All About Reading

Hello? All About Reading people? Yes, yoohoo! Over here! I'd love to 'test' out your Pre-Level 1 on my daughter! Just saying!

Homeschool Room

After much hard work this summer, I'm finally ready to start school with Reagan on the 22nd. (I asked her if she wanted to start earlier and she said 'no, thank you, she'd rather take that extra week of vacation.' Ok. Maybe that's not exactly how she put it, but you get the picture!)

Our plan for this year is to work through My Father's World K, along with quite a bit of add-ons from various blogs (Thank you to Jolanthe at Homeschool Creations and Carissa at 1+1+1=1 for all the hard work they do to provide us with items to teach our little ones!) and from various other curriculums. We're also sending Reagan to "preschool" at a local Church twice a week in the afternoons so that she can have some social interaction, along with music and art. Unfortunately she is still too young to be involved in the homeschool group music and art programs.

I think we're going to have lots of fun this year and I'm so excited! I'm going to try to remember that it's more important that she learn about Christ than anything else, and that she doesn't need pressure--this first year should be lots of fun. I'm extremely serious and competitive so this is hard for me to remember, but I'm going to pray everyday that Jesus guides us, NOT ME.

Oh-just a side note: this week I'll also post links to specific materials from other sites that I'm using AND a full list of our curriculum (and links!). But this post is getting much too long to do it here.

Alright, for those of you who are interested, here is our school room. (Technically it's one half of Reagan's playroom, so if you see a completely naked baby doll or tons of toys on the floor in parts of the pictures...just go with it! We also recently installed new UV ray blocking doors to keep the room cooler (as it was formerly a garage!) so you'll probably see installation foam still peeking out as we haven't installed the trim yet!) All that to say--well, this is it.

When you first walk in from outside, you'll see our wire rack full of puzzles and games--a great blocker between the toy side and the school side and keeps all her fun games close at hand! By the way, I get most of her puzzles and games from garage sales-a great place to find lots of homeschool activities!

Next up is a bookshelf with all of our weekly curriculum on the top shelves, msc. items lower and then tons of reference books divided into subjects on the lower shelves. (I prefer to keep these on the lower shelves so Reagan can get to them if she just wants to look at something she happens to be interested in!) We also have tons of craft supplies up top in bins.

Here are my 'filing cabinets'--I use that term loosely! More curriculum and household files here, as well as lots of Learning Packs! (Link to Homeschool Creation Packs and 1+1+1 Packs)

Here's our activity station with 'break' items (ie items in between workboxes--such as working on our number puzzle, working on screwing on and off caps, play dough, listening station, etc!) (The table and chair(s) were another garage sale find!)

Bulletin board that has our 100 chart, the map to color in of the States and our reading list--to keep a record of books Reagan reads (on her own) during the school year. The back has a cork board so I can tack up sentence strips, sequence cards, etc.

Workboxes and another activity bin (this is for smaller paper games and motor skill activities!)

Flag and Pledge of Allegiance

Dry erase board (with spots for color, number, letter and State of the day)

Calendar



Weather/Seasons and Today, Tomorrow and Yesterday pieces of the calendar board

And attachment pieces..

Songs for Calendar Time and our A-Z Bible Verse Book (to go with the RRPS program that I am using from 1+1+1)




Our schedule strip for our workboxes:



Our tree which I purchased from a teacher's supply store--we plan to hang our Biblical truths from our MFW K package on here.



Reading and Alphabet oversized books (I am in love with the DK big books--I need more!!!!)

Our RRPS Board and school table.

Recyclable storage--hidden under the table! (Can you say crafts?!)

Bottle caps to use for spelling!

And finally one last picture of the room--it's not as adorable as some photos I've seen-but it feels like home :) and that's the point isn't it?


*****Remember, if you see something you are in love with, I'll be posting links later this week to those specific printables from some very talented homeschooling moms!

Taking the time....

It's so worth it to take the time to share a life skill with your child..but boy is it fustrating when you start! That being said, I no longer have to put Reagan's clothing away...yah! She can do it for herself!

School time is coming, school time is coming

In case you were wondering...I have that in my head to the tune of "Santa packs are coming....Santa packs are coming..."



That's a shameless, UNPAID advertisement for Coke by the way ;)!

At any rate, school *IS* coming and we are almost ready here...my computer and printer are working on overdrive (which means my laminator will soon be chugging along too!) My scissors are covered in Velcro tape residue and the school table is covered in glue. Reagan is eager AND apprehensive..mostly apprehensive...but nonetheless here we go.

Our final plans and school room to be revealed soon and I'll *try* to document our journey this year! School starts August 22nd--unless I get done earlier!!

How hot is it?

You've heard the saying that it's hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk? Well today Reagan and I decided to test that theory. First, we did some research. I was pretty sure that it wasn't ACTUALLY hot enough to fry an egg, as the temperature needed has to be a constant 158 F. It's not QUITE that hot here--although Indiana is suffering a major heat wave. The heat index for today is supposed to be 107 degrees!

