Christmas In The Netherlands - 10 Fun Facts

*This post contains affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for details.

Last week my children and I had tons of fun at our homeschool groups Christmas Around The World Celebration. Each family got to choose a country of their choice! Then we each created a display board that told about our country's holiday traditions. We also made a traditional holiday treat and hand-made ornament that represented our country.

My children choose the Netherlands as our country. We learned a lot about the country including their Christmas celebrations. For our treat we made marzipan balls using this recipe. And for our ornaments we made a toilet paper tube windmill and paper Delft pottery piece. Gwyn spent hours creating our display board. She hand wrote all of the information and we printed lots of pictures off the internet. We also utilized this FREE country lapbook.

Here are 10 Netherlands Kerstfeest facts we learned:
1) Sinterklaas and Zwarte Pieten visit children on December 5th.
2) Children fill their shoes with hay and sugar for Sinterklaas's horse and when they wake up they find their shoes filled with small gifts, nuts and candy.
3) The people of Twente in east Holland hold a special Advent ceremony where they blow into special horns to chase away evil spirits and to announce the birth of Christ. The horns are made out of one-year-old saplings and are 3-4 feet long. 
4) Christmas Day is a much quieter day in Holland, with a Church Service and family meal.
5) In Dutch Happy/Merry Christmas is "Prettige Kerstfeest."

6) Christmas in Netherlands is celebrated for two consecutive days, December 25th and 26th. The first Christmas Day, December 25th, is known as “Eerste Kerstdag” meaning “the first day of Christmas” and second day, December 26th is called “Tweede Kerstdag” meaning “Boxing Day”.  
7) On the day of Epiphany, January 6th, kids, dress up as the Three Wise Men and travel around the city carrying lanterns reenacting “Driekoningen” and singing carols. In return, children are offered cakes and sweets.
8) In the Netherlands roast meats such as pork and a variety of vegetables are served for Christmas meals.  The Dutch enjoy "Gourmetten" which is an eating style in which everyone cooks small, bite-sized pieces of meat and vegetables on a table top grill. Gingerbread and ginger cakes are popular as well as sweets made with marzipan. Another traditional food item around the holidays is Christmas Bread called "Kerststol" which contains a variety of dried fruits.
9) People in the Netherlands decorate their homes using things from nature like pinecones, holly and evergreens.
10) “Kerstmarkt” which are Christmas markets are very popular in the Netherlands.

Here is a video of all the kids presentations:


For more information about Christmas in the Netherlands visit my Pinterest board!

Be sure to browse through all of our other Top 10 Posts!

Has your homeschool group ever done anything like this before?

Linking up with: Top Ten Tuesday

365 Days of Pinterest Link Up - Week 3 and 4 - Recipes, Science, Arts and Crafts and More

*This post contains affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for details.

Welcome to 365 Days of Pinterest Week 3 and 4! I am teaming up with my great friend Almost Supermom for this fun challenge. 

The challenge is simple just choose a pin from one of your many boards and do it! Then blog about it and link up. You can choose to do a post every day like Almost Supermom is or you or you can do a weekly wrap up on Saturday/Sunday like I am! So what are you waiting for? Do something with those thousands of pins (we know you have that many) and join us over the next 365 days!!! 

Be sure to follow our Pinterest boards Almost Supermom and Kathys Cluttered Mind to see what sort of stuff we will be doing.

As you know we were very busy been moving into our new place last month so I had to take a few weeks off from from doing any Pinterest projects. I hope to get back on track this month starting this week. Throughout the month though while organizing our new place I often looked to Pinterest for inspiration and ideas. So here are my Pinterest projects that I was able to squeeze in here and there last month (remember it's okay to modify). 

Day 15 - Slime  (we had a blast doing this one with the Almost Superomom kids)

Materials:
-3/4 cup liquid starch
-1 cup clear glue
-Food coloring (optional)

What to do:
Mix the food coloring (1 drop is more than enough) and glue together, then add liquid starch and mix until it forms into slime. That's it! It starts out a little runny, but as you play with it more and more it becomes more stretchy and less slippery. 

