for Kids Hub, Paper Magic, MrPStudios, and ArtLessonPlanVideos. Also, your students can travel with Mati and Dada to learn about specific artists at Art with Mati & Dada

KinderArt

I don't have any personal experience with KinderArt...yet. The site has a ton of art projects with detailed instructions and organized by grade. The projects do increase with difficulty, simple materials are used, and the art history projects introduce your students to the Masters.

All Subjects & Electives

Outschool

Outschool offers live online classes with a teacher who has a passion for the subject they're teaching for a small fee. Some classes are one-and-done, others are over a period of several weeks. Over the years, my girls have used Outschool for science, art, geography, and language arts. In our experience, the classes have been engaging, fun, and informative. They've been a great supplement to our curriculum and a great jumping off point to dive down some rabbit holes.

Full Curriculum

Easy Peasy Homeschool & Easy Peasy Highschool

In my opinion, Easy Peasy is a great option if you are looking for a free curriculum for your kiddos. You can choose to do the full online curriculum or you can choose to do a single subject. Each day is organized and easy to follow with links for each activity given. You will need to do some planning ahead of time such as pre-printing worksheets or gathering materials for science activities. If you prefer a printed curriculum, you can order them through the EPStore. There are several support pages for Easy Peasy including their Main Support Group, Special Needs Support Group, and High School Support Group

Ambleside Online

Ambleside follows the Charlotte Mason philosophy which is literature-based. At AO you will find a detailed schedule and booklist for Kindergarten to grade 12. You will have to find your own math and, if you choose to, foreign language curriculums. While the schedule is all planned out for you, the books are not included. Some of the books can be found online and are linked to on AO. Other books can be either found at your library or bought second hand.

Worksheets, Handouts & Lapbooks

Teachers Pay Teachers

I have found many printables for free on Teachers Pay Teachers for math, science, and history. There are also printables available that can support your kiddos learning for very little investment. 

HomeschoolShare

Homeschool share is another site I've frequented for free printables, especially lapbooking and notebooking pages.

Check out what events your local library or youth center is hosting. Classes can range from storytime to art, ballet, and karate. Get in touch with local homeschool groups or co-ops to find support and other resources you may not know of yet. Be resourceful!

Transitioning to homeschool does not need to happen all in one shot, you do not need to have it all figured out. Focus on the child in front of you and go from there.

You've got this!!

Our Reasons for Homeschooling

There are so many reasons a family chooses to homeschool. It could be for religious reasons, your child was bullied or not challenged enough. Maybe for medical reasons or the family travels a lot. It could be one singular reason or a mixture of multiple reasons.

Whatever the reason or reasons, all of them are valid.

 My girls were blessed to be at an amazing preschool when they were 3 and 4 years old. The school was designed for students with various special needs. All their needs were met academically and therapeutically. After two great years there it was time for kindergarten. We attended our elementary school's Kindergarten Round-Up, filled out all the paperwork, and completed the dreaded IEP.

That's when anxiety set in.

I realized there were several reasons why going the public school route wasn't going to work for our family. I did not feel comfortable sending my special needs daughter, who was still falling a lot, into a big school with big kids. I didn't like the fact that so much of my legal and paternal rights to my child's education and well-being were being handed off to people who didn't know her and who were also accountable to a few hundred other kids.

As for my typically developing child, I had a feeling that she would be the nail that would have to be hammered down to fit in. She is strong, fierce, and opinionated but gentle and compassionate. I didn't want her to lose that.

I didn't want someone else raising my children and I didn't want to miss out on all that time with them. I love my children!

Now, some people may say that I'm overreacting, I'm being a helicopter parent or I'm sheltering my children. To that, I say they're my kids and the law is on my side.

The longer we keep on this homeschooling journey, the more secure I am in my decision to homeschool. I have shared so many amazing memories with my children and have been learning right alongside them.

I think it's an absolute privilege to see my children learn and grow year after year without missing hardly a thing. Those moments when it finally clicked and she read her first book or how her face lit up when she learned some amazing fact about her favorite animal; those moments belong to us, me and my children.

Thank God that we all have the ability to choose how our children are educated in this country. Whether it be public, private, or homeschool, we choose what's best for our children. One form of education is not less-than another, it's just different.

Whatever your reasons, they are all valid.