We started out with our materials: an egg, a piece of aluminum foil (folded up on the sides so the egg doesn't escape!) and a magnifying glass.


Reagan cracked the egg and I showed her how to focus the sun's rays so that it would "cook" the egg.


She did a great job..but it still wasn't enough to actually begin frying the egg.


We gave up after a few minutes and decided to let the sun do it's job. We left it on a level surface in the direct sunlight.


And after an hour, we checked it. Unfortunately the wind had blown our experiment over and the ants were beginning to attack. But if you look just closely enough, you'll see that the egg was actually beginning to coagulate.


Pretty cool, huh? So technically it's not QUITE hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk--but it's pretty darn close!

Summer "Bucket" List

Apparently having a summer to-do (aka 'bucket') list is all the rage this year..and of course I had to join in!

Thanks to some clever graphics from The Crafting Chicks and some great preschool/toddler summer ideas from Sweet and Lovely Crafts, Reagan and I now have a custom to-do list of our own. Can't wait! 3-4 activities in each bag every day will ensure lots of Mommy and Reagan fun time! (Can I just admit here and now that I am NOT a play mom and I feel sooooo guilty about that all the time, but I just don't PLAY with my child..and yes, I do feel like crap about it all.the.time--I hope this helps!!!)

By the way, if you want to see my own "bucket" list, check it out here!

And now---the photos!

Up close shot of one of the bags--it contains several activities for the day (activities printed on cardstock) and some days it'll include a treat too--stickers, lip gloss rings, etc.


All the bags hung up on cute summer ribbon!


And I couldn't resist a photo of Reagan before her first day of camp!

**By the way, in case you're wondering, I did organize the slips of paper into labeled envelopes so I could find them easily to stuff in the bags every day--I have "food treats", "crafts to make", "general play", and "places to go".

Spring for Susannah

Booklist says, "Inspired by [folk] lyrics, Richmond arrives on the inspirational fiction scene with a moving debut novel. Readers will be filled with hope that Susannah will learn the true meaning of love. Highly recommended where inspiring, romantic historical fiction is in demand."

Hundreds of miles from home, Susannah faces an uncertain future as a mail-order bride on the untamed Dakota prairie.

When her parents die suddenly, and no suitors call, Susannah resigns herself to the only option available: becoming a mail-order bride. Agreeing to marry her pastor's brother, Jesse, Susannah leaves the only home she's ever known for the untamed frontier of the Dakota Territory .

Her new husband is more loving and patient with her than she believes she deserves. Still, there is also a wildness to him that mirrors the wilderness surrounding them. And Susannah finds herself constantly on edge. But Jesse's confidence in her-and his faith in God's perfect plan-slowly begin to chip away at the wall she hides behind.

When she miscarries in the brutal Dakota winter, Susannah's fledgling faith in herself and in God begins to crumble. Still, Jesse's love is unwavering. Just when it seems like winter will never end, Susannah finally sees the first tentative evidence of spring. And with it, the realization that more than the landscape has changed.

She looks to the future with a renewed heart. Yet in her wildest dreams, she couldn't predict all that awaits her.

About Catherine:

Catherine Richmond was focused on her career as an occupational therapist till a special song planted a story idea in her mind. That idea would ultimately become Spring for Susannah, her first novel. She is also a founder and moderator of Nebraska Novelist critique group and lives in Nebraska with her husband.

For more about Catherine, please visit www.catherinerichmond.com.


To buy the book, please click here.

To celebrate her debut novel, Catherine and her publisher, Thomas Nelson, have teamed up to give away a Spring For Susannah Prize Package worth over $150!



One grand prize winner will receive:
* A brand new Latest Generation KINDLE with Wi-Fi and Pearl Screen
* Spring for Susannah by Catherine Richmond (for KINDLE)

To enter just CLICK HERE and then tell your friends! But hurry, giveaway ends on June 27th. Winner will be announced on Tuesday, June 28th at 5 PM (6PM MST, 7PM CST, & 8PM EST) during Catherine's Spring for Susannah Book Club Party on Facebook! Catherine is rustling up some fun for the party - she'll be chatting about the story behind her novel, hosting a book club chat, testing your mail-order bride trivia skills, and giving away some GREAT prizes! Don't miss the fun and tell your friends!

Blog tour schedule.

My review:
Such a sweet book! I absolutely loved witnessing the changes in Susannah as she grew more in Christ and her marriage. Definitely a must-read for anyone who loves Christian romances and tales of the old west. One note however: as this is Catherine Richmond's first book, I found the husband's role and dialogue at the beginning just a little bit difficult to really get into. However, by the end, everything was perfectly flowing together! Great book!

Disclosure: I was given a copy of Spring for Susannah to review. Please note that all opinions included herein are mine and do not reflect the views of any other person or company.