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December 2022 Homeschool Highlights

I’ve had the best time sharing our homeschool highlights with my email list this month. So much so that I’ve decided to make them into a blog post.

So, if you receive my emails, you’ve probably read through these already. Although it’s a year away, you can pin this page for ideas for next year, if you’re interested.

If you like what you see and you’re not on the email list, be sure to scroll down and sign up! I love chatting with you guys and I love sharing about our homeschool with you. I’m so glad you’re following along with us.

This post contains affiliate links. If you follow one of my links I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Here’s what we are….

Imagine each section starting with this statement. We are diving in to multiple senses here, and I’ll be sharing what we are eating, hearing, doing, thinking, watching, and reading!

READING

1 – We started a new Christmas read aloud, “The Christmas Pig”. It’s written by J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, so I am very interested to read through it!

2 – I recently picked up an oldie yet a goodie to read this season. The book, “Women of Christmas” is one I read with an amazing group of women at a bible study. I enjoyed it so much a couple years ago, and it has been the perfect, easy read for me during my morning devotion time this year. This book is written by Liz Curtis Higgs and focuses on the stories of Mary, Elizabeth, and Anna pertaining to the Christmas story. She goes verse by verse and I love how she incorporates different versions, as well. It’s definitely a book I can see myself reading again and again!

DOING

1- I went to the Dollar Tree last week and bought plain, wooden nutcrackers for $3. They were unpainted and perfect for a fun craft. The girls and I have been working on painting them the last few days to gift to some people. They are turning out so cute. I love handmade gifts like this and the fact that they were only $3 a piece is even better!

I did see the same type of nutcrackers on Amazon. You can purchase a few of them for a pretty great price. Check it out here. I will say that the Amazon ones seem a little smaller than the ones I found at Dollar Tree.

2 – Each afternoon when my youngest goes down for a nap I try to choose one thing to do with my girls to celebrate the season. Sometimes it’s as simple as read a book together or color a picture. Other times it’s more elaborate and messy, like painting! Our favorite activity from this past week was making paper snowflakes. What a simple craft that brings so much joy and fun! I’ll link for you the site where I found some templates that helped us with the designs. For the last couple years we have made these and we tape a string to them and hang them on the ceiling above our kitchen table. It’s our own little Winter Wonderland in Texas.

EATING

1 – We made a nativity lunch this past week, and it turned out so cute. Check it out in my Christmas Picture books blog post!

2 – This week was all about the puppy chow (or muddy buddies some may call it)! We made three different batches. One we enjoyed for ourselves, but the others were to share with loved ones. I’ll link the recipe I found. I really like to keep puppy chow simple. I don’t like adding in extra things. I will say that I may have changed the 1/2 cup of peanut butter to a “heaping” 1/2 cup and the other change was that I like to use a different cereal for my puppy chow. Have you heard of Crispix? It’s half corn, half rice. It’s a little crunchier and more airy than the Rice Chex, and I like it better! Give it a try if you’ve never had it. We love it!

HEARING

1 – Last weekend, I was with some friends and the topic of the Proverbs 31 woman was brought up. I’m familiar with it, but there was something in my heart that wanted to dig deeper. I felt like I knew it but didn’t KNOW it…if you get what I mean. Anyway, it’s been on my heart a lot this last week as I’ve studied it and prayed about it.

Well, not too long after that, I came across a podcast related to the same topic by an author that I really love. She opens up the podcast describing Proverbs 31 as the chapter that both “encourages and discourages women…” She does an awesome job diving in to each verse and talking about it with today’s world in mind. It really gave me a sense of peace about the chapter, and I hope it can do the same for you.

2 – I’m far from planning ahead for homeschool in January. I want to get through Christmas first, but I did listen to a great podcast from Read Aloud Revival that talked about simplifying our curriculum choices. It was very encouraging and helpful. She even asked, “If you could only keep five things for your homeschool, what would it be?” That’s a big question! Could you answer? I thought about it for a while, and I think I have a good list. I know I’ll be keeping her tips in mind as I plan after the holiday break.

WATCHING

1 – One day last week called for a picnic lunch and a movie. The kids watched “Superbook: The First Christmas”. If you’re not familiar with the series, I highly recommend it. Two kids and a goofy robot travel back in time to experience bible stories together. We saw the episode on the Prime app, but I believe the Superbook YouTube channel has full episodes as well.

2 – I’m so excited to share this one! Have you ever read, “The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey”? It’s a beautiful Christmas story that is loved by many! We added it to our home library last year, but this year I discovered there’s a movie! We watched it last week, and it’s awesome! It’s just as sweet and wholesome as the story. There’s definitely some differences but the main part of the story is there and it really was so well done! If you’re bored of the usual Christmas movies or if you need something simple this week as you eagerly await Christmas – read the book and watch the movie! It’s so good. Oh! And the best part is it’s FREE on the Prime app right now.

THINKING

1 – This holiday season I cut out some of the extra subjects in order to keep this season flexible. I’ll be honest, we are a little over two weeks into the month and my feet are dragging each morning to complete our work. So, I’ve decided to wrap up our math and language arts units at the beginning of this week and leave the rest of December for some Christmas fun with my kids.

I hope to read more books, bake a little, and create some simple crafts. However, if I wake up and feel it necessary to just rest, I’ll do that too. What I’m really thinking is – I’m ready for the break. So we are taking it early! (Just a few days!) And I’m not sad about it. I’m really looking forward to making memories with the kids the next couple weeks.

2 – The other day I asked my 3-year-old to pick up all the nativity pieces off the floor and set them up in their spot. A couple hours later, I walked past her set up and I was looking at the backs of the majority of the pieces. (see photo) The wise men and the stable animals were facing the “wrong direction”. I was used to seeing them all set out nicely to the side so you can see all their faces, and then it hit me. They’re looking at the baby Jesus. Isn’t that just like this busy season? We’re trying to line everything up perfectly and check all of our to-dos to make sure everything is just right. In this moment, I’m stopped in my tracks as I learn a lesson from my little one. The goal is to look at baby Jesus. That’s the real message of the season. Although I may fail at times, it was just the message I needed in that moment.

Rejoice in the birth of our Lord and Savior. May the blessings of Christ be upon you and your loved ones this season and into the New Year.