Tips:A little goes a long way with food coloring, one drop is all you need to get good color.
If you use food coloring, have the kids in old t shirts and over a surface that can get stained with food coloring (great outdoor activity!) once the slime is played with, and becomes less slippery, then the food coloring stays put and won't ruin any surfaces.

Science behind it:Glue is a liquid polymer, the microscopic molecules in the glue are in strands, like a chain. When you add the liquid starch, the strands of the glue hold together, giving it its slimy feel. The starch acts as a cross-linker that links all the polymer strands together.

Had we had more time we would have made this more scientific by experimenting with adding more or less starch or trying different glues to see if it made a difference.

The kids had so much fun and played with their slim for days...until it ended up on some clothes and wouldn't come out (so DO NOT let it get on clothes). 

Day 16 - Flash Card Organization

Materials:
-Hole puncher (my scrapbook hole puncher worked the best)
-Flash cards
-Binder rings (amazon has the best deal)
-Bin, basket, shoe box etc

What to do:
Tired of flash cards getting lost? Tired of the flash card boxes falling apart? Here is a super simple solution. Just hole punch a corner, but a binder clip through the holes and then put your flash cards into a bin, basket etc to keep them nicely stored without taking up tons of room! 

Day 17 - Puzzle Organization

Materials:
-Puzzles
-Markers, stickers, crayons
-Ziplock baggies

What to do:
Tired of puzzle pieces getting mixed up? Tired of boxes taking up room or getting destroyed? Here is a super simple way to organize your puzzles to remedy those issues. First make sure you have all the puzzle pieces. Next label the backs of the pieces with a color, shape, sticker, number, etc. I choose to do colors and shapes with markers. Next put the pieces into a ziplock baggie. I also cut out the picture of the puzzle from the box and stuck it into the baggie. I store our puzzles on our Ikea bookcase in canvas bin.

Day 18 - Truffala Trees Decoration
Our new schoolroom is Dr. Seuss themed and needed a few more decorations so I decided to use Pinterest for some inspiration and made this Truffala Tree decoration!

Materials:
-Small fur boas
-Floral stakes
-Pot
-Yellow paint
-Black marker
-Styrofoam (balls work great, I used what I had on hand)
-Moss

What to do:
First paint the floral stakes yellow. After they are dried draw black stripes around them with a permanent marker. Next take a small piece of styrofoam (you will need 3 balls total) and wrap the fur boa around the syrofoam. I used low temp hot glue. After all 3 balls are wrapped place the plant stakes into the balls and glue in place. Next place a piece of styrofoam into your container and then push the stakes into the container. Add moss, etc to the container. Now you are done and have your very own Truffala Trees.

Day 19 - Eggplant Chips
We have started eating the Primal diet so you will be seeing more recipes now on my blog. One of the first things I attempted to make was eggplant chips. They didn't turn out crispy but the family still loved them. Click link for the full recipe.

Day 20 - Salt Art

Materials:
-Salt
-Construction Paper
-Glue
-Eye droppers
-Food Coloring

What to do:
Have the kids draw designs on construction paper with glue. Next sprinkle salt onto the glue just like you would glitter. Be sure to shake off any excess. Next use eyedroppers and food coloring (mixed with a little water) to color the salt creations. It is lots of fun!!!

Day 21 - Underwater Volcano Science Lesson

This project was lots of fun and a great way to show the kids how a volcano underwater explodes. Adult supervision is required for this project.

Materials:
-Candle
-Sand
-Burner
-Water
-Glass jar

What to do:
It took us a few attempts to get this to work and we finally were successful when we just places the jar directly onto the stove burner. I was trying to be a little safer and originally tried using a pot with water.

First add a candle to the bottom of a glass jar. Next add sand on top of the candle. Then fill the jar with water. Next place the jar over a burner and keep a close eye on it. Once the wax gets hot enough you will see it start to escape from the sand (just like magma). The kids thought it was fascinating how it bubbled up through the sand and made the sand move. After several minutes the was really started coming to the surface and eventually the surface of the water was covered in wax. The kids wanted to see what would happen to the wax after the water cooled so we left our project sit out for a little bit to see what would happen. 

