Free Printables

A friend of mine just told me about http://www.schoolexpress.com/ . It's a great place to get all kinds of free printable worksheets. Yesterday I printed off several pages to make a fun little math workbook for G.

This is a great resource! Thanks, Morgan!!

Blog Award!!

I was very surprised and honored to find this blog award presented to me by Joelle at Homeschooling For His Glory.

Now, there are some rules that go along with this award:

1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.

2) Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.Now here are my newly discovered great blogs:

Altering Life

This is What it's All About

Art Projects for Kids

School For Us

Proverbs 22:6

Cooking for my Family

Momology

Homeschool Distractions

Amazing Grace Learning Academy

Criss Cross Applesauce

Secret Agent Josephine

Ok, I know that's not 15, but I'm pretty new to this blog stuff. I'll have to add more later.

The Abacus: Entertainment for the Whole Family

We went to a used curriculum sale today and G found an abacus he simply HAD to have. Having never used one, I bought it thinking we could learn about it together. I found this site that explains how to use an abacus and we sat down as a family to figure it out. We were all entertained for a good 20 minutes by the wonders of the abacus! :-)

I also realized that this is a great "toy" for G to experiment with as it will go right along with the place value oriented math curriculum that we will be doing next year, Math-U-See.

Free Summer Bowling

http://www.kidsbowlfree.com/ is offering 2 free games of bowling every day...all summer long for kids. Sign up and get weekly coupons to print out and take to your local participating bowling alley. All you have to pay for is the shoe rental, which is $2 (unless the kids have their own bowling shoes). Happy summer bowling!!

PS~ Bowling is a fun way to review basic subtraction concepts! On our way home from the bowling alley, we made up story problems about how many bowling pins were left, and how many had been knocked down if we started with 10.

First Time with Modeling Clay

G and I went to the craft store today and ended up with a package of modeling clay. He was excited to play with it and this is his first modeling clay creation...

Our Neighbor, the Bird Watcher

We live next door to an elderly couple and the husband is an avid bird watcher. What a great opportunity for G to learn about birds in a real and hands-on way! Our neighbor is more than happy to teach us everything he knows about birds. Yesterday, he showed us the bluebirds that have made a nest in one of his bird houses. We also got to see the nest itself and the 5 little eggs that are in it. He says that if all goes well, we should be seeing baby bluebirds next week! His yard is all decked out with bird gear: bird baths, bird houses and bird feeders. He's got different types of birdseed for different types of birds, and he is teaching us about the behaviors of the birds that come around our neighborhood. We're looking forward to feeding some of them out of our hands!

Mother's Day Homeschool Freebies

currclick.com is offering homeschooling freebies in honor of Mother's day! Each day there are 4 new items being offered, so visit the site daily. Items will be offered on May 6th, 7th, 8th, 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th. Enjoy!!

Social Skills

Who knew that social skills could be learned and improved upon by meeting people in everyday life around the community? Aren't social skills picked up strictly in a public school setting? Nope, and today was a perfect example.

G and I went to Costco today and after we had done our shopping, we decided to sit down and share a hot dog and a sundae. We parked our cart and looked for a couple of nearby empty seats. There was an older gentleman sitting alone at one of the tables and we asked him if we could join him. He was happy to have the company and as we ate our lunch, we sat and chatted with our new friend. He was a great grandpa and I think he got a kick out of G. I know G enjoyed talking with him. The gentleman shared about his family, his hobbies, and even a little about what life was like for him as a kid (no indoor toilets or running water in the house, which G was amazed about, and didn't believe at first). It was a great way for G to continue to develop a respect for old people and to have the opportunity to personally relate to people much older than him. When children realize the wealth of knowledge, wisdom and experience that can be passed from one generation to another, and the mentors they have in their elders, they set themselves up to live rich and fulfilling lives.

Sunday School Craft

I thought this was cute. They made these stand-up crosses and then decorated them how they liked in Sunday School yesterday. I love G's message...cute misspellings and all! :-)

I-Can't-Wait-to-Grow-Up Syndrome

Translation: I wish I was a grown up so that I could do what I want like eat whatever I want and just do what I want so that is why I want to be a grown up.