Merry Christmas!

This Month’s New Blog Posts

Christmas Homeschool 2022

Homeschool Math Curriculum Switch

Logic of English Foundations A Review

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever – Book Review

Inexpensive Christmas Cards for $30

Christmas Picture Book Activities

Our Favorite Christmas Party Games

Practical Stocking Stuffers for Learning and Creativity

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Practical Stocking Stuffers for Learning and Creativity

I tend to be a practical gift giver, choosing gifts that are fun but also useful and helpful to our home. As a homeschool family with four kids, I like to strategize my gift-giving when I can! As I come up with them, I’m thinking about how it might contribute to our day. What is something that my kids will enjoy but it will also help me in our daily routines?

Anyone can benefit from looking through this list, not just homeschoolers. However, this won’t be your typical, socks and underwear and candy-filled stocking. I’ll be adding some ideas that will be fun for kids but helpful to mom (or dad) during a homeschool day.

I’ll be thinking of educational tools to help us learn, activities to entertain my little ones, and fun, educational games or activities my older children can enjoy on their own or during a quiet time.

I have four children. The oldest is 8 and the youngest is two, so these ideas could be for a variety of ages. I’ll also point out that I am by no means purchasing all of these things! A stocking is only so big and I have a budget to keep in mind. This is more of a brainstorm list to share with others.

This post contains affiliate links. If you follow one of my links I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog!

little ones stocking stuffers

For your little ones (under 4)

Water Wow – We have a couple of these. Not only are they entertaining. They have lasted over the years.

Stamps – They come in a wooden box, but open them up and throw them in the stocking with a small stamp pad. My little ones love using stamps!

Dot Markers – same idea as the stamps. If the box doesn’t fit, open it! I got one box to split between my youngest two.

Flashcards: Alphabet, Numbers, Shapes… (We have a few of these. I don’t use them to drill my toddlers, we just get them out for fun! Sometimes we match or just talk about them. I enjoy having them.)

Toddler Scavenger Hunt

Uno Junior

Play Doh – If your play doh is anything like mine it’s all mixed up or dried up. Now is a good time to stock up on a few fresh ones 😉

stocking stuffers for learning

For your bigger kids (4-10)

LCD Writing Tablet – this would be fun to do math problems or write sentences, an easy way to mix things up. It could also just be used for quiet time, car rides, or just for fun. The one I’m linking is the smaller version (8.5 inches) so it slides nicely into that stocking!

Rainbow Scratch Paper

Cat’s Cradle – I’m not sure if I want this for them or for me – hello childhood! (LOL)

Dice Game – We use dice all the time. I love how this set can be used as regular dice but it’s also a game in itself.

Flashcards/Card Games – I love card games, and they’re great for learning but also for family fun! There are so many out there. Here’s a few that stick out to me:

Clicks Markers – I’m so pumped about this. This is a definitely-getting item for me. We are always losing marker caps and drying out markers. I’m so excited to try these out!

Chapter Book – Check out a few of our favorites here

Book Light – All 3 of my girls have one of these and use it every night before bed!

Bananagrams – I’ve heard great things about this one. They also have a “My First” version for early readers that I am considering.

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Our Favorite Christmas Party Games

For the past few years, I’ve thrown myself a big Christmas/birthday party to celebrate with my family. We love to get together for the holiday, and Christmas Eve is also my birthday! As a kid, I wasn’t a big fan of having my birthday on a holiday, especially Christmas. Once I had my own kids, I just love filling the day with fun games, family gift exchanges, and lots of sweets! It’s been really special and something I look forward to every year.

We’ve played a variety of games over the last few years, so I’m sharing some of those with you in this post. My goal when looking for Christmas party games is to find one that doesn’t require expensive supplies and one that isn’t going to add more stress to an already busy season.

This post contains affiliate links. If you follow one of my links I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Oven Mitt Unwrapping

This game is one we do every year. It’s a lot of fun, but it’s my kids favorite. It’s easy for them to participate in and since this is a family friendly party – this game is a winner.

In order to set this up correctly you’ll need 3-4 different sized boxes. (A lot of times I use boxes from my pantry, like a cereal box!) You also need 2-3 types of wrapping paper and plenty of tape. My suggestion would be to get these at your dollar store!

I’ve done different items for the gift. It’s usually a small gift card or just something that says “WINNER!” and I’ll have some baked goods to send home for the winner. I keep it pretty simple.

Place the gift in the smallest box. Wrap the box in multiple layers with different types of paper. You choose the amount (Just remember there’s still a lot of wrapping to do!). Next, place that box into the other box and begin wrapping that second box in multiple layers. If you have a third, bigger box, follow the same procedure.

Now you’re ready to play. You’ll want to sit in a circle on the floor or around a table. One person has the gift and a pair of oven mitts. (This is another great dollar store purchase, but these cheap ones from Amazon may do the trick as well!) The next player (to the left) has two dice. Play begins when the player with the dice starts rolling. While this is taking place, the player with the oven mitts will be trying to unwrap as much and as fast as possible. The play stops when doubles are rolled (two of the same number). At this point, the dice are passed to the left and the gift and mitts are passed to the left.

Move quickly! As soon as the next person starts rolling and gets doubles, you have to pass again. The game continues in this way until someone gets their hands on the actual gift inside. This can get really exciting and the best part is no one really knows how much wrapping paper or boxes there are!

4-5-6

Another game we love to play is 4-5-6. I believe it sells in the stores by the name of “Left, Right, Center”. We just grew up calling it something else!

We play for cash with this one, and it’s so much fun. All players that want to play must have 3 one dollar bills. This is a jackpot game so you may or may not go home with that money! The game also requires one set of three dice.

Sit in a circle with your three dollars in front of you. Whoever is first rolls the three dice. If it’s a 4: one dollar goes to the left. If it’s a 5: one dollar goes to the right. If it’s a 6: one dollar goes to the middle.

Now, those are the rules but there are so many different scenarios that could happen. For example, if you roll two 5’s and a 3 then two dollar bills go to your right and you get to keep one. If you roll three 6’s then all three of your dollar bills go to the middle.

The other rule you have to remember is you only roll as many dice as you have dollars. So, if you lost a dollar on your last turn then you only roll two dice on your next turn.