Day 22 - Primal Spinach, Beef and Cheese Casserole 

I made this delicious Spinach, Beef and Cheese Casserole for dinner one night and it was a huge hit. Hubby had a few recommendations though for the next time I make the dish, like more eggs, a little less spinach and more cottage cheese. Click link for the full recipe.

Day 23 - Primal Cheese Steak Stuffed Peppers

Another primal meal hit, cheese steak stuffed peppers. Only changes I made to this one was adding pepper jack cheese. Click link for the full recipe.

Day 24 - Finding Insect Species
My kids love insects. Any time they find an insect they want to know what type it is and learn more about it. And now that they have a yard to explore they have been bringing in all kinds of buggy visitors. Thank goodness I have a Bug Board on Pinterest where I pin various bug related resources like bug unit studies, websites, crafts, etc. It makes it so much easier to learn more about their newest buggy discovery! The link above helped us find out that the caterpillar the kids found was not a butterfly but an Orangestriped Oakworm Larva.

Day 25 - Primal Tomato Soup

Our family loves soup but going Primal means no more buying canned soup from the store. I found this great recipe on Pinterest and it was another hit. We did top our soup with a little bit of cheese and sour cream as well! Click link for the full recipe.

365 Days of Pinterest Link Up - Week 2

*This post contains affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for details.

I would like to introduce you to a fun new link up and my friends blog Almost Supermom. Jordyn is a the group leader for our local homeschool group, a great wife, amazing mom to 6 beautiful children and the greatest friend anyone could ever ask for. For the last few weeks I have been helping her get her blog up and running, doesn't it look great?

Well she had a brilliant idea to put all those pins she has been adding to her Pinterest boards to good use and is committing to doing a Pinterest activity everyday with her kids over the next year. I convinced her it would make a great link up and so we are teaming up and encouraging you to do something with those thousands of pins (we know you have that many) with us over the next 365 days.

It is really simple choose a pin from one of your many boards and do it! Then blog about it and link up. Because of everything else I have to blog about (reviews, giveaways, etc) I will not be posting my activities everyday (and with my upcoming move I may get a little behind) but I will be doing a weekly pin wrap up and linking up.

Be sure to follow Almost Supermom as well as Kathys Cluttered Mind Pinterest boards to see what sort of stuff we will be doing.

So here are my Pinterest projects this week (remember it's okay to modify):

Day 8 - Boredom Buster Jar

Materials:
-Some type of jar or container (I used a plastic drink mix container)
-These 2 printables I made which you can download for FREE - boredom buster ideas and boredom buster jar label

What to do:
Print out this FREE printable with boredom buster ideas (or make your own) and this one for the jar label. There are a few blank cards included so you can come up with activities that may better suite your children. To add your owe activities either download the pdf and add text in a pdf program, use a label maker or a marker. I choose to laminate my cards to make them more durable. Cut the cards apart and place them into the jar/container. Next time your child says those dreaded words, "mom I'm bored" send them to the boredom jar!

Day 9 - Homemade Lipstick Out Of Crayons (we had a blast doing this one with the Almost Superomom kids)

Materials:
-Box of Crayola brand crayons (don't use any other type of crayons for a few reasons, 1) Crayola crayons actually go through special testing to make sure they are non-toxic and 2) other crayons don't melt nearly as well)
-Small bead containers
-Some type of oil (we used coconut oil)
-Double broiler (we used a little sauce pan and a bigger sauce pan)

What to do:
Fill a pot with water and heat it to a simmer, be careful don't let it get too hot because wax is combustible. Once the pot is simmering, place 1 crayon (without the wrapper) and 1 tsp of oil in the double boiler. Put the double boiler in the pot of water and stir the crayons and oil until completely melted and mix. Remove double boiler from heat and immediately pour the lipstick into your container. Let the mixture cool for 5-10 minutes before applying. Repeat with your favorite colors! 

