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Showing posts from April, 2017

Large Alpha-Zoo Poster with Real Animal Pictures

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Wikimedia Commons After doing the blog post about our  bookshelf , I noticed that the backside of the shelves was looking at bit blank.  See? I searched the internet for a reading/book themed decoration idea.  My kids are just beginning to read, so I wanted to engage them at their level.  They love a Star Wars ABC book that we have and they love animals, so I though I'd combine the two ideas into a big animal-themed ABC poster.  I printed it at Staples and had them laminate it for me.  A couple of Command Strips later, and it was done. Free Printable- Alpha-Zoo 11x17 Poster Wikimedia Commons Original Alpha-Zoo Printables Wikimedia Commons If you loved this printable, check out all my others by clicking on the picture below!

European Landmarks 3-part Cards

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Wikimedia Commons This week was supposed to be the last of our continent-based theme weeks.  We were headed to Europe to talk about foxes and the letter X.  Unfortunately, I just couldn't get motivated enough.  The kids weren't interested and we just didn't get around to anything European or foxy.  Instead, we started planning our beach vacation and I worked on a bunch of blog posts related to that (so check back on Tuesday for the Travel Time post). I did make a new printable for this week, though- a set of 3-part cards for European landmarks.  It uses Stonehenge and the Colosseum from the  World Landmarks toob  and the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Eiffel Tower, Arch of Triumph, Big Ben, and the Parthenon from the  Around the World toob .  You can download the 3-part cards here . > > > Click Here to Download the Printable < < < Printables - European Landmarks 3-Part Cards - fox emergent reader - 50 animals of Europe - fox information

Dental-Themed Movable Alphabet

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Early this month, I shared my Australian Movable Alphabet.  Once I had the format set up on the computer, it was too easy to make new ones.  My kids are very interested in the human body, so I thought a bones alphabet would help them be more interested in reading.  These cards can be used in the traditional Montessori movable alphabet way or could be used for a game of memory. To download, click HERE  (black background) Update!  White Background Alphabet /> If you loved this printable, check out all my others by clicking on the picture below!

A to Z Bookends

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These A to Z bookends are not a completely new concept.  I got the idea off of Pinterest when I ran across this Etsy buy.  I liked the kid-friendly idea of the apple and zebra, but thought that I could build my own using Safari Ltd animals. I bought 5x7 wood plaques from the craft store and painted them with a spring green acrylic paint .  Then, I used 3M Command strips to attach the wood to  black bookends .  Next, I painted 5" wood letters (A and Z) in baby blue paint .  Using a hot glue gun , I glued the  Safari Ltd Wildlife Alligator  and the letter A to one bookend and the  Zebra  and letter Z to the other bookend.  At that point, there was nothing left to do except to put them on our shelf! If you like the look of the A-Z bookshelf but you don't want to make one yourself, you can purchase an already assembled one (without the animals) on Amazon.   This subtle superhero bookend would be really fun too.  An even easier bookend would be a mason jar of shells, scr

Astronomy Books

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stars from Wikimedia Commons We haven't done very much astronomy, but warm summer nights are a great time to get outside and hang out under the stars.  Dragonfly has started to become interested in the star pictures thanks to Moana, and I thought it would be great to provide her with some good books.  And, well, the boys are into Star Wars, so I think they'll enjoy this study, too.  Most of these books are on our wish list, but I'm going to start the list with one that we own. Glow in the Dark Constellations The Night Sky Space: a visual encyclopedia How to be a Space Explorer Solar System (board book) Let's Explore the Moon Once Upon a Starry Night Everything Kid's Astronomy Book There's No Place like Space Astronomy Lab for Kids What is the Moon Like? The Sun: Our Nearest Star The Planets in our Solar System />

How to Plan a Star Wars Themed Road Trip

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I've been enjoying Travel Time Tuesday so much and have been posting so much content that I decided to move all of it to its own blog.  The Star Wars Road Trip blog post is now at my new site- Party Through the USA. Click on the picture to go to the star wars post.

Environmental Print Labels for the Home

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Add caption My kids are SO interested in words all around them.  They love to point out letters that they know and to make connections between parts of words.  They're desire to decode words inspired me to create these labels for our home.  There are 110 basic labels, but I'm sure the there are even more I could add.  I want to start with just "a few" so that I don't overwhelm them.  The goal is to make them rare enough to be noticeable, not one of thousands to overwhelm them.  I make four types of labels to match any font you'd like to use.  Click on each font name to download those labels. Font Styles Basic Pre-Cursive Cursive Book /> If you loved this printable, check out all my others by clicking on the picture below!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Blog!

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I've now been blogging on this site for three years!  Here are a few blogging stats and a few things I've learned in the last few years. Blogversery Posts Monday- Fruits and Veggies 3-Part Cards Tuesday- Flowers 3-Part Cards Wednesday- Australia-Themed Movable Alphabet Thursday- Our 2016-2017 Classroom Friday- Australia unit Stats Number of Blog Posts: 483 published; 31 pending Most Popular Blog Post This Week: Flower 3-Part Cards Number of Blog Visitors a Month: 7,636 (up from 2,300 last year) Most Popular Blog Post Last Month: Foster-to-Adopt Party Ideas Number of Visitors Total: 78,167 (+46,000 from last year) Most Popular Blog Post of All Time: QR Codes for Read Aloud Books Number of Free Printables: 186 published; 7 pending (+61 this year) Lessons from 3 Years of Blogging 1- I'm not a planner.  Or, I should say that I like to plan, but I'm bad at following through.  If you look over the past three years of homeschooling ,

k is for kangaroo (year 3, week 26)

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We're studying the Australia this week!  We identified the big island on the map, learned about the animals, talked about the coral reef, and dreamed about visiting their zoo. We tried some Australian foods this week.  We live in a very small town and our international food options are limited; however, I was able to find " Australian style licorice ."  We tasted American licorice and then the Australian kind and compared them.  We also made "faerie bread," a birthday party tradition.  It is comprised of white bread, spread with butter, and then coated wall to wall with rainbow sprinkles. This is also an official #HowiSafari blog post!  Safari Ltd sent us the  Land Down Under toob  for use in our homeschool.  We used the animals in a sensory bin, learned their names, and sorted them by type (marsupial, reptile, bird, etc).  Many of the Australian animals were previously unknown to my kids (our nearest zoo is eight hours away), so they