The trick is you want to stay in your circle, even if you lose your money. You never know if a dollar or two will be passed in your direction. The last person with a dollar that doesn’t roll it away WINS!

Here is a link to a video that shows a great visual to the game. In the video, they are using the LRC dice (instead of regular dice) and instead of dollars they use chips.

Jingle in the Trunk

You need empty tissue boxes for this one, the regular size. I think it’s more fun when you put two people up against each other, so you may want to have a couple boxes for this game.

To prepare for the game you’ll need to poke a hole on each side of the tissue box so that you can put a small rope or string through it and tie it around your waist. You’ll want the tissue box opening to face outward and the bottom of the box will be resting on your back side.

Some people fill the box with jingle bells (hence the name). You might be able to find something like that at the dollar store but I believe when we played we used candy, like Hershey kisses. Put a handful inside the box and play your favorite Christmas music.

The person(s) with the box around their waist will dance like crazy to try and get everything to fly out of the tissue box. Whoever gets the most candy out in a certain time – I’d shoot for 20-30 seconds – is the winner.

mystery gift exchange

Mystery Gift Exchange

I learned this game at a bible study once and it was a lot of fun, so I shared it with my family last year. The game does have an “ultimate prize”, so you can decide what that is. The rest of the parts come from the participants.

I told my family to bring a gift that could fit into a brown lunch bag. Now, to make it even simpler, I set a rule that you couldn’t buy anything. So people brought a coffee mug, coozie, portable fan, a rat trap…there was some interesting stuff! Nothing was new and it was small enough to fit in the brown paper bag.

Before the game started, I set each item in a bag and stapled it shut so no one could see what it was. We sat in a circle and began to play.

Two dice are needed and everyone takes turn rolling the two dice and following the directions below:

  • DOUBLES: switch bags with someone OR make two people switch
  • ROLL 5: All bags go one to the right
  • ROLL 9: All bags go three to the left
  • SNAKE EYES: The ultimate Prize and Game Over

Depending on the dice, this game could be quick or take much longer. The neat part about it is everyone goes home with something! One way you could stall the game is to have a bag of candy ready to give to the first person to roll snake eyes. Then the second person could be the winner.

You can see in the photo I have the gift in the middle, a list of directions, and a couple bags of candy to stall if we needed to.

Best Christmas Games

This year I’ve decided to keep it simple and stick to our two favorite: oven mitt unwrapping and 4-5-6. These two games are a lot of fun and everyone can play, including the kids! Have you played any games like this? What are your favorites?

You know, I would definitely call myself competitive so I love playing games. Most importantly, I just love the memories shared playing these games with my family. I love that my kids get to experience the joy and excitement of participating with us, and it makes my holiday birthday even more special!

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Christmas Picture Book Activities

nativity lunch

When we get to the holidays, our schedules tend to fill up. I know in our homeschool, I’m ready to wind down as we prepare to celebrate. I’m always looking for something super easy, and the solution for us has been books! This Christmas I invite you to simplify your routine and try this out.

Below is a list of books. Each book is absolutely wonderful on it’s own, but sometimes it’s fun to add a little something extra, but simple! With each book, I have described a short activity to go along with it.

Choose one of these, two of these, or do them all. That’s it! No worksheets, no schedule, just read the books with your kiddos. If you want to add in the activity, go for it! We have loved using picture books to study during the Christmas season, and I hope it can do the same for you and your family too!

This post contains affiliate links. If you follow one of my links I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Great Joy

BOOK: “Great Joy” by Kate DiCamillo

This sweet story follows a girl with a big heart who wants to share the Christmas spirit with a lonely man she sees sleeping on the street.

ACTIVITY: Angel Ornaments – Any time I look for a craft, I want something unique but also with supplies I know I will have around the house. I most always have craft sticks, so the only kicker in this supply list was the yarn. However, the cuteness-factor of this craft motivated me to purchase the yarn and go for it. This angel is so sweet, and I think my kids will adore seeing the final product.

watercolor christmas tree

Christmas Farm

BOOK: “Christmas Farm” by Mary Lyn Ray

In this story, a woman asks the help of her neighbor to plant Christmas trees on her property. Their time and hard work result in a beautiful Christmas tree farm that they can share with their community.

ACTIVITY: There are so many different ideas out there to craft a Christmas tree. I’ll share a few simple ones here, but the picture above is an example that’s great for little ones! I drew the outline of the tree and had my little ones paint it with green watercolor. Next, I provided them with q-tips and paint to make ornaments. This was so simple and turned out cute! Listed below are a few more Christmas tree ideas:

The Gingerbread Man

BOOK: “The Gingerbread Man” by Karen Scmidt

This classic story about a runaway gingerbread man is entertaining and silly. The pictures are fun and the ending is a bit of a surprise!

ACTIVITY: This one may seem obvious, but it’s a great opportunity to bake gingerbread cookies together. We’ve been using the same recipe for years and it’s absolutely delicious! If you want to make it even simpler, you could play with play dough instead. Use gingerbread cookie cutters and things like beads or buttons to decorate.

nativity lunch

The First Christmas Night

BOOK: “The First Christmas Night” by Keith Christopher

This rhyming book tells the story of Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus starting from the arrival to the stable. The pictures are so beautiful and almost look like real people!

ACTIVITY: I found this precious nativity lunch idea on Pinterest, and it turned out adorable. (Get directions and FREE printable here) One thing I loved about it was that the food was pretty good for you! (Minus the marshmallow sheep and candy gifts) This was SO easy to add into our day because we actually had almost all of the items, and we eat lunch every day! No extra time needed.

As a side note, we used our play doh shapes to make the star. I bought these play doh shapes years ago when my oldest was a toddler. They are awesome and get used all the time!

Merry Christmas

Happy Reading! I hope you enjoy these books with your family. If you end up doing one of the activities along with it, I’d love to hear about it! Send me a message or tag me on Instagram @simply.learning.together

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Inexpensive Christmas Cards for $30

christmas card

This year I did some experimenting and was able to order our Christmas cards for just $30. I was motivated to do this when I went to my usual source for ordering them and the total for just 50 cards was going to be around $100 (and that was with a Black Friday 50% off sale!)