This project was tons of fun and it worked really, really well. The lipstick looks great and stays on for a long time. Plus the crayon lipstick is non-toxic and doesn't contain a bunch of ingredients you cannot pronounce. You can search the internet and find lots of different recipes. I have seen several where they use shea butter, vitamin e, essential oils, glitter, glow in the dark crayons, etc.

Day 10 - TV Time Tickets

Materials:
-Small plastic tray or a basket
-Envelopes (1 for each child, 1 for placing used tickets and 1 for reward tickets)
-Letter stickers (for names)
-Colored paper
-This tag printable I made which you can download for FREE

What to do:
Print out this FREE tag printable (or make your own). I chose to use different colored paper for each child. To add your children's names download the pdf and add text in a pdf program, use a label maker, stickers or a marker. You can also add your desired amount of time to each card. We do 1/2 hr time slots on each card and each child gets 10 at the beginning of the week (for 5 hrs of TV time each week). I choose to laminate my cards to make them more durable. Cut the cards apart and place them into each child's envelope. Next label the envelopes: one with your child's name, one with used tickets and if desired one with reward tickets . At the beginning of the week give each child all their TV tickets. Throughout the week children must redeem a ticket whenever they wish to watch TV. They only get to watch TV for the amount they redeem. When the cards are gone that means there is no more TV until a new week starts. This system has been working great for us. It requires the children to budget their TV time better and also incorporates some math skills as well. You can use the reward tickets as you please. Our children get reward tickets for various things like helping out without being asked, doing something nice for someone, etc.

Day 11 - Street Signs
We recently learned about street safety and this craft was a perfect fit.

Materials:
-Construction paper
-Glue
-Scissors
-Markers
-Glitter optional

What to do:
Have your child determine which sign they would like to make. Gwyn made a yield sign and Rowyn made a street light. Next show your child a picture of the sign so they can determine what paper color then need. Next have them cut out the correct shape (s) for their sign and right the correct word if necessary on their sign.

Day 12 - DIY Shell Shower Hooks
The kids bathroom in our new place is going to be beach themed. I stumbled upon shell shower hooks on Pinterest which you can purchase on Amazon. They were cute and not overly expensive....but then I got a brilliant idea to use what we had on hand to make our own. So for FREE I made our very own shell shower hooks which not only look fabulous but also hold special memories of our beach trips.

Materials:
-Shower hooks of any kind (visit Dollar tree/clearance sections or use what you have on hand)
-Sculpey clay
-Shells
-Hammer (only if you need to break off decoration on existing shower hooks)
-Hot glue

What to do:
With a hammer break off any decoration from the existing shower hooks. Dig through your shell collection to find the perfect shells (I had the kids help me with this). Next glue the hooks onto the back of the shells. For smoother shells you may need to make clay supports. Simply mold small balls of clay and poke a hole in the middle. Bake per package directions. Then glue the hardened clay pieces onto the shells and glue the hooks into the clay. Hang up your beautiful new shell shower hooks!

Day 13 -  Best Way To Pack Clothes
We are moving again for the 7th time in 13 years. Yes I consulted Pinterest for packing and moving tips and found this great tip for packing clothes. Place folded clothes into trash bags. And for hanging clothes place all the hangers the same way and place a trash bag over the hangers by tearing a small hole through bottom of trash bag. Pull the bag down over the clothes and tie the bottom. Super cheap and super simple!



Day 14 - DIY Shell Night Light

This is another Pinterest item that gave me a brilliant idea to reuse what we had on hand. So with the help of my husband we created a beautiful piece for the kids new beach themed bathroom.

Materials:
-Night light base (3 pack on Amazon) (or visit Dollar tree/clearance sections or use what you have on hand)
-Shell
-Hot glue
-Dremel

What to do:
I dismantled the kids old ducky night light and then with the help of my husband cut out the base of a shell so it would fit snugly around the night light base. I then secured the shell with hot glue. And viola a new nightlight to match the beach themed bathroom.

