It’s just after Christmas, and I have the cutest activity to share with you, but don’t think this is just for Christmas! Scroll down and I’ll show you how you can use this at any time of year.
Somehow, the Christmas season always gets BUSY. It’s hard to fit things in. I usually start my December imagining all of the beautiful Christmas crafts and ornament making that we will do in our homeschool…and then the days fly by and I haven’t done one of those things!
This year I chose to keep it super simple. I didn’t in advance (besides choosing our advent study), and I threw things together as they fit into our day. One of the things we did was add a simple self-check tool to mix up our lesson and add a little festive fun to our day.
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This simple self-check activity can be done with practically ANY subject.
It’s a way for your child to check their own work and correct as needed. I love doing this, because it means I don’t have to check over as much that day (yay!) AND it provides my child with an opportunity to problem solve when they can’t find their answer. Let me explain.
You need just a few things to put this together…and maybe about 2 minutes of prep time.
Grab a pencil, scissors, green construction paper (although any color works!), a pen/marker, and dot stickers (dot markers work too! Or, even simpler…just color in the circles. Don’t sweat this!)
Cut out a simple Christmas tree from the construction paper. Choose an activity from one of your workbooks that you want to use and select 8-10 problems. I chose the math lesson for the day and picked about 8 addition problems from a section in the lesson.
Draw that many circles on the tree and write the answer (Yes, the answer!) inside the circles.
As a problem is completed by your child, he/she will look for the answer on the Christmas tree and cover it with the dot sticker.
Don’t see your answer, time to try the problem again. When all the circles are covered, the problems are solved correctly AND you have a cute Christmas tree with sticker ornaments. I even used mine to decorate the school room!
This is something you can do with all AGES!
Answer math problems, read sight words, match capital and lowercase…the options are endless! I love an activity that can work with something I already have, and that’s exactly what this is. Use it with any subject!
This doesn’t just have to be for the Christmas season. See below for ideas for any month of the year:
Simply sketch one of these images below and cut it out of construction paper. All of these can be quickly drawn and easily cut.
January: Snowman
February: Hearts
March: Clover
April: Flower
May: Sun
June: Beach Ball
July: American Flag (4th of July) – It would be so fun to color code this one with red, white, and blue
August: Big Pencil
September: Apple
October: Pumpkin
November: Turkey (keep it simple here! Think a circle for the head and body and some big feathers surrounding it.)
December: Christmas Tree
Have fun self-checking at any time of year. Share your self-check activities with me on social media. (@simply.learning.together)
My youngest daughter will be three in one month. She loves shapes so we are always playing games with them. My kindergartener is also working on mastering the names of all different kinds of shapes so I wanted to share different ways we have played with shapes to learn them.
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!
1. The first one may seem obvious, but do a puzzle!
We have a couple shape puzzles at our house, but our favorite is a Melissa and Doug wooden puzzle. These are so great to have for multiple age levels. I also love to use the pieces for a variety of games, which you’ll see as you keep reading.
2. Scavenger Hunt
Use your wooden puzzle to do this next one. Hide the pieces around your house or around the room. (Try not to forget where you hide them!) As your child finds the pieces, place them in the puzzle. Call out the name of the shape. Play this same way OUTSIDE on a beautiful day. The fresh air will really add some goodness to your day.
3. Sidewalk Chalk
Draw large shapes on your sidewalk with chalk. Depending on your child’s age, he/she can draw them or you can draw them. Call out a shape and have your child jump inside that shape. Keep playing until you’ve called all of the shapes.
4. Spray Bottle
A spray bottle with water in it can be hours of fun! Pick them up at the dollar store for an inexpensive activity! Kids love it, and it’s a great way to play with shapes. Use your sidewalk chalk to draw shapes outside on the concrete. Call out shapes and have your child spray them with the bottle. Want to add a challenge? Add some color to it – Can you spray the BLUE circle?
5. Surprise Shapes in a Bag
Use your puzzle pieces again and place all of them into a bag you can’t see through. Your child will place a hand in the bag without looking, choose a shape, and name it. I actually played this with my five year old and had her skip to the next room each time and draw the shapes onto a piece of paper. It added tons of movement PLUS she got the drawing practice. If your child isn’t drawing yet, just name them. For an added touch of fun, see if your child can feel the shape and name it before they see it!
6. Peek-A-Boo Shapes
This next one came upon us by accident. We originally used magnet tiles to create a tower with a door at the top. My toddler opened the door and peeked through the tower while I held a shape (from the puzzle again) at her eye level. You can get a better idea from the image above. She told me what the shape was. This sounds so simple, but we giggled so much and had a ball!
I eventually tried to come up with something anyone could use. Take a cereal box and cut a square out of the narrow side of the box. On the opposite side, cut a small hole to peek through. As your child looks through that hole, hold up a shape right outside of the square you cut. It’s really just a fun, silly way to look at shapes and name them.
7. Play Doh
Using Play Doh is especially great if you have shape cutters. We bought a set a long time ago that works awesome, but we also own a giant cookie cutter set that I use ALL. THE. TIME. and it has shapes in there as well. Simply roll out the dough, and cut shapes! I couldn’t find the exact cutters that we have, but here’s a link to a set with a few basic shapes.
8. Play Doh Pizza
We have also made play doh pizza with shapes. Your child is the chef and rolls out the play dough. Place your order with whatever kind of “shape toppings” you want. This can be so fun! All the toppings are cut out of the play dough. Set up a little restaurant and collect orders. Siblings can play too! Challenge your child by ordering half of one topping and half of another. Have fun with it!
9. Play Doh and Dice
Assign 6 different shapes to a number on the die. You could simply write this on a piece of scratch paper or maybe even a mini whiteboard/chalkboard if you have it. This is great for your 4-6 year old who may be practicing to recognize numbers on a die. Roll the die and call out the number. Cut out the correct play doh shape according to the assignments you set when you started.
Find a way to get a “winner”. You can do this by rolling a certain number of times (like 10) and seeing which shape was made the most. Or, you play until one of your shapes gets to 5. Keep it simple, keep it fun, keep it just right for your kiddo.