I’m sorry, but money is already tight during the holidays, and that was NOT going to fly with me this year. I didn’t want to eliminate the cards because I really do enjoy sending them. So, I came up with an alternative to create some inexpensive Christmas cards and I’m sharing that with you!

It’s possible that this idea is obvious or yesterday’s news, but it’s a first for me, and I felt pretty proud saving $70 this December. If just one person is able to do the same after reading this then I will be happy! Now, keep in mind prices may be different based on where you live. The point is – I hope this saves you money!

Do these look as amazing as a glitter-font-filled cardstock photo cards? Absolutely not. However, I think with a little more practice I may get these looking better and better every year.

This post contains affiliate links. If you follow one of my links I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Search for Inspiration

The first thing I did was get inspired. I’m not the most creative when it comes to graphic design. So, I shopped around on Christmas card sites for some different ideas of what I would like my card to look like. I paid attention to colors, fonts and font sizes.

Create with Canva

Have you ever used Canva? It has so many neat things, but I’d say my skills are pretty beginner level. I love that you can even create for free with this website! I decided to make a Christmas card that was the size of a 4×6 photo.

There’s a search bar on the site, and that’s where I entered “4×6” and voila! A template was created for me that was just the right size.

Next, I added the picture I wanted along with the text I came up with. I’m a pretty simple gal when it comes to this stuff, so one picture and a “Merry Christmas!” was all I needed. However, you can really go nuts with this site and do all kinds of things!

Now that I know this strategy works, I may try to get more creative next year! Once I finished my design, I downloaded it to my computer as a .png file.

Photo Prints

I used Shutterfly to do this next step. They were having their Black Friday sale at the time which allowed me to get an even better deal. Instead of choosing their Christmas card option, I selected to order prints!

I was able to upload the .png file and ordered 60 of them! Get this – my total with tax and shipping was $22.51. That’s it! I got 10 more prints than the 50 Christmas cards they offered me at the beginning, and It was almost $80 less.

I was even able to use a code and get 2 sets of free return address labels, so the Black Friday sale was the way to go!

Envelopes

The next thing I needed was envelopes, so I went to the handy dandy Amazon for those. There were all kinds of options, but I ended up going with just a simple white 4×6 photo envelope. At the time I ordered these, they were $8.57 with tax.

Did you total that out? Sixty Christmas cards, 2 sets of return address labels, and 70 envelopes for $31.08! That’s a steal compared to the $100 I was about to pay. Yes, please, and thank you!

Quality

Now, the big question was – How were these going to turn out? Well, I’ll be completely honest with you. The quality looks like a photo. These are not fancy card stock with glitter foil borders. You have to be fine with simplicity, but they printed great and the text looked awesome!

I’ll also say I kept it very basic! Now that I know how this works, I may put a little more effort into it in the future, but overall I am happy with it for what I paid.

Am I late to the game on this? Is it an obvious strategy to save money? I don’t know! All I know is I’m glad I tried it out. I don’t remember Christmas cards being so expensive! So, this is a decent trick I’m happy to have up my sleeve.

My hope is that someone else reading this may be able to save some money and try it too! Merry Christmas to you all!

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The Best Christmas Pageant Ever – Book Review

One of our Christmas read alouds this year was “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” by Barbara Robinson. I chose the book because it was on the Read Aloud Revival holiday booklist and because I had heard great things about it from others.

A friend reached out to me before I read it, and gave me a heads up that there were some inappropriate parts in the story for little ears to hear. I was so thankful for this message, because she was right. There are definitely some parts in the book that may be worth editing or skipping, and I plan to share them with you here.

This post contains affiliate links. If you follow one of my links I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Pointing Out the Bad

Let me just start by saying that this book was so precious. If you’re wondering if it’s a good book to read for Christmas, my vote is YES! My kids looked forward to it every night, and I even teared up at the end!

Now, with that in mind, you’ll have to make note that I’m about to point out the not-so-great things in the book. It’s the focus of this post – to warn you of some of the things that might be bad for little ears. But please don’t mistake that for this being a bad book. Of course, use your discretion to pick what’s best for your family, but please do not interpret my post as a negative review. We adored this story.

I would read it again in a heartbeat!

Age Group

My girls and I read every night before bed. Their ages are 8, 6, and 3. So, you can see that a variety of ages will enjoy this. I will say that my older two caught on a bit more, but you better believe their youngest sister was giggling along with them at times.

I truly feel this book would be great for even older kids as well. If you have middle school kids, they’d probably get a kick out of this too. It’s one the whole family can enjoy together.

The Herdmans

The book is about a group of siblings called the Herdmans. They’re naughty, and I mean really naughty. They are terrible to other kids, parents, and pretty much all authorities. They are mean, destroy property, smoke cigars, and set a terrible example. The thing is — they make this story! Their behavior and actions is what really drives this book home in the end, so you have to get past the bad to get to the good.

What I love about reading aloud with my kids is that it provides us with a safe environment to talk about these things together. What do we think of the behavior? What would you do in that situation? How should we act towards others? Is this the right thing to do? We had lots of these discussions with this book, and they were very meaningful.

Bullying

I’m not going to cover each chapter, but I will tell you that chapter one is a doozy when it comes to bullying. The author does a great job setting up the characters and pointing to the fact that – the Herman’s are rude to all! There is a character in particular that this chapter focuses on, Imogene Herdman. There is an entire section about her sneaking around to find out everyone’s body weight and then using it against them later.

The only time this got really uncomfortable for me is when the book started using words like “the fat kids” and then had an entire paragraph about what fat camp was. I try to teach my kids not to use the word “fat” and it was thrown around quite casually in this chapter. Once again…I’m not mad about it. I love being able to talk to them about these things in the safety of our home. This is just a heads up for you. The word “fat” comes up multiple times in this chapter.

The first chapter also brings up “cooties”, so that was a new term for some of my kids. Needless to say the author does an amazing job making these kids sound straight up awful!

Language

We just finished this book, and I really can’t remember any curse words. In my opinion, those are easy to edit quickly or skip over, but I don’t recall them even coming up.

I will point out that a couple of the Herdmans shout, “Oh my God!” during their rehearsals. The point of this is the rest of the children are in shock that someone would use God’s name in vain in the church.