Homeschool Parent Information Network (Homeschool PIN) Website Launch

I am so very excited to tell ALL of my fellow PINNING addict homeschool friends about the launch of a great new site – Homeschool Parent Information Network - Homeschool PIN for short. This new home education resource site uses a Pinterest-type setup to connect homeschool parents with thousands of great resources for curriculum, recipes, encouragement, crafts, and much more! The website is launching today and to kick it off there are several great GIVEAWAYS going on! One of them is from me and is for the Columbus And The Great Discovery DVD from Learn Our History.

Why did Angela start the Homeschool Parent Information Network? Well here is what she stated in an email she sent out to several bloggers (you can also read more here)...

"If you’re like me, you’re always eager to find new ways for the kids to enjoy learning, without spending money. The Internet has a wealth of knowledge for us as homeschool parents, and quite a lot of it is FREE. But it can take time to locate, collect, and organize all this information. What I needed was a single Pinterest-type site where I could quickly and easily find all the home education resources I needed. It would be even better if those resources were efficiently organized and categorized for fast browsing. That’s what my new site, Homeschool Parent Information Network, provides. Not everyone is on Pinterest, and the internet is still the most searchable form for home school resources. I have designed Homeschool PIN as a massive resource site for moms, dads, tutors and teachers, and even kids; a single site where you can find just about anything imaginable having to do with the homeschool life. Homeschool PIN has been created to provide all the benefits of a Pinterest site, but one designed specifically for Homeschool families."

So if you like LOVE Pinterest, you’ll LOVE Homeschool PIN. Here you can find ideas and resources for every subject, historical era, or Bible story you and your kids are studying. But instead of one giant “Homeschool” category (which is what many sites offer), you’ll find the Homeschool PIN categories constructed around your needs. Here are a few of the homeschool categories you will find on Homeschool PIN...

• Homeschool: Ancient Egypt
• Homeschool: Astronomy
• Homeschool: Phonics and Reading
• Homeschool: Character Building
• Homeschool: Geography 
• And so on.....

Homeschool Moms tend to cook A LOT of meals and eat at home more often than the average mother, so new recipes are crucial to the homeschool life. But who wants to browse through a jumbled category called “Recipes”? Wouldn't it be better to look through easily-identifiable categories, like...

• Easy Dinners (my personal favorite)
• Breakfast
• Desserts  
• Side Dishes
• Crockpot
• Freezer Meals 
• And so on....

Homeschool families often need crafts or activities to supplement their studies. At Homeschool PIN, you can find just what you need in the various craft and activity categories including a special "Crafts for Mom" category! Let’s say you need activities related to Autumn or Thanksgiving then just browse the "HOLIDAYS" – "Autumn/Fall" category, where you’ll find recipes, crafts, decorating ideas, and more.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg of what you’ll find on Homeschool Parent Information Network.

But rather than keep talking about it, how about you just head on over and check out what Homeschool PIN has to offer for yourself! Oh and don't forget to enter the awesome GIVEAWAYS!

Other links to follow:
-Homeschool PIN Facebook -  tell Angela I sent you!
-Homeschool PIN Pinterest
-Homeschool PIN Twitter
-Submit a new listing or advertise at Homeschool PIN - great marketing opportunity for homeschool bloggers
-My FREE GA Resources listing on Homeschool PIN


*Disclaimer - I received two FREE listing on Homeschool PIN, a couple eBooks and a listing in websites you'll love category in return for helping them spread the word. Many of the links found on my side bars and in my blog posts are affiliate links. Please note that prices indicated in the post are subject to change. As a result, I might get paid money and I will most likely spend the money on homeschool supplies.

A week in the life of homeschoolers - Week 27 & FreeBEE Friday Link Up

Week 27: 
We are back on track. We finished up our Antarctica and Penguin unit on Monday and Tuesday. We finally got around to making our Borax Crystal Snowflakes which turned out very well. Now we are moving onto Africa and Lions. Both kids are so fascinated with animals right now so we will continue picking an animal each month to study until they decide its time to move onto something else. We will be taking time to learn about the holidays and black history as well. We had a lot of fun with Groundhog Day did you see my Groundhog Day Post? Rowyn will be continuing to work on letters, numbers and patterns. And Gwyn is continuing to work on reading with her Bob Books. She did such a good job in January so she received her reading reward, which was a Belle Barbie doll. And she is still very much into money so we will be moving onto the nickel. Today we visited the Booth Western Art Museum. What a cool museum. The kids and I learned all sorts of cool things and got to see some really fascinating art.