10. Shaving Cream
Don’t be scared of this one. It’s such a blast! And your kitchen will smell awesome when you’re finished. Spray a little bit of shaving cream on your counter or table. Give your child some time to spread it around and play with it for a little bit. Then, draw shapes with your finger! This can be free choice from your child or you can call out a shape for your child to draw.
There are so many ways to play with shapes while learning. I love these ideas because they all use items around the house. This makes it so easy to throw together last minute and have a good time learning with your little ones.
There’s something about October 1 that makes you want to spin around and soak up the season! Maybe it’s the sweater weather…or the turning leaves…but for me it’s the approach of the holiday season in full force.
Oh how I love the holidays! The themed activities, the baking, the memories…It all flies by so quickly but it’s just such a fun time of the year.
To celebrate, I created these Halloween Write and Play Mats for my kiddos!
Write and Play Mats are made to be versatile, flexible, and low prep.
You can simply print a black and white version to use as an activity sheet. Add color to the letter and ten frame. Trace the shapes, and play roll and cover.
You also have the option to print and protect the page to re-use over and over again. Pull out some play dough to add some hands on fun! Consider using Halloween candy as manipulatives and add some real excitement to math!
Two sets are available.
Preschool – Shapes and Numbers. Early Elementary – Shapes and Early addition. Each set comes with 10 different mats to practice with. (PLUS the black and white version as well)
Inexpensive, Festive, Fun, and Educational
These words just about sum up the beauty of these mats. Click on the image below to link to the store and download.
The Alphabet Workbook is a simple and fun no-prep curriculum with repetitive opportunities to practice letters while also incorporating other early learning skills. It’s the key to our success in learning letters at my house, and this post is to tell you how it came to be…
I started homeschooling when my oldest was in kindergarten and my second daughter was three and a half. I didn’t do much organized curriculum with my three year old. There was a lot of play time, reading, and maybe a letter craft or two.
In our second year of homeschool, I had a goal to teach letters and their sounds to my then four and a half year old. Once again, I didn’t purchase anything super serious. I wanted to keep it low key. We started practicing letters by writing them, playing games, building them, playing with play-doh, reading about them…but they weren’t sticking.
Although we were doing a lot of different things, I was having trouble staying consistent. So, a couple months in, I felt like I needed to adjust some things.
I wanted something that my child could do every day (super short!) that would practice a letter a week.
There were all kinds of printouts online, but I’d have to search around and piece it all together. I also wanted to practice things like shapes and colors and counting…So I thought – why not put all of that into ONE? This inspired me to put together the Alphabet Workbook.
Each week in the workbook we would practice one letter while also practicing other early learning skills such as:
Coloring
Tracing
Shapes
Counting
Graphing
Comparing
Grouping
Numbers
Matching
Patterns
…and more!
This one workbook would allow us to practice multiple skills in just a few minutes a day.
I wanted the lessons to be short and sweet with a lot of variety. Nobody wants to do the same thing over and over. Many times when you download alphabet worksheets, they all look the same, just with a different letter. That would never fly with my daughter. So, I came up with multiple lessons that are incorporated throughout the workbook.
Each letter has 4 different practice pages, and every page for that letter looks different!
This variety was so great because it not only kept our work interesting, it really allowed me to see her practice many different skills. Each day she looked forward to completing her page, because she truly enjoyed doing it.
After a few weeks of using the workbook, I started noticing a difference.
She was writing more letters and remembering them. We would play games or read books about letters and she was participating and doing well. I was so proud of her! Even more important, SHE was so proud of herself. She really felt successful.
I honestly felt a sense of relief knowing every day we were getting consistent practice.
No more scrambling to find activities or practice pages. Everything was right there for us in the workbook. Every morning we could pull it out and get started. Pretty soon it got to the point where I’d catch her sneaking away with it to surprise me with completed pages. I love that she wanted to put in her best effort!
I know how hard it can be to pick a curriculum, which is why I want to send you a sample that you can try out for a couple weeks.
Don’t you just wish when you were picking curriculum, you could try it out for a few days first? I definitely feel that way when I plan for our homeschool year, but I hope to help you when choosing a curriculum for your little one. I’d love to send you the first three weeks of the workbook for FREE.
I want you to try it out at home to see how it works for your family. I want you to see the variety of activities and how fun and easy it can be to add this into your day. See how short and sweet learning can be with your precious babes.
The complete workbook is 109 pages, and you can get it all for just $5.00.
Why so cheap? I just want to help other families feel less overwhelmed by all of the things. This workbook provides consistency while still being fun to do! If you’d like to get the entire workbook, you can download it here.
My ultimate goal in creating this book was to create a simple, regular routine that would bring my daughter success. Looking back on her year, I’m just so proud of how much she grew and learned!
Ready to try it out? Submit your email below and receive your sample of the Alphabet Workbook.
It’s hard to believe this will be our third year homeschooling. What a fun, unexpected journey it has been! This year I will have a second grader and one in kindergarten. In this post I’ll be looking at our curriculum picks for the 2021-2022 school year.
Some programs we are not changing from last year. Others we are trying something new. Remember that every family is different. What works for me may not be the same for you, but I do love learning about curriculum and I hope to provide that opportunity for you here.
I will say up front that I also have a 2 year old and a 9 month old. Both will be tagging along and listening while we work, but I have no plans to purchase any sort of curriculum for them.
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Kindergarten
This will be my second time homeschooling kindergarten, and I am looking forward to it again. My second daughter has a very different personality then my first, so there are a couple changes I will be making to better fit her needs. I love that so much about homeschool.
Kinder Math – Horizons K
This will be my third year using Horizons. I love it because it is to the point without any fluff. Along with the workbook I enjoy creating math games and activities to go along with their lessons. This provides us with a lot of hands on learning during our math time.
Horizons math allows me to be extremely flexible when it comes to planning. Some days I want to have big plans to make an elaborate lesson, but there are also days we want to take it easy and just complete a page together. Horizons is set up in a way that lets me do that whenever I want.
Kinder Language Arts
I do NOT plan to use a curriculum set for language arts. You may think I’m crazy, but this is exactly what I did with my first daughter and it was wonderful! Here’s the thing – the fancy reading programs can get SO expensive! I just can’t get myself to spend that much. So, instead, I use a combination of things for our language arts in kindergarten.