I chose to say “Oh my gosh” instead and the whole thing went right over my kids’ heads. I want to say it happens 2-3 times.

The only other part that sticks out in my head is when a preacher says at the end of chapter 6, “Mrs. Wendelken says all they do is talk about sex and underwear.”

I didn’t see that one coming, but I just skipped over sex and said “underwear”, not because it’s a bad word, but because I wasn’t about to have a discussion about sex right before bedtime. We’d be talking for hours! I just made the quick decision to skip it and move on.

The Nativity

I don’t want to give away too much in the story, but I think it’s also important to point out that the Herdmans are not aware of the Christmas story. They are very curious and want to make sense of it all. They throw around jokes and make up crazy scenarios about what might have happened. I personally don’t think it’s a bad thing. Just know that you are going to come across some things that add a sort of silliness to the nativity.

Do you ever use Common Sense Media? I looked this book up to see what it had to say, and it made the point like this, “Parents need to know that this is a unique and entertaining spin on an age-old tale. Some parents may want to exercise discretion: Not everyone will want their children exposed to the antics of the main characters or will appreciate the liberties the story takes with what some people may consider sacred ground.”

…But it’s SOO CUTE!

I really hate saying all this. It makes the book sound terrible, but I promise you it’s absolutely adorable. The end of the book was so meaningful and it brought me to tears. I don’t want to spoil it for you.

Here’s the thing – the book is only 7 chapters and just 90 pages. If you are considering it for your family, but you aren’t sure how you’ll feel, pre-read it. You could probably do it in one sitting! It’s that quick (and entertaining!) Find it in your library so you can do this for free, and decide whether or not you want to share it with your kids.

We loved it! I don’t regret it one bit. I love the discussions we had. I love the giggles we shared, but I can’t spoil the beautiful message that is displayed at the end. Even if you read this on your own and decided to wait on it a few years to share with your kids, I truly feel your time wouldn’t be wasted.

Christmas is about the birth of Jesus, and this author has a fun, unique way of pointing this out to us, even if it makes us slightly uncomfortable for a bit. Jesus came for all, and this story proves just that!

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Logic of English Foundations A Review

logic of english

This is my second child I’ve taught to read, but my approach has been completely different from my first. This year we used Logic of English Foundations A to teach reading, and I’ll be sharing how it worked for us.

This is not a sponsored post. I chose Logic of English on my own and plan to share my honest opinion about it with you.

This post contains affiliate links. If you follow one of my links I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Why Logic of English?

I was actually pretty stubborn about teaching reading. I did not use a reading curriculum with my first daughter, and I was certain I could follow the same path with my second daughter. Alas, I have learned that each of my children is unique and their gifts of learning vary greatly! What works for one does not always work for the other.

The summer before my daughter’s first grade year, I decided to purchase an inexpensive reading workbook to complete casually throughout the summer. As we did it together, the thought came to my mind that it was so nice to have directions to follow each time we worked instead of coming up with my own activity like I was used to.

This was my realization that a reading program would be helpful for the both of us, and I had to let go of my stubbornness. Unfortunately, these programs can get pretty costly!

Years ago, I heard great things about 100 Easy Lessons, purchased it, and didn’t really like it. I wish I would have because it costs a lot less! So, I wanted to choose between the two price-y ones I heard the most about – Logic of English and All About Reading.

Here’s Some of the Reasons I chose Logic of English:

  • Low prep for each lesson
  • Handwriting included (manuscript/cursive)
  • I can easily re-use it with other children (minus the student workbook)
  • Doodling Dragons Picture Book (my daughter would love this)
  • Not grade-level focused, moves at the pace of my child
  • Activities included are simple and follow my style of teaching
  • Tactile Handwriting Cards and activities for multi-sensory learning

Items Included

The Foundations A set comes with a handful of items that I will discuss in this post. To see my unboxing of this set, check out my YouTube video for a detailed look at each item.

Lessons and Assessments

Foundations A includes 40 lessons and 8 Assessments (A-H). Each lesson and assessment comes with a script for the parent to follow. With each lesson there is anywhere between 1-4 workbook pages for the student to complete. Each workbook page is very short and can be a simple as pointing at a picture.

One of the things I love about each lesson is that there are so may activities to pick from. I feel like at first this was a little overwhelming. As I get with every new curriculum, I felt like I had to do everything. After a while, I got used to the set up and was able to pick and choose things based on our own needs and schedule.

The assessments were actually the most fun! Isn’t that interesting? You assess your child using games and hands on activities, and we looked forward to each one. The assessments also made it easy for me to see what she understood and what needed more work.

Handwriting

Every lesson includes handwriting practice. Strokes and lowercase letters are introduced and there is space to practice in the student workbook. My child is not a fan of writing, and the amount of handwriting practice was perfect for her. It’s very minimal. For example, the workbook may say to write the letter a few times on your favorite line. So it’s not rigorous by any means.

The Tactile Cards that go along with the handwriting lesson are so fun. We didn’t use them every time, but my daughter loved them! It’s almost like a sandpaper feeling and it really helps learn the letters using multiple senses.

We chose to use the manuscript version. (You have the option to choose manuscript or cursive) I was happy with this choice, but I will say that the handwriting that is taught is very unique. It’s slanted and curvy, which is excellent in preparation for cursive, but it matches nothing else that we have. This would be my only negative thought about the handwriting (more on this later).

I’ve heard of many parents that skip the handwriting all together, but learning the strokes and using the tactile cards was so helpful to my daughter that I decided to stick with it. They do offer a handwriting book separately, and now that she is more confident in writing, I may add that in as practice.

Spelling

Spelling is introduced in lesson 21 and continues with each lesson after that. The lesson comes with 3-5 words that follow what you’ve been practicing, so it really sets the student up for success. I will say that once spelling was introduced the lessons felt really long. We ended up splitting them up into two sometimes three days.

doodling dragons

Games and Activities

I love the variety of games so much. It matches my teaching style, and I think that’s why we enjoyed it. Every game option they give you uses the cards that comes with the set. So you’re never having to cut a bunch of things or laminate or find a list of supplies.

To give you an example you might practice your phonograms by hiding the cards around the room and having a scavenger hunt. Or you might lay the cards on the table and slap the correct one. They’re all just really fun and easy to do.

