Monthly Archive: December 2013

Year in Review at NASA 0

Year in Review at NASA

A couple of days ago I mentioned how I really love the year-end wrap up programs.  I thought I’d mention that NASA has a Year in Review post that the kids and I really enjoyed.  When DD saw NASA’s photo of the newest astronaut class she said, “Go Girls!!” because there are 4 women and 4 men pictured! It was really tough to pick our favorite photos.  We loved the incredible...

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3 Inspiring Books for Educators

You know a book is really great when you can’t read it without paper and pencil in hand to jot down all those flashes of inspiration! This break I’ve read several books for teachers that have really resonated with me. For those of you still on break, I thought I would mention them. Even if you’re not on break, they are inspiring and well worth squeezing in time to read...

New Years Self Reflection Questions 2

Self-Reflection Questions for New Years

The year is quickly coming to a close. I absolutely love the year end wrap-ups that come on TV… remembering and reflecting on the good, the amazing, the bad, the sad… And it’s worth thinking about our family’s own year in that same way.  Here are some questions to consider about the year. At the end of the post I’ll share a year-end wrap-up of my own. (It’ll be a...

A Mom’s Wishlist for Santa 0

A Mom’s Wishlist for Santa

Dear Santa, This year my 8-year-old daughter asked if I was going to write to Santa. She’s been writing to you all year and thinking very carefully about what she wants for Christmas.  It’s been a while now since I’ve taken the time to write to you, but I think I’ll do that this year! So Santa, I’d like to start off with the basics.  To be honest, I’m not...

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Gandhi (Free Worksheets/Notebook Pages)

This week we finished up our studies of India with a close look at Gandhi, his life and contributions. We read a number of children’s books and biographies and watched highlights from the well-known movie, Gandhi.  There are a few parts of the movie that (in my opinion) are too rough for younger kids, but some of the scenes (the Indian country-side, the marches) were amazing! The movie is SO...

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Free Christmas Music for Beginning Piano Players

My kids have been asking for more Christmas music to play on the piano. I went to two of my favorite music-related websites and saw both of them have free Christmas music for beginning piano players. Some of it is perfect for DD who is now on her second year of piano and some of it is great for ED who just started learning piano this fall. The first website is...

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Free Christmas Math Games (Double Digit Number Game, Grid Game): Ages 4-8

Last week I shared some of the math card games I played with the kids.  Life has been busy and I only had the chance to print out these next two games yesterday.  I’ll share them with you today. These are a couple more games that use the Christmas Number Cards I shared last week. The first game is called the Quick Christmas Cross-Off.  It’s great for kids who are...

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Free Holiday Skip Counting Pages (2s thru 7s)

I made some Christmas skip counting mazes for my daughter and printed them out for her math notebook.  At the moment she is only work on the 2s, 3s and 5s, but I made other mazes as well since your kids might be ready for more advanced math. Free Holiday Skip Counting Practice 2s thru 7s Click here to save these on Pinterest! If you find them useful, I’d love...

Snowflake Math (2 1/2 Year Old’s Activity) 0

Snowflake Math (2 1/2 Year Old’s Activity)

With all the snow and ice we’ve had this week, it brought to mind a really cute activity I did with ED when she was a toddler.  This time of year there should be some pretty snowflake ornaments at the hobby store like the ones I got a few years ago.   When ED was 2 1/2 she always came running when I called the older kids for math time....

What’s Happenin’ in Homeschool? 1

What’s Happenin’ in Homeschool?

Tis the season to be flexible! Some days we get quite a bit done, other days… not so much.  I try to keep myself calm about that.  Yesterday, for example, all our friends had a snow day. Often time we do school anyway, but the appeal of sledding and playing outside with friends won over! Today, we were back to the normal homeschool schedule. Here are some of the things...

Ice Storm Holly 0

Beautiful Ice Storm

The ice storm that hit our area was incredibly beautiful. Our house is nestled down in the woods and the trees were so pretty. The kids and I spent a lot of time outside taking pictures: DD took this picture: The evergreens looked pretty too: The holly bushes looked so striking with their bright red berries!! We had to include this last picture because it looked so crazy that the...

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Free Christmas Number Cards and Math Games

There are lots and lots of different cards games you can play during math time.  I made a set of six little cards (0-15) for my daughters this December.  They look like this: Ages 2-4: If you have a toddler or preschooler you can print out two sets of numbers, cut out one set and have your kids match the numbers on the other (uncut) sheet. You can also use...

Homemade Christmas Keepsakes (Great as Gifts!) 0

Homemade Christmas Keepsakes (Great as Gifts!)

Every year there are a few Christmas decorations that I absolutely LOVE bringing out!  I wanted to share a few of our family favorites! My personal favorites are the ones that include pictures of the kids. One year when the kids were not-quite-2, 4 and 6, I made a holiday picture banner. I took pictures of the kids holding all the letters in Merry Christmas.  Then I laminated them and...

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Forgiveness, Fairness, Equality, Justice…Lessons on South Africa

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” – Nelson Mandela in his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom Last night I read about the passing of Nelson Mandela,...