First, we will review. We had so much success with the Alphabet Workbook at 4 years old. She knows her letters well, but we will spend the first few weeks of kindergarten reviewing and practicing the letters and their sounds. Then we will get into blending sounds, sight words, and using early readers. Here’s my list of sources below:
I actually didn’t use a handwriting curriculum for kinder with my first daughter. We practiced writing within our other lessons. I considered letting it go again this year, but I felt like it would help with routine if both girls had handwriting practice. So, we are going for it. It will also help with alphabet review.
We are going to start with ABC See, Hear, Do Writing Practice. I actually changed to this last minute. I liked it because it was very basic, simple, and low-key. I also liked that it had the capital letter and lowercase letter on the same page. It will go along perfectly with our practice of letter sounds using the ABC See, Hear, Do workbook. It’s only 26 pages, so once we work through that, we will work through the original program I purchased.
This year will be my first year to try A Reason For Handwriting in our homeschool. (Level K) I actually used it in the classroom to teach cursive when I was teaching fifth grade. I really loved that it was short, sweet, and scripture focused. I also have a personal preference to the three lines with the dotted middle line.
That’s it for Kindergarten…sort of.
It really is a short and sweet plan, and I’m so excited for it. I love how much growth happens in kinder, but there’s also just so much fun and playful learning along with it. I can’t wait to experience that again.
My kindergartener will participate in the read alouds and bible activities I do with my second grader. Although it’s not necessarily “for her”, she will benefit so much from it, and I love anything that can involve all of my children together. She is also in Foundations with Classical Conversations – more on that later in the post.
Second Grade Math – Horizons 2
This will be our third year working in Horizons. As I mentioned above, we love the simplicity and flexibility of the curriculum. I hope to create new hands on math activities to better help my daughter understand the different math skills. Follow me on Teachers Pay Teachers or, even better, sign up for my email list and be the first to get updates on when I add new math games to the store!
Second Grade Language Arts – Christian Light Education + Write Shop/Read Aloud Units
We switched curriculum midway through the year last year and ended on Christian Light Education. You can read more about that in my first grade curriculum review post. I loved the way Christian Light was set up so we decided to continue with it for second grade. I only purchased the unit set and the Teacher’s Guide.
My goal for language arts this year is to complete one lesson each day from Christian Light, but I also want to add read aloud units and work on writing skills. So my plan is to alternate the two alongside the Christian Light Curriculum. For example, for the first few weeks we will complete a read aloud together. The next few weeks we will focus on a writing project. Then, back to a read aloud book. See the pattern?
Write Shop
As I planned Language Arts, I purchased a writing specific curriculum called Write Shop. I did this without knowing that there are actually writing assignments integrated in the Christian Light Program. So, I’m not sure how much we will do of Write Shop. I feel like I may have purchased a level too high anyway, so we will take it slow and see how it works for us. I hope to try one project this year for sure – just to get the feel for it. I feel like it will be a great resource for writing this year and in the future.
Read Aloud Unit
For our read alouds, we will complete a Read Aloud Experience which is something I created for the whole family to participate. It’s set up to add simple crafts, activities, and/or (free) books to your read aloud. We will start the year with The Boxcar Children. I’m so excited about it! The book is absolutely adorable, and we will get to experience so many different things through the activities. I really think this will be our favorite read aloud yet!
My 2nd grader is begging me to learn cursive, so we will start that using Level T Worktext from A Reason For Handwriting. It starts with manuscript and than gradually works into cursive. I look forward to the challenge for her, because it was getting to the point where handwriting practice was getting a little boring. This will definitely motivate her to continue practicing.
Bible
All of my children will be a part of our bible lesson, but I did buy a workbook for my second grader to complete. We have always just done devotionals together, which are great! However, this year I want to be a little more intentional with our bible lessons. I want to ask more questions and study more scripture while applying it to our daily life.
I chose a program from Masterbooks called “More Than Words: Level 1”. The workbook has places for the student to write things down and interact with the text. I also love that it has character studies, which I’ve been wanting to add to our homeschool. We will have just one workbook that I will use to lead us all in discussion while my oldest uses it as a personal workbook.
Foundations – Classical Conversations
We are a Classical Conversations family. This will be our second year and we absolutely love it. My two oldest children will practice their weekly material which includes Timeline, Science, History, Geography, Latin, English, and Math. If you would like to know more about what is involved with Classical Conversations, check out my blog posts:
Since we will be covering so much through Classical Conversations, I do not purchase any sort of Science/History/Foreign Language curriculum. However, I do hope to check out library books and dig deeper into our topics as we are interested.
Science and History
As I mentioned before, our science and history will come from our Classical Conversations studies. However, this year I want to try to plan ahead a bit and use our library to help expand on our memory work.
I’ll be checking out books from the library related to the topic we are studying that week. This will provide us with FREE lessons, and we will be able to really dig in to the things we are interested in. I’m using the “Year at a Glance” page from my Foundations Guide and simply writing down topics into my planner.
Everything will be based on the availability of my library, but that’s OK. This is only for extra reading and fun and just a great way for us to continue to learn together as a whole family.
Other Resources
I’d love to add art and maybe some science experiments and field trips. I’d like to even have a designated “morning time” where we do some extra reading together. But – I don’t like to overplan. It’s hard to know what I have time for without getting an idea of what our daily rhythm will be. I don’t want to set myself up for failure. We will be starting with the basics. Once we get in a groove, I’ll think about adding other lessons if time allows.
If you are feeling overwhelmed with planning, try just starting with the core subjects. Be sure to look into your state laws as well. See my post “5 Simple Steps to Start Homeschooling” for direct links. Put your extras aside until you get going for a couple weeks. Add them in as you can. Having a wish list like this is a great way to jump in to the year without getting too overwhelmed.
Be flexible and willing to make changes as needed.
This is one of the greatest perks of homeschool. We get to choose what works best for our family. I’ve given you my whole list of plans for this upcoming school year, but I know one or more things may not work out as I planned. That’s OK! We will make adjustments and push on.
All I know is I am eager to jump in and get going! As you choose your curriculum for your family, I pray you have peace with whatever choice you make. I pray you have a blessed year as you learn together as a family.