And there are so many!! The Teacher’s Manual provides you with a variety of games to pick from for each lesson. When you finish an assessment, there’s a whole page of ideas on how to practice different skills using the games. It’s so helpful!

make your own reader

Readers

The readers are created by the students! This is the cutest thing to me. I believe there are 6 total and each one comes with a set of pictures and then a group of blank pages with the words to read. Your child reads the words and matches the pictures to each page.

There’s cutting and pasting and matching. This makes the reading so fun! Not only is the process of putting it together unique, but the pictures are so silly. We really got a kick out of these!

Doodling Dragons

This picture book has a page for each phonogram. There are silly pictures and rhymes that use all the sounds of the phonograms. It’s very cute, and my daughter loved looking at each page. On YouTube, there are songs that go along with each page as well. These were wonderful, but we usually forgot to listen to them. I believe you can purchase a CD, so if you have a CD player or like listening to things like that in the car, it may be worth the purchase.

Sometimes I think that if we would listen to them in the car, my younger kids would catch on and begin learning them as well.

The Not-So-Great Things

Can you tell we loved this? I could go on and on about how easy it was to use and how much my daughter enjoyed lessons. My complaints are so minimal, but I’ll share in order to give a thorough review.

LONG LESSONS – This was an easy fix, but it also could vary with the child. We simply split the lessons up into a couple days. The book encourages you to do this as well, but if you feel bound to a lesson number and completing one a day, that will get tougher as you work further into the book.

LOTS OF PIECES – When I received the box for the set, I was immediately overwhelmed by all of the cards and pieces that come with it. There’s a lot! So, finding a way to organize it all was key. I went with a plastic container that allowed me to keep the cards in their own box but still altogether. It’s been great!

HANDWRITING – I mentioned this earlier, but the handwriting is unique. It really doesn’t match any other writing in other books we do. So, it’s something you’ll have to decide if you want to do or not. We stuck with it, and I just plan to get their handwriting book at some point to practice.

SO MUCH TO DO – This really isn’t a bad thing, but I will say that there are so many options of things to do, and it would be very difficult to do it all. So, it’s important to look through and pick what’s best. For example, with every letter the child learns, the book provides ways to “celebrate” the letter. We never did this. The ideas were so cute, but ultimately it didn’t fit in the schedule of our family.

COST – A program like this doesn’t come cheap. It’s one of the reasons I hesitated to get it in the first place. It’s also tough because set A is only 40 lessons, and although it took us until Thanksgiving to finish (we started in July), it’s kind of a bummer to already have to spend another $100 to keep going. My hope is that the cost will eventually even out when I am able to use it for my next two kids, as well. All I will have to purchase in the future is the student workbook.

Other Random Things I Love

WHITEBOARD: The miniature whiteboard that comes with the set got used every day. It was so helpful and I love that it had a giant set of handwriting lines and then smaller ones on the opposite side.

MOMMY IS LEARNING: I’ve learned so much with this program. I never knew every sound of every letter. I learned about voiced and unvoiced sounds. We’ve learned things about consonants and vowels that I had no idea about. I love learning alongside my kids!

TEACHER’S MANUAL: The Teacher’s Manual is bound in a hardcover. Almost every spiral book I have ends up coming apart in some way, and this one has no spiral. It makes me happy knowing it will last through the years!

Final Thoughts

My daughter’s attitude about reading has changed so much since we started this. Her and I were both frustrated the year before this, and using Logic of English has given us so much joy. I can specifically remember a lesson where we giggled and had fun, and when I told her she could get up to leave she ran up and hugged me! I just melted – so thankful for the progress we were making and continue to make to this day.

It took me a while to finally bite the bullet and pick a reading program, but once I did I felt so much less pressure when it came to teaching reading. It gave me confidence each day knowing a plan was in place, and it built up my daughter’s confidence each step of the way.

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Homeschool Math Curriculum Switch

christian light math

This year I made an unexpected switch in our math curriculum. For the longest time, I was nervous to pick something new from what we started with in our homeschool. There’s something intimidating about picking a math curriculum…I’m not sure why! Well, I am – math matters and it builds on itself. You can’t just jump from one to another and not expect some bumps.

I want to share with you in this post what led me to make the switch, the transitional parts of switching and how we are liking the new program.

This post contains affiliate links. If you follow one of my links I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Horizons K

We started with Horizons math when my oldest daughter was in kindergarten. It worked great. We had no problems, and I was happy with it. When my second daughter entered kindergarten, I went with the same plan. Horizons was not a great fit for her, but I spent a LOT of energy and time and stress trying to make it work.

If you’re interested in hearing more about this experience, check out my YouTube video where I talk in detail about why I dropped Horizons for my second daughter.

Sometime right before spring, I made the switch to Christian Light Education (CLE) for her, and it was like a breath of fresh air. We actually started with the Math 1, because the Horizons K book had pushed her so far ahead of their K level. We worked through the first unit and then paused for a summer break. I was confident it was the right curriculum to continue with at the start of first grade for her.

Horizons 3

That next school year, when my oldest daughter entered third grade, I bought the Horizons set as a habit. This meant I would have one child using Christian Light and one using Horizons. We had used Horizons every year for her since kinder. It was working, so why change it? I was tempted to, but I decided not to think too hard about it and stick with it.

The more I became familiar with how CLE was working, the more I realized the gaps in our Horizons program with my oldest daughter. She struggled with word problems and memorizing her math facts, and CLE focused on both of those things so well!

Then, we started to get to parts of a lesson in the Horizons 3 book where I had no idea what the student book was instructing her to do. I’d pull out the teacher book as a reference and the directions would say something like “discuss estimation”…OK – but how? What should we discuss? Can you be more specific? Check out my YouTube video for an example of this. It’s actually quite shocking!

Now, I taught math in the classroom, so I know about estimation, but what exactly were they wanting? There were no tricks, strategies, or examples. It just said to discuss it. So, I taught her what I know…turns out it was too much! Once we got started in the student workbook, I had to back track. I felt so misguided by the teacher guide.

Then, there would be directions in the student workbook that would be so unclear- it was impossible to figure out what to do unless you pulled out the teacher book for the explanation. That doesn’t make sense to me. A student should be able to read the instructions and work.