FreeBEEs:

If you have homeschool FreeBEEs to share
please link up at the bottom of this post!
You can copy the button from my right side bar.

Internet FreeBEEs:
-We used the Arctic/Antarctica Calendar Connection Cards from 1+1+1=1 last month and the kids loved them. So we are using them again for February. February's cards are all about the President's which goes along great with Presidents Day and the upcoming election.
-GREAT websites for worksheets, unit studies, etc TeachersPayTeachers and Education.com
-Africa Lesson Plans
-Homeschool Share Africa Lapbook, Lion Lapbook - this website has lots of free stuff so make sure you search for things that you may be studying now.
-Valentines Day Tot Kit from Lawteedah
-Black History Resources
-Mamas Learning Corner - lots of fun and free worksheets.
-School Sparks - Alphabet, math, number motor skills, pattern, holiday worksheets. I get a lot of Rowyns stuff on this website.

FreeBEE events: 
-Toys R Us Lego Event - Feb. 4th 12-2pm - Build a Lemonade stand - Participating Toys R Us Stores are holding an exclusive event where children can create a complimentary Lego Fries Lemonade Stand to take home. This is in support of the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) in the fight against childhood cancer; with each stand built, the LEGO Group will donate $1 to ALSF. The event is intended for kids ages 5 & up, and is while supplies last. Call your local store to determine if they are participating.

-Home Depot Build and Grow - Feb. 4th 9am-12pm - This week kids can build a great Keepsake Box. Make a personalized box to hold private treasures. Or give it as a gift for Valentine’s Day. My kids love these workshops.

-If you live in Atlanta make sure you visit the Atlanta History Centers FB page for a FREE adult admission coupon valid 2/3/12 - 2/29/12.

 

Sign up FreeBEEs, items I will be reviewing soon and items I won:

1) Scotts Save the Song Birds packet - the sign up for this has ended but you can still get the Teachers Guides, 2) Get connected with homeschoolers in your area so you can take another persons junk and turn it into your treasure 3) We Choose Virtues 100 days of Virtue Poster and Parenting Cards keep an eye out for our review, 4) How to Become President of the United States poster  5) Boogie Wipe FB Contest prize the book Battle with the Bugs by Dr. Heather Manley looks awesome

Books and DVDs we checked out from the library:
Well I upgraded my library card this week to an educators card this week because we had too many books. The educators card allows me to check out 50 books on one card. Plus Gwyns card we can now check out 75 at a time.

-Africa - Heinemann First Library
-Willoughby & the Lion - by Greg Foley
-Enchanted Lions - by David Greenburg
-Pretty Salma - A Little Red Riding Hood Story from Africa - by Niki Daly
-Hop, Hop and Away - Richard Scarry
-Money - by Penny Dowdy
-Endangered Lions - by Amanda Harman
-Honesty - by Lucia Raatma
-Respectful - by Sarah Schuette
-Groundhog Day - by Margaret McNamara
-Great Groundhogs - by Karen Gray Ruelle
-We're Going on a Lion Hunt - by Margery Cuyler
-DVD Ferrets
-DVD Nature Big Cats - wonderful film

New ideas have been added to my board. These are some of the things we are doing for our January units. Check out my other boards on Pinterest for ABC, 123, Art, etc ideas.


This is our February YouTube playlist keep checking back because I will be adding videos each week. It includes the various videos we will be using throughout February.

I hope you find these resources useful. If you ever have any questions feel free to leave me a comment or email me. Also be sure to follow my FB page where I post FreeBEEs daily.

Link up: FreeBEE Fridays with Kathy's Cluttered Mind and Gricefully Homeschooling

*Disclaimer - Many of the links found on my side bars and in my blog posts are affiliate links. As a result, I might get paid money and I will most likely spend the money on homeschool supplies.