I love how excited kids get about science experiments. There’s just something about the word “experiment” that gets them all worked up and ready to learn. Something that makes Mom excited is an experiment that can thrown together easily at home – low prep and less mess!
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The experiment I’m sharing with you today is about light.
We will be looking at key words like “opaque” and “transparent” as we see how light travels through objects. The question we want to answer is, “Which objects allow light to pass through?”
Supplies
You can find everything around your house. First you’ll need a pencil and recording chart. (Get a free recording chart for this experiment at the end of this post.) Next, grab a flashlight. Finally, you’ll need to find a variety of materials in your home. Be sure to find some that you think may let light shine through and others that won’t. For example, I might choose wax paper, foil, cardboard, printer paper, and a t-shirt. Having a good variety makes the results a little more interesting!
Ask questions and make predictions.
Get those brain juices flowing. Encourage your kids to wonder. Ask about the different materials. Tell them the question you want to answer and see if they can start sharing what they think may happen.
Record your predictions in your chart. Your child can examine each item and state whether or not light will shine through it. Talk about the following key words:
transparent: able to be seen through
opaque: not letting light through
Find a dark space in your home to complete the experiment.
This makes it really fun! When we completed our experiment we sat in the closet under our stairs. Find a place in your home that works for you. Just make sure there’s enough room for everyone to participate.
Choose your first item and have your child put the flash light up to it. Can you see the light on the other side? Does the light shine through? Record your results in the chart.
Test each item and record what happens.
Analyze the results.
Now that you’ve tested all of the materials, compare your results to your predictions. Which materials let light pass through? Were your predictions correct? You can also sort your materials into two piles: transparent and opaque.
Here are some questions to consider. Which objects allowed light to pass through? Which items are opaque? What other items would be fun to test? Can you think of other transparent materials?
Can you tell they had fun?? LOL
Take it further!
Books, books, and more books! There is so much to learn from reading books. Before you complete the experiment, check out a few books about light from your local library. This will provide even more learning opportunities!
Remember it doesn’t always have to be nonfiction books. Find a fun story about flashlights or seeing in the dark. Maybe you can even look into other sources of light – lighthouses, candles, etc.
Add a family devotion to your lesson. There are so many verses about light in the bible. Check out the following link and pick your favorite. (Website – Bible Verses About Light) Talk about it with your kids and pray about what you’ve learned. We paired our lesson with a devotion from Indescribable by Louis Giglio. (See title image)
Print out directions and recording chart free
Want a free printout of the instructions and recording chart? Submit your email below and I’ll send it your way!
The thought came to me the other day when I checked on my child in the bathroom. She was upset as she was flushing the toilet so I picked her up only to find two little turds on the tile floor at her feet. As I used a wipe to clean out the squished poop between her toes (she had stepped in it), I thought to myself – man, I am doing this all wrong!
OK…let’s be clear – this post is for giggles! If you’re not the type for a good laugh about parenting, you’re in the wrong place.
I had a great bible study with some friends recently about image. Social media portrays a certain image of all sorts of things, but I’m specifically thinking of motherhood. So often you see things about doing something the “right way”.
Well, I’m hear to tell you that everything I’ve done to potty train my 2 year old is the WRONG way. So, I’m laying it all out for you in this post in hopes to help you avoid the error. But, I also just want a good laugh out of you – and I hope you’re able to get it! 🙂
Are you ready?? Make note – the outlined points are what NOT to do!
Also, I’ve done all of these.
1. Be sure to potty train your child at the same age you potty trained all your other children.
My oldest girls potty trained quickly. No clue what I did, but it was magical. When my third daughter approached the same age, I felt obligated to start! So, I did. After spending the majority of my time on the bathroom floor and getting absolutely nothing done around the house, I was over it.
Let me just tell you, there is no right age. Your kid is ready when your kid is ready. Unfortunately, we don’t get the memo on when that is!
I want to also add that I was 7-8 months pregnant while attempting this. I was like a giant cow getting up and down on the tile floor. I huffed and puffed for a few days and called it quits! Potty training attempt #1 failed.
2. Put them in underwear right away.
Have you ever heard that? The underwear will teach them what being wet feels like, or so they say. Well, my child would come waddling to me saying “wet, wet”. So, I guess that’s a plus – she knew “wet”! Here’s the thing, I didn’t know where the accident happened.
I spent many days on all fours rubbing my hands and nose in the carpet trying to figure out where the pee puddle was. As your hand swipes through the carpet and hits that squishy, wet spot, you’re happy to find it but disgusted at the same`time. It wasn’t pleasant.
Was there a time I didn’t find a wet spot? Yes, yes there was. What did I do to finally find it, you ask? Absolutely nothing. I’m sure it’s dried up by now (gross)….So, maybe wait a bit before trying the underwear trick.
The same goes for no underwear. There’s no pretty way to say this, but you’ll be picking up a pile of poop on your floor – no doubt.
3. When the timer goes off to take your child to the bathroom, go ahead and wait a few minutes more.
I am always in the middle of something when the timer goes off. Surely a couple minutes wouldn’t hurt…wrong. Those minutes do hurt, and you will pay – See #2.
The timer is your friend. Trust it.
4. Leave the child alone on the potty so you’re not a distraction.
This caused multiple issues, as you can imagine. Sometimes the child slides off after going but doesn’t wipe well and a mess gets all over the seat. Next, the child places her hands in said mess to say a sweet “bye bye” as her potty is flushed. Now, we’ve got a full on germ situation.
Let me also say that you may be picking up poop on the tile NEXT to the toilet. (Did you read the intro? True story.) Your child will not stay on that seat while unsupervised.
5. Use the pull-up to your advantage.
When your child wakes up in the morning, after nap, or even before bed, just leave the pull up on. Who cares if it’s on a little longer than it should be? You’ll throw it away and start again. (Guilty.)
6. Be inconsistent.
It was a sunny afternoon. My 2 year old was waking up from her nap and started talking in her crib. I decided to leave her in there for a bit so she’d have some time to warm up and be in a chipper mood. (I was also probably watching a really good show or something and it wasn’t quite over!)
Anyway, she starts talking to herself, but after a minute or two it starts to get much louder. I ignore it at first (mistake) and finally decide it’s time to let her get up. As I walked into her room, it was like I was punched in the face by a giant stink bomb.