At this point I was so frustrated each day when I pulled out the book. Comparing it to CLE in my head constantly, I felt like it wasn’t as good.

third grade math

Testing out Christian Light Math for 3rd Grade

One thing I love about Christian Light is their curriculum is broken up into little units. You can purchase just one of them for about $5, and it’s the perfect way for me to try out their program. So that’s exactly what I did.

I picked the unit that would best fit my third grader, and we started there. If we hated it, we could always go back to Horizons. Well, spoiler alert, we LOVED it – and haven’t looked back! Let me tell you why.

Designed for the Student

Each lesson in Christian Light starts with a new skill. The skill is explained and demonstrated in the student workbook with pictures and examples. This is such a great way to start independent learning. My daughter attempts to do the new skill on her own, and we look over it together when she finishes the lesson. Everything she needs to complete the lesson is in her book.

I use the teacher guide to check her work daily, but honestly, that’s it! It does provide me with a flashcard schedule as well as a quick tip or suggestion to help with the new skill. Other than that, the student is learning to become more independent!

Mental Math Strategies

CLE is so good about teaching mental math strategies! I’m not the best mental math student, and I love that it actually forces my daughter to compute problems mentally. Horizons wasn’t good about doing this at all. It’s possible it was in the teacher book somewhere, but let’s be honest, that thing was so unfriendly and hard to look at.

My daughter has started to realize this as well. She gets so excited about all the things she can do in her head now, thanks to the mental strategies the book has taught her.

Daily Checklist

At the start of a lesson there is a daily checklist for the student to practice certain skills. Skip-counting, math facts, and speed drills are on the list which makes for a great routine in practicing these things daily. We have learned how to adjust the checklist to best fit our needs (in other words, sometimes we skip it), but I have seen so much benefit in regular practice.

My daughter’s fact memorization has improved so much and she’s being challenged to count out loud in ways that she hadn’t before. For example, counting by 4s forward AND backward. When we first started this, it was like a foreign language, but with the help of a hundred chart and routine practice she’s really caught on well. What a great way to form number sense!

Story Problems/ Word Problems

The first time we came across a story problem in level 3, the student book walked my daughter through every step. It told her what information to look for and how to choose the operation she would use. It provided her with a space to work out her problem as well as a line to write her answer. This was just what she needed!

She actually told me that the word problems in CLE were so much easier. I had to point out to her that they were exactly the same! This new book just broke it down so much nicer, making it easier to understand.

Learning Gaps Between the Two Programs

There were definitely some things we had to “catch up” on, but it was easy for us to do. For example, some of the geography (rays, lines, angles) was not covered in what we completed for Horizons, but it was easy enough to teach her quickly. Plus, Christian Light encourages the use of a reference chart, and those items are on there as well to remind her, if needed.

We’ve also had to brush up on math facts. In the third grade level they are practicing multiplication, but it’s so important that the addition and subtraction facts are solid too. So we’ve really been focusing on those flashcards first. She still gets lots of multiplication practice in her book, but I don’t plan to get her the multiplication cards until she gets through the addition/subtraction set.

christian light education math

Some Final Thoughts

When we were working with Horizons, I felt like we were just doing worksheets every day…which we were! Now, I did know this going into each year. If I wanted “more”, I had to come up with it on my own. For a while, that worked, but once I was homeschooling more than one child that became difficult.

After switching to Christian Light, it feels like my daughter is actually learning something and improving daily. She’s still just working in the book, but it’s enjoyable and meaningful. The units are themed and the mix of flashcards and drills and counting and using a reference chart…all of those routine skills put together feel fresh and not monotonous. She enjoys doing the work and the spiral review format keeps everything fresh in her brain.

Horizons is also a spiral review, but there were SO MANY problems to do. We were skipping half of the sections each day. We have enjoyed that CLE only asks for a few problems in each section.

I’ve heard people say before that the lessons in CLE are long, but we have found a way to make it work for us. On days we need to move quickly, we skip the checklist at the beginning. If we get to one of the review sections and I know my daughter knows it well, we skip it. Most days we aren’t doing every single thing in the lesson.

I’m So Happy We Made the Switch

After using Horizons for three years, it really felt tough to make a switch, but I’m so glad we did. The transition was smooth and the benefits I’ve seen have far outweighed the time spent in adjusting to a new program.

If you’d like to see more about Christian Light, check out the curriculum look through on my YouTube channel.

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Christmas Homeschool 2022

christmas homeschool

This Christmas in our homeschool, I have plans to do a mix of things, but I’m definitely trying to keep it simple. The season is busy enough as it is, and I don’t want to add too much. As homeschoolers, we have the flexibility to slow down, and I plan to do just that.

I’m a sucker for a fun craft or recipe though, so I’ll throw that in every once in a while for fun.

This post contains affiliate links. If you follow one of my links I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Simplifying the Work Load

This year we have been doing unit studies focused on science and history, and while it has been so wonderful, I am looking forward to taking a break and resting. I very much enjoy putting them together, but I know that a short break will allow me to re-charge and refresh my mind for after Christmas.

We do plan to continue our morning time, but it will look a lot different. I have an advent study planned (more on that later) and when we finish that I plan to just use our morning time to read Christmas stories together.

Each school day we will focus on Math and Language Arts and take a break from all other subjects. Simplifying our schedule like this will help me to slow down for the season, but it also allows more flexibility if I DO want to add in some extra craft/recipe to try out.

Advent Study – A Savior Is Born

For the past couple of years, we have used Truth in the Tinsel for Christmas. We’ve loved it, but I was ready for something new. Lyndsey from Driven by Grace has many bible studies, but this year she came out with a brand new Christmas study that I was so excited about for a couple reasons.

First, there are only seven lessons. I love this. As much as I would like to do something for 24 days as we countdown for Christmas, I’ve realized that we never get to all 24 days. By using this shorter unit, I’m not under pressure to do something every single day of December.

We started it the week of Thanksgiving (just because!) and the lessons were wonderful stretched out into multiple days. I’m just so pleased with how we will be able to make it work with our schedule.