A week in the life of homeschoolers - Week 24

We have officially been homeschooling for112 days. Wow time flies.

Week 24: 
Well we had a great week again packed with lots of learning. I really love how much I am learning as well with the kids. We started our mornings with some homeschool PE by Family Time Fitness (keep an eye out I will be having a review and giveaway soon). Gwyns favorite exercise is popcorn and Rowyns is angel arms. We continued our Penguin and Antarctica study. Gwyn is still working on reading with her Bob Books. She can read 1-4 of set one on her own but we haven't moved on because I want her to really master the words and comprehend them. So she has been doing flash cards and word searches this week to expand on the books. We also found the audio cds for set 1 at the library so she has been listening to those on her MP3 player. For math she has been working on money and we started with pennies. We are also covering some history with our money lessons because we taking time to learn about the symbols on the penny, etc. We did some worksheets, played store and are working on a lapbook. Rowyn is still enjoying  writing his name, he so so proud and so am I. He also worked on letter E and number 1 this week.We looked at boogies under a microscope, yup boogies! We started learning about Martin Luther King today and we will continue learning about him on Monday as well. Monday we have the opportunity to try out a Founder Academy online class called Happy Birthday MLK. It only costs $5 so if you don't have anything planned yet sign up now the class starts at 4 pm EST. 

Gwyn and I finished reading Felicity Learns a Lesson for her American Girl Club which is offered for FREE though CurrClick each month. She is now working on the Felicity craft which is sewing a hand muff. She is having a great time and has been doing all of the sewing herself.

FREE Resources for Money, Bob Books and a few more Antarctica/Penguin:
-Memory/describing Penguin cards - I am planning to use these to have Gwyn dictate some stories to me.
-Arctic and Antarctic ideas
-Snow paint - we made this concoction this week and it worked wonderfully. It also felt really cool after it dried.
-Money worksheets - here, here, here and here
-Martin Luther King worksheets - here, here and here
-Scholastic MLK resources
-Well they won't arrive in time for MLK day this year but you can always use them later. We got ours today and they are wonderful resources to have on hand. National and Community Service
-MLK video on Brain Pop
-The US Mint - lots of free worksheets, games
-Federal Reserve - while your there order some of their awesome publications FREE we just got Symbols on American Money, The First Bank of the US, Benjamin Franklin and the birth of a paper money economy. There is also a student workbook called My Money.
-Bob Books- 3 part cards, reading checklist, teaching Bob Books, Bob Books Blog
-Mazes -  another one of Gwyns favorite things to do

Books and DVDs we checked out from the library (most of them we have read and watched already):
-Find Your ABC's - Richard Scarry's
-Martin Luther King Jr Day - by Margaret McNamara
-Erin and Her New Pet - The Sound of Short E - by Joanne Meier and Cecilia Minden
-Money, Money, Honey Bunny - by Marilyn Sadler
-I Can Add Bills and Coins - by Rebecca Wingard-Nelson
-Counting Money- Julie Dalton
-Just Saving My Money - by Mercer Mayer
-A Penguin for Pinkerton - by Steven Kellogg
-Little Penguin The Emperor of Antarctica - by Jonathan London - this was a wonderful book
-A Cup for Everyone - by Yusuke Yonezu
-If You Were A Penguin - by Wendell Minor
-Penguin - by Polly Dunbar

New ideas have been added to my board. These are some of the things we are doing for our January units. Check out my other boards on Pinterest for ABC, 123, Art, etc ideas.

  This is our January YouTube playlist keep checking back because I will be adding videos each week. It includes the various videos we will be using throughout January. Some people don't like YouTube because of the unpleasing content that can pop up. First off there is a filter option which does help with that. Scroll down to the bottom of YouTube and click on safety to change your settings. If you want some alternative educational video sites check out Hippo Campus and Neo12.

I hope you find these resources useful. If you ever have any questions feel free to leave me a comment or email me. Also be sure to follow my FB page where I post Freebie things daily.

Thanks for stopping by.

*Disclaimer - Many of the links found on my side bars and in my blog posts are affiliate links. As a result, I might get paid money and I will most likely spend the money on homeschool supplies.