The initial smell was a shock, but the sight I saw next was absolutely nauseating. My child had removed her diaper and pooped in her crib. That’s not all. She then decided to do some sort of painting along the crib rails with her hands and feet, using that pile of poop. There was poop everywhere. She was crying…I was crying….
There is no stain removing secret for something like this. Throw it AWAY!
I blame this on my inconsistency. She was thoroughly confused by my laziness and lack of motivation. She figured why not teach me a lesson? Lesson learned.
7. Give your child a delicious drink to make sure they need to go.
I did this…once.
After cleaning about 9 accidents in 45 minutes, I decided that this tip wasn’t for us! We never even made it to the timer going off. It was a constant flow and a big fail.
Let’s be honest, you have to fully commit to potty training.
That’s really where I struggle. It’s hard balancing it all, and sometimes I don’t have the energy. However, if you’re not fully invested in it, it won’t go well. I’ve learned this the hard way. I have tried to potty train my child 3-4 times now, and we are still working on it. This time I’m in it to win it – fingers crossed!
I will say that she can communicate with me better and she is a lot more verbal than when I first tried it. It’s helping! So, if you give it a shot with your own child and it doesn’t work…try again later! I can’t tell you when the “right” time is, but I can tell you that eventually it will all come together.
So as I continue to wipe up pee and pick up poop on my floors, I hope you have been able to take a breath and know it’s OK if it’s not working right away for you and your child.
You’re not alone, my friend.
Now I have to know your funny potty training stories. I know you have them. Leave them in the comments or shoot me an email. Let’s get a good laugh together.
We are officially on summer break! I am starting to think about ways to add some simple activities while providing learning experiences on the way. I do not like to plan every day out, because I like our schedule to be a little more free and open in the summer.
So, how do I pick an activity? I, personally, like to choose spontaneously based on how I feel that day. I’ve got my list of simple activities I enjoy putting together in my head. As the day rolls along, I pick and choose the perfect one for that day.
The reason I love a good activity list like this is because I love having one small, NEW thing to look forward to each day. It adds some excitement for my children and it makes each day fun in its own way. I’ve been living this “one-new-thing” motto for a while now, and have loved it. It’s easy to plan, and it can be as big or as little of an activity as you want.
I constantly have ideas running around in my head, but I thought to myself that it might be neat to come up with an idea for every day of the summer. This does not mean that every day needs an activity. There are days when boredom and rest is welcomed and even encouraged! I just wanted to have a list for people to refer to. So, I’m counting the average summer (June and July) with 5 days a week. So, let’s do it: 40 simple activities for your summer!
Save this post or download the list FREE below, and pick one activity each day. It’s your “one-new-thing” for the day. Some will be super low-key, and some will require some planning. If you have fun with one of the ideas, do it again! You can do multiple activities in one day. There are no rules 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!
1. Sprinkler and Popsicles
2. Puzzle
Complete a big puzzle or do a bunch of little ones. Once, we took all of our wooden puzzle pieces and put them in a pile next to all the empty boards. It was so fun – a scramble to get them all back together! You could also time it for a little racing excitement!
3. Book Basket
Pick a selection of books from your shelves that follow a theme: animals, weather, nature, superheros, princesses…it can be anything. Leave that basket in a new spot in your house and read through it that day or even throughout the week. This is a great one to keep going throughout the whole summer.
You can also use your library.Think of a topic your children are interested in OR just ask them. When they come up with a topic, visit your local library website and choose as many books as you can about that topic. When you pick them up, it’s like Christmas!
Place the books somewhere they can easily be grabbed and read. I promise you, the learning opportunities will explode. I’ll explain….the other day I checked out a bunch of ocean books. We poured them out on the floor and dove in.
One of the books came with a song, so we learned a song about a beluga whale. It was so cute! Next, we read tons of crazy facts about interesting animals in the ocean. My oldest couldn’t stop! She was so intrigued.
I found a couple of sea animal crafts that worked with our supplies. We also found an ocean documentary from Disney that was really good!
See how one set of books can take you many places? I bet questions will come up as you read. Research! Watch videos…read more books…write about it…find a coloring page…there are so many ways to extend the learning about the topic your children CHOSE to learn about. This process of interest-led learning is exciting!
4. Start a new Read Aloud
Simply start a new book together. Don’t think your kids are too little to read chapter books. I’ve been reading out loud to my bigger kids while some of mine were babies. It gets really fun when they are around 3-4 years! If you’re interested in taking it further, check out my free Read Aloud Experience.
I have two free units. Mrs. Piggle Wiggle is short, funny, and easy to complete. The Secret Garden is a bit longer but it is absolutely beautiful. Each unit comes with discussion questions and simple activities to do along with each chapter. No required book/supply list!
I purchased a water table about 5 years ago, and it’s still going strong. I’m always tempted to get a new one, but they really don’t care about the bells and whistles. All my kids want to do is play and splash in the water. So, if you don’t have a water table, save yourself some money and just purchase a giant plastic container. It will provide hours of fun.
Change up the water table on a different day to mix it up. Here are some ways we have tried:
bubbles (use tear free soap to protect eyes)
ice cubes
shaving cream
water beads
toy theme: animals, princesses, superheros, cars – any type of toy you are ok with getting wet.
Barbie/Doll bath OR car wash
spoons, ladles, measuring cups
The water table is definitely my favorite because it’s usually an easy clean-up and it entertains all my children, no matter their age.
6. Watercolors
If you’ve never tried watercolor paper, it’s a game changer. It turns a sloppy puddle of paint into some really cool art!
7. Nature Walk
Walk in your neighborhood or pick a nearby trail.
8. Scavenger Hunt
Take it indoors or outdoors. You could also hide flashcards or task cards around your house. (Check out this post for more flashcard games) Hiding puzzle pieces is another fun option – just don’t forget where you put them!
I love having paper plates at my house as a regular craft supply item. There are so many different things you can do with them. You could choose something intentional to make with the paper plate, or just choose something fun and random.
This one is great if you have a variety of legos at home. This link I’m sharing with you is a calendar with a lego challenge a day for 30 days! WOW! Pick one or do them all. Have a lego challenge day! Have fun with it!