Second, I’m obsessed with the fact that with each lesson comes an adult bible study that goes along with it. This is something I’ve always wanted, and it’s the first time I’ve seen anything like it. So, in preparation to discuss the scripture with the kids, I have the opportunity to dig deeper myself.

Lastly, each of the seven lessons comes with a craft or recipe to go along with it, but there’s absolutely no pressure to do it. So, it will be nice to have some more ideas that go right along with what we are studying in scripture.

Advent Wreath Devotional

Last year I bought an advent wreath for our house. It was kind of an on-the-whim purchase, but I wanted one for the kids. I grew up in a Christian school, and I remember going to chapel and lighting the candles, and sometimes our classrooms even had them. I wanted my children to experience and understand it too.

The problem is – I can’t really explain it in depth. I’m embarrassed to admit it. For over thirty years I’ve watched each candle lit during the weeks before Christmas, and to this day I can’t remember which one is which.

Some friends of ours wrote a simple family devotion for each week of advent that is going to be perfect alongside our wreath. I feel a little relieved to light the candles this year with a scripture-based explanation instead of my usual (quite poor) attempt at describing their purpose to my children.

Christmas Books

When all else fails, read books! Isn’t that a saying? It should be. We’ve got quite the collection of Christmas picture books at our house, and I plan to take advantage of all the snuggly read aloud sessions.

I have a few ideas up my sleeve of some simple crafts/activities to go along with a few of the books, and I’ll be sharing that in a separate blog post.

I literally mean a few. I don’t like to overwhelm our schedule so these “book + activity” ideas will mostly be for a day that needs a little something extra.

Merry Christmas!

What are your plans this season? Do you set new goals and change it up or do you stick with your routine?

As we all prepare for the season, I encourage you to find ways to keep things simple in your own home. As we countdown to the birth of Jesus, I pray we can do it with peace in our hearts and joy in our homes.

Blessings to you and your family this Christmas Season!

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Simple Thanksgiving Unit Using Picture Books

When we get to the holidays, our schedules tend to fill up. I know in our homeschool, I’m ready to wind down as we prepare to celebrate. I’m always looking for something super easy, and the solution for us has been books! This Thanksgiving I invite you to simplify your routine and try this out.

Below is a list of four books. Each book is absolutely wonderful on it’s own, but sometimes it’s fun to add a little something extra. With each book, I have described a simple activity to go along with it.

Choose one of these, two of these, or do them all. That’s it! No worksheets, no schedule, just read the books with your kiddos. If you want to add in the activity, go for it! We have loved using picture books to study this Thanksgiving, and I hope it can do the same for you and your family too!

This post contains affiliate links. If you follow one of my links I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog!

thanksgiving story trail mix

The Story of the Pilgrims

BOOK: “The Story of the Pilgrims” by Katharine Ross

This book is cute and kid-friendly. We read it each year in our house and the story covers a little bit of everything about the Pilgrims. It starts with why they left to what happened when they got there. It describes how the Native Americans helped them and ends with a feast at the end. It’s a very simple, and easy-to-understand story.

ACTIVITY: Thanksgiving Story Trail Mix

This trail mix recipe can be downloaded for free! It’s the cutest thing and it’s so fun to do along with this book. For example, one part of the recipe says to add marshmallows because the Pilgrims had to survive a long winter. When you get to the page in the story that talks about that, pause to add your marshmallows. It really is a perfect pairing! (We do this one every year – it’s a blast!)

three sisters craft

Keepunumuk: Weeachumun’s Thanksgiving Story

BOOK: “Keepunumuk: Weeachumun’s Thanksgiving Story” by Danielle Greendeer

This is a newer book and it is so, so wonderful. The book is beautifully illustrated and the story is told from the perspective of the three sisters – corn, beans, and squash.

ACTIVITY: The Three Sisters Craft

This craft was inspired by another blog, but we added our own twist. The supplies you’ll need are construction paper, pipe cleaners, yellow pom poms, hot glue, and beans. (TIP – if you want to simplify this even more take out the pipe cleaners, beans, and hot glue and just use markers to draw it on)

As a side note, the process of growing the three sisters is so incredibly interesting to me. If you are not familiar with it, read more about it here.

You’ll need to cut out the shapes, and it may help to do it in advance. See the photo above for a visual of these items. For each craft you’ll need a corn stalk, 3-4 pieces of corn, 3-4 green husks, and squash leaves.

Glue all of the paper pieces to your background paper. Next, take your pipe cleaners and wrap it around a marker. This will give it the twirl-y look. We used two per craft. Glue the pipe cleaners onto the stalk (this is the vine for the beans). Finally, glue the beans and the yellow pom poms to finish.

mayflower craft

Three Young Pilgrims

BOOK: “Three Young Pilgrims” by Cheryl Harness

This book is really special as it follows the journey of the PIlgrims through the perspective of three young children. The illustrations are so beautiful, but the book does an amazing job teaching the reader that the voyage was not all fun and games. The book also provides factual information through pictures, maps, and extra pages at the end. I can’t wait to add this one to our personal library.

ACTIVITY: Interactive Mayflower

I found this craft from another blog, but I want to share how we changed it up to fit our family. First, we used watercolor to paint the ocean. I let the kids decide how they wanted to do the sky (colored pencils, more watercolors…).

Next, I prepared the pieces for the ship. This was easy to cut out right before we started. Each child needed 1 brown ship, 2 white sails, 2 toothpicks, and 1 craft stick. After putting one together for my youngest, my older children were able to assemble their ship on their own, using my example.

Finally, I cut a slit in the paper plate, and we were finished. Each child added their own special touch and played with the interactive boat for a while. When they finished I taped the craft stick on the back of the plate and hung it up on our art display!

wetu

Squanto’s Journey

BOOK: “Squanto’s Journey” by Joseph Bruchac

This book tells you all about Squanto’s life, starting before the time he helped the pilgrims. There was a reason he was able to learn English, and this book allows you to learn all about what he went through. His story is one to remember!

ACTIVITY: Wigwam/Wetu Craft

This craft is one we did with another story we read (directions linked here), but it’s the perfect activity to go along with this book as well. Native Americans lived in many different types of homes, depending on where they were and what tribe they were from. The type of home that Squanto may have lived in is like a wigwam. From the stories we read and the research I did, the house was called “wetu”.