A week in the life of homeschoolers - Week 23

Well we just finished week 23 of homeschool. I know I missed three weeks of updates but we had a lot going on with the holidays and I wasn't finding much time to write blog posts. Yup we homeschooled through the entire month of December. We did take some full days off here and there but there was still plenty of learning taking place in between. Here is what we were doing during those three weeks of skipped posts. Learned about Christmas and the REAL reason we celebrate it with our Truth in the Tinsel Advent. We learned about Bethlehem, Israel, Hanukkah, Kwanza, New Years and Chinese New Year. We made crafts LOTS of crafts, cards, gingerbread houses/stables and trains at Lowes, We went to the playground, we played games and we read. We went caroling at a nursing home. We snuggled, watched movies and ate popcorn. We went on a Polar Explorer Express trip and saw some Christmas light displays.  We spent time with family and friends. I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Christmas and New Year.

So this past week we entered into week 23 of our homeschooling adventure. I didn't like totally having our days unplanned and couldn't quite do the 100% unschooling method. I have several reasons but don't really want to get into them, it just doesn't work for us yet. So I have come to the conclusion that our "method" is gentle/guided learning. So I asked the kids what they wanted to learn about. Gwyn said she wanted to learn to read and tie her shoes. She also wanted to learn about animals more. Rowyn well he just goes along with whatever his sister says for the most part, you know monkey see monkey do. So I sort of started planning again (still not planning like I want to but that is going to change this Summer). The kids choose the order of the things we do each day. If they get frustrated with something we move on. So far this has been working very well for us.

I am also changing up my posts a little. I will now be sharing a collage of our week instead of individual pictures, I will also be sharing various ideas and freebies we are using for the month.

Week 23: 
Well we had a wonderful week despite me being under the weather. For January the kids chose Penguins as the animal of the month. Well what goes along well with Penguins? Antarctica, winter, snow and ice of course. So that pretty much covers Geography, History, Science right there. Gwyn started reading Bob Books and I am very proud to say she can read 4 of the books from level 1 all on her own. For math she has been working on graphing. And she's mastered tying her shoes. Rowyn learned to write his name and worked on recognizing his numbers and learning the letter D. Gwyn and I are also reading Felicity Learns a Lesson for her American Girl Club which is offered for FREE though CurrClick each month. Next week I will share more Bob Books resources with you.

FREE Resources for Penguin, Antarctica, Winter, Snow Unit Study:
-Penguin Printable Unit Study and Interactive Unit from Simple Homeschool - download quickly its only available through 1/23/12, also with the Interactive Unit Study if you bookmark it on your computer you should be able to view it after the 23rd its worked for me in the past.
-How to make fake snow - we haven't done this yet but we will be
-KidZone - Penguin Facts
-Ustream Penguins - Live streaming from an Aquarium
-Make your own Iceburg - we did this and the kids had a blast
-Free Penguin Lapbook
-Penguin Coloring Pages, Dot to Dots, Color by Number

Books and DVDs we checked out from the library (most of them we have read and watched already):
-Arctic and Antarctic by Eye Wonder
-What's a Penguin doing in a place like this? by Miriam Schlein
-Emperor Penguins by Elaine Landau
-Antarctic Ice by Norbert Wu
-Emperor Penguins Up Close - by Carmen Bredeson
-Penguins by Susanna Davidson - great for little ones
-Antarctica by Alan Fowler - Read About Geography - great for little ones
-Where Is Home Little Pip - by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman - a very cute little story about home being where your family is
-DVD Nature Penguins
-DVD Arctic and Antarctic - by Eye Witness - we love Eye Witness videos

These are some of the things we are doing for our January unit. Check out my other boards on Pinterest for ABC, 123, Art, etc ideas.

This is our January YouTube playlist. It includes the various videos we will be using throughout January.

So what style of learning do you use and what are you learning about right now in your homeschool?

Thanks for stopping by.

*Disclaimer - Many of the links found on my side bars and in my blog posts are affiliate links. As a result, I might get paid money and I will most likely spend the money on homeschool supplies.