14. Walk a new trail
15. Art Study
We did this throughout our school year and it’s really a lot of fun. Choose an artist. Look for YouTube videos about that artist. You can even check out books from your library. Then, try to recreate a piece of work created by that artist.
When we did this at home we studied Van Gogh. I’ll share the link to the video we watched here. I’ll also share the two books we read that were very good and paired well with our study:
We re-created Starry Night after learning from the videos and books. This was a great activity to do together and I look forward to another art study like this again.
16. Bake a treat
17. Bike Ride
18. Water Balloons
If you’ve never tried Bunch O’ Balloons, you’re missing out! I remember trying to fill up water balloons as a kid by hand. They were slippery, they popped, and it took forever. Whoever invented these is a genius – it’s practically zero effort and fast! Be sure to teach your kiddos how to clean up all the balloon pieces too 😉
19. Make a puppet and have a show!
20. Bake bread
So, I’m a huge fan of Paul Hollywood and the Great British Baking Show. I have a few of his cookbooks. Paul Hollywood’s Bread is my favorite cookbook of his because it has step by step photos.
If you don’t know where to start, soda bread is a great one to try because it’s quick. Homemade pizza dough is another fun one and it’s so delicious! Make the dough and add whatever you like to it! If you want to go big and try the whole kneading and rising process, check out the bread loaf recipe. There’s nothing like the smell of homemade bread.
There are so many great documentaries on streaming channels right now. Disney+ has a Disney Nature series that’s great.
Planet Earth is another fantastic series that is so interesting to watch!
23. Card Games
Play with regular cards or try different games like Uno Attack and Phase 10.
24. Lemonade Stand
If you are uncomfortable doing this in your neighborhood, or if you just want to keep it simple, consider hosting a lemonade stand for family and friends. The next time you invite people over for dinner, set up a lemonade stand and have your child sell to family. Add fresh baked cookies or brownies. Let your guests know it’s coming so they can bring change 🙂
25. Play Dough
Play with the store bought kind or make your own! Find a recipe here:
Slap some shaving cream on your table and let your children rub their hands in it. Write words, numbers, pictures…anything you want! Get the shaving cream from the dollar store.
The best way I found to clean up is to wipe with a wet wash cloth, rinse and repeat. It takes a few times, but it works. Once your finished, the room will smell nice and clean!
27. Movie and Popcorn
28. Cookie Decorating
We have a set of cookie cutters that make cookie decorating so fun. There’s a shape for every holiday! It even comes with letters and numbers. Our set was a gift, so the one linked is not the exact same, but it is very similar!
29. Field Trip
30. Minute to Win it
These are so fun, and you could definitely make a day out of this. It would be perfect if you’re stuck inside because of rain (or sometimes heat!). Check out this blog post that explains what these games are, and it lists 20 games you can put together in your house. Pick and choose what works for you.
31. Tie Dye
We recently used a kit just like the one below. I was terrified to do it, but it really wasn’t that bad. My advice would be to get everything ready and do it all in one swoop. Once you mix the dye, you can’t save it. So go big and tie dye all the items you want. Then, clean up and be done! 🙂
32. Squirt Gun Painting
Go to the dollar store and get a few squirt guns (you could also just use a squirt bottle, if you prefer). Fill them with some different colored watered down paints. Next, I suggest taping giant paper or cardboard to your fence. You could also hang it on a line. Squirt the paint and create a masterpiece.
This one might be best for kids that are just a little bit older. However, I did look at Teacher’s Pay Teacher’s for escape rooms and found some great ones for as young as kindergarten. Younger siblings could definitely tag along and participate in the action.
Check out Teresa Kwant on TPT. She has TONS of escape rooms categorized by age from first grade through sixth. Escape Rooms require quite a bit of prep so keep that in mind as you choose when you want to do this.
35. Sidewalk Chalk
36. Simple Science Experiment
Simply complete a science experiment, OR you can also practice recording and analyzing data. Make a chart or just grab a pencil and notebook. Have fun with it! Here’s a couple links to some simple experiments you can do at home:
If you are not familiar with STEM, it stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. STEM challenges provide opportunities for kids to get creative and accomplish a goal set before them. These can get really fun if you like a little competition. You can even participate yourself!
These challenges can easily be found by searching for “STEM Challenges”, but here’s a link to a blog post that has a few links listed for you.
Well, there you have it – 40 simple activities for every day this summer!
I don’t know about you, but I’m pumped. I haven’t decided which ones I’ll do, or even if I’ll do them all. But, it’s nice to have this go-to list to get me started. Keep in mind, these activities are not meant to be “out-of-this-world” or things you’ve never heard of. I only hope for the list to be a simple way for you to enjoy time together with your family!
Let me know if you try some of these! Comment below or send me an email. Follow me on social media and tag me in a photo! Sign up and receive the FREE list pictured below. Put it on your fridge for an easy checklist to refer to this summer.
I never planned to homeschool, so when I started to think about doing it, I was starting from scratch. It was unfamiliar to me, and I didn’t know anyone personally that homeschooled their children. I did a lot of research and a lot of planning. I’ll admit, we definitely hit some bumps along the way, but overall a simple start up was key.
In this post, I plan to outline how I started homeschooling in hopes of helping someone start their own planning process. I am no expert, and what works for me may not work as well for you. Keep that in mind as you read through. Most importantly, I hope to encourage you as you begin these first exciting steps of planning.
We are going to start from the VERY beginning stages, because I think they are important. I started thinking about homeschool months in advance to when I actually wanted to start. When I began my own homeschool journey my children were 2 and 4. One would be heading into kindergarten the following 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!
1. Research and Read
As you begin thinking about and praying about starting to homeschool, one of the easiest things you can do is research and read about it. You can do this through novels or even different blog posts online.
I used to just scan Pinterest and read post after post from homeschool families. This allowed me to become familiar with names of curricula, the lifestyle, different terminology, homeschool styles, and the daily routines. I slowly began to gain confidence in what I was doing.
The following are a few book suggestions. Don’t feel like you need to read them all.
These are only suggestions. The first one is very short and an easy, quick read. It would be a great start.
Sometimes you can even scan through them. For example, I’ve read most of “Wild and Free”, but a lot of it I flipped through and read what I was interested in or had questions about.
There are hundreds of books about homeschooling. These are just a few to get started. As I mentioned before, you can also read through blog posts. Try searching daily routines or different homeschool styles. Look for a day in the life post to get a feel of the rhythm of homeschool.
Yours will be your own and not like anyone else’s, but I always find it helpful to hear about another experience.
You don’t need to choose a homeschool style before you begin.
You will read so much about different styles: classical, Charlotte Mason, eclectic, wild and free….don’t label yourself. How do you know your style if you’ve never even tried it?
You can definitely experiment with one that you find interesting, but don’t let it stress you out. I’m not even sure I know my own style. It’s probably a mix of everything! Why does everything have to be labeled?
2. Learn about the laws in your state.
In the United States, every state has different laws of things that you need to do in order to homeschool your child. I am in Texas, and it is a more relaxed state, giving me a lot of freedom in my homeschool, for which I am very grateful.
Other states require much more. Some have to take attendance everyday, keep records and grades, record hours, and give yearly assessments. You need to look at your state laws and decide if you can commit to the requirements.
One place to look is the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSDLA). This website is very informative and allows you to choose your specific state and read about the requirements.
Be thorough – read as much as you can and watch the videos. Make sure you know what you are getting into, so that it doesn’t become overwhelming in the middle of your year.
Not all parts of homeschooling are absolutely free. Decide what kind of budget you have. Don’t get me wrong, you can keep it very inexpensive. However, if you don’t have a plan, the costs will definitely add up.
Now, a confession: I am not the best budget maker. I did not make any sort of list or chart. If that’s your personality type, go for it. My point in telling you to plan a budget is to just make sure you are aware of the costs that will come up.
There are many different costs to consider.
First is obviously curriculum. I’ll talk more about this later in the post, but you need to decide how much you want to spend. Curriculum can be…addicting – seriously! Don’t get carried away. Set a plan and stick to it. I suggest to start small. We will talk more about this in bit.
You’re going to need school supplies at your house.
This is as simple as pencils, pens, crayons, construction paper, printer paper, etc… It may seem obvious, but these are all costs! Ordering these can be a bit overwhelming for me each year. Stick to a minimum list at first. Get your basic needs to get through the first few weeks. You can always add more as you plan.
Do not feel like you need to set up an entire room to homeschool – fully decorated and beautiful. Although it’s nice, it’s not necessary. My suggestion would be to start with a basic cart or tub that carries your supplies. As you begin learning together, you will slowly become comfortable in one area of your home. Then, you can decide to make it into a homeschool space, if you wish.
Are you planning to sign your child up for any extra curricular activities?
These activities get expensive. Right now, we only let our children pick one activity each, because that’s what works for our budget. Obviously, you don’t HAVE to do any of these extra activities, but if you are planning to, be prepared to pay.
The next thing to think about for budgeting is co-ops or groups.
This can get tricky to explain, because there are so many kinds of homeschool groups/co-ops you can be a part of. I will talk about this more below, but I’m mentioning it here because it does become a part of the cost.
Don’t forget about field trips or outings.
I remember dreaming about so many outings with my children, but when it came time to it, I couldn’t always afford it! You have to be careful. Plan free outings! Public parks sometimes have amazing free activities. A trip to a zoo or museum gets very expensive, especially if you have multiple children. Make a plan for field trip costs!
It’s important to know your budget before you start making purchases and signing up for things. It can easily get exciting and out of control. Set your financial goals FIRST.
4. Curriculum Choices
I love learning about curriculum. If I had it my way, I’d order it all, and have my own little curriculum read-through party. That would be super fun and amazing but very unrealistic. There’s a way to break it down a bit to make the decision process a little easier.
First, decide if you want an all-inclusive curriculum or if you want to pick and choose different texts.
An all-inclusive curriculum is one that usually comes with plans and all of the subjects wrapped in one big set. This would be great for someone that prefers a lot of guidance.
If you feel completely lost on what to teach, think about a set like this to help you start. Just because you pick an all-inclusive your first year of homeschool, doesn’t mean you have to do it the next year.
There are many different options to pick from, but an all-inclusive curriculum is going to be a big ticket item. It costs a lot of money up front – I’m talking hundreds of dollars, sometimes even a thousand. So, that’s something you need to think about if you decide on using it.
I have never used an all-inclusive program, but I know people that have and enjoy it. I couldn’t tell you the best one based on experience, but I can guide you to a few that I’ve researched or heard of people using in their own home.
The other option is to pick and choose curriculum for each subject.
This really isn’t a super hard task, but there are just a lot of options to choose from. You can easily fall into a trap of constantly questioning – is this the best one? Do your research.
Talk to people that have used that specific curriculum before. Read blog posts and visit the websites. Download samples – the samples are always the most helpful to me.
Look into social media. There are people on Facebook and Instagram (like me!) that will show you the inside of a textbook and tell you how it works for their family. Use a hashtag and search different curriculum titles. Look through highlights.
Come visit me on Instagram! Send me a DM and say hello! I love connecting with other homeschool families, and I can try to help you find more info.
Most importantly, once you pick something. Pray for peace and confidence and and go with it. It’s easy to question yourself, but if you’ve done your research, rest in knowing you’re doing what you think is best for your family.
So, what subjects do you choose?
First, look at your state laws and see what subjects are required. For your first year, I suggest sticking with just that! Don’t spend a lot of money on a bunch of different things just yet. Give it a couple of months. Start your year with the basic requirements and add to it as you adjust.
Now, if something is really important to you, like Bible, go ahead and make that a priority. Maybe you are a musician, and it’s important your child studies music – go for it. Just don’t think you need to add on everything right this minute.
Fine arts, a second language, typing, art study, hymns…these are things that can be added in to your routine in a few months as you are ready, and IF you even want to do them. Don’t overwhelm yourself. I’ve definitely fallen into the trap of buying text I thought would be so great and then never even using it – waste of money!
If you are interested, check out my blog plosts to see some of our curriculum choices. You can read about my most recent picks for first grade and preschool HERE and HERE.
5. Homeschool Groups, Co-Ops, and Communities
You can definitely start without finding a group. So, technically it could be 4 steps to start homeschooling 😉
However, I do think it’s important to connect with other homeschool families, so I want to add it in here. Having the support and community is encouraging and helpful. I’ll be honest, I struggled with this my first year. Unless you know a giant group of homeschoolers, it can be hard to connect.
Make an effort to find a group/community/or just a friend if you can. You can really benefit from the relationships and learn so much from others.
If you are struggling with this, pray about it. It’s OK if you don’t find a group or a friend right when you start your year, but don’t give up.
A few months into homeschooling, I met a friend at the library of all places. We were sitting together in a preschool music class. She is a huge blessing to me and my family and I cherish our friendship. I feel like as soon as I started questioning what I was doing, God placed her in my life to encourage me and keep me going. I’m forever grateful for that.
My suggestion would be to find a group in your area through your church or social media and ask around.
This will give you a better idea of what’s near you. My first year, I joined a few local, free homeschool groups on Facebook. People post all the time about events/activities in the area. There are also park meetups where I can meet other families and learn more from others.
We also tried a couple groups that required a small fee ($25-$50…I can’t really remember). They didn’t stick. My point in telling you this is don’t be discouraged. Don’t feel like if you can’t find a group, you can’t start. Pray, have patience, and don’t give up.
It’s as simple as that! Now, all you have to do is dive in and start. Sometimes, this can be the hardest part. You may be worried about the planning process or your daily schedule, but you will never figure out a good routine until you just jump in.
I will share more in a planning blog post about getting ready for your year. However, one thing that worked for me was to start little mini lessons in the summer. This could be as simple as a craft, board game, puzzle, or reading a few books from the library. Maybe it’s a science experiment.
I would try little things during our summer day to see when it was easiest to work with my kids. Morning? Afternoon? Where was it easiest to work in my house? How long could they sit there? These are all questions I was trying to answer to better plan my year.
By doing this, I also realized that the more time my kids spent outside, the better our days went. So, that became a priority – get outdoors!
You will learn things like this too by just jumping in and trying it! If you have a summer or a break, use that to start experimenting. The last thing I want to say is this…
Your homeschool will not look like anyone else’s.
Stay away from comparison. It can be extremely hurtful to your heart and mind. Just because someone is teaching 4 fine arts classes to their children, that doesn’t mean you have to. Just because someone has beautiful wooden toys for every themed lesson doesn’t mean you have to.
And just because it doesn’t turn out EXACTLY like you pictured it, doesn’t mean it’s wrong. It’s all a trial and error process. You will adjust all the time in a way that best suits your family. Put God first. Put your faith in Him, and pray for wisdom in all that you do. Don’t depend on others to lead you.
Final words for this … start small. Homeschooling is a building game. Start simple, jump in, and gradually add to it as you wish. It doesn’t have to be complicated. You got this.
I chose to read Mrs. Piggle Wiggle with my kiddos because it was light, short, and funny. I also discovered that through each chapter, we could have great discussions about good and bad behavior.
I developed a Read Aloud Experience to go along with the novel. If you are not familiar with the Read Aloud Experience, check out this post.
In short, it includes the following: chapter summaries and questions, optional crafts and activities for each chapter, and library topics to guide you in checking out books that go along with the themes.
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!
There was something special about this book that made me take it a little further.
Every chapter follows a child that is making bad decisions or forming bad habits. The parent calls Mrs. Piggle Wiggle to ask for a “cure” for their child. It is all very fictional and humorous but the behaviors are applicable to real life.
The best part was we could giggle about the silliness, but then have real discussions about good character. We talked about behavior and responsibility in our own home – and most importantly we backed it all up with scripture.
When the characters refused their bedtime, we researched Van Gogh and recreated Starry Night
Every chapter in this Read Aloud Experience includes a bible verse to use as a devotion with your family.
I love when a book leaves an impression on you, and to this day we refer back to the characters in the chapters and what we learned from them. We even memorized a few of the verses and can recite them in certain situations.
There are 8 chapters in Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, and I’ll outline the biblical focus points below:
Obey your parents
Generosity
Use kind words
Greed
Patience
Rest
Thankfulness
Arguing
Sound like topics you might want to discuss in your family?
My oldest two children were 6 and 4 when we read this. So, don’t assume your children are too young! I have even thought about doing this again in a few years. It’s great for all ages! All of these topics come up in our home on a regular basis and it was so nice to be able to sit down and discuss them together.
We homeschool our children and loved using the verses as our devotion, reading a chapter a day, and completing the optional crafts and activities. If you do not homeschool, you could still easily use this book to talk about the character traits listed above.
When a character refuses supper, we got creative with food by completing this marshmallow STEM activity.
Everything in the Read Aloud Experience is optional and it’s meant to be flexible for all families.
Think of it as your guide. There are so many ways you could make it work in a way that fits your family. Simply read a bible verse at dinner and a chapter before bed.
Save it for the weekend! The chapters are short. Read two on Saturday and two on Sunday and you’ll be done in two weekends!
Download the unit for a spring break or summer activity. It would be the perfect thing to add a small bit of structure/routine to your day.
If you wanted to use it to its full potential, check your local library for books that go along with the topics listed in the unit. Use the supply list to make sure you have the ingredients for recipes and craft supplies. Since this book is so short, you can get everything you need in one swoop so you’re ready to go!
In our family, we used the bible verse as our daily morning devotion. I read a chapter a day (usually while the babies were napping). Then, we would complete the activities we had time for. I usually save library books for after dinner/before bed. It’s the easiest way to add them into our day.
I always randomly select library books based on a specific topic. I love the fun and surprise in this. We did come across some great ones and I will share them below if you’d like to search for them specifically:
We read many more throughout the unit, but these were our favorites.
Our “Un-Selfish Kit” inspired by Mrs. Piggle Wiggle’s kit – We discussed actions that were kind and not selfish.
If this Read Aloud Experience sounds like something you’d like to look into for your family, you can download the entire unit for FREE in my store.
Pick and choose how you want it to work for your family and enjoy digging deeper into a book. (Download the unit here.) I love how my children and I really become a part of the book when we do this. We get to know the characters as if they are a friend. We experience new things and get to be creative. You could say it’s almost like we are in the book ourselves!
If you’ve completed a Read Aloud Experience from me, I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below and let me know.
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