Real Life Fitness and a FREE workout video!

October 1, 2020 update: Fit2B is having a 50% off Anniversary Sale this week, 2 days only!

I recently asked on my Facebook page how many people were struggling to make time for fitness and physical activity. A whopping 83% of respondents said that they struggled with finding the time to be physically active. I am not writing this from the perspective of a fitness guru or expert. I struggled with this for a long time and in all honesty I still am not where I want to be but I’m making progress. There is no realistic way that I can spend hours a day working out at this stage in my life, but I can do little things that add together to make up a real life fitness plan. Slowly but surely, I’m moving forward and regaining my health and my strength. I could not have done this without the help of Fit2B and their great online fitness program. I needed something I can do on my time, in small increments, and while my children were playing at my feet and Fit2B provided all of that and more.

*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. *

5 Minute Routines

Fit2B offers over 200 different routines in varying lengths and intensities. I have been most thankful for their five-minute routines. Many mornings I get up and I know that I don’t have thirty minutes for a full routine, but most days I do have five minutes. I can at least get my body moving and start the day out right. If I go ahead do that quick routine, I find that I tend to be more active during the day. Many days I can do two or three of the five-minute routines in the morning before the children need my more focused attention. Those routines tend to break through both my excuses and the reality of my busy mornings and help me to be active.

Tummy Safe

After four children and years of unsafe abdominal exercises I was had significant damage to my abdominal muscles and a diastasis. You can read more about my journey with that here, but I was very happy to find this program that provides exercises that help me safely strengthen my core.

Real Life Routines

Some programs require lots of time or lots of equipment that in my current life stage just is not a good option. Fit2B uses mostly body weight exercises with a few hand weights (though she will show you how to use household objects to replaces the weights if needed). She even has workouts that show you how you can use your time in the kitchen to get in a workout. I love how well it just flows into my real life so that I do not have to sacrifice time with those I love most in order to get in a workout.

Mommy and Me Routines

When my babies were little even a five-minute routine often seemed like too much to manage. In the times they were napping I wanted to get a shower, take my own nap, eat, or play with my other children. The mommy and me routines were the perfect solution. I didn’t have to wait until the baby was napping to get in a quick workout. I could do a workout that safely incorporated baby so that I could combine my workout and baby playtime. Fit2B has several great options for mommy and me routines.

Workouts for the Whole Family

Unlike the regular workouts, the Fit2B kids workouts are much less structured and more about getting children moving and active. Beth at Fit2B was generous enough to share this sample workout that provides a movement for each letter of the alphabet. These are fun and silly ways to get kids moving. We especially enjoy these workouts on those cold or rainy days when it’s hard to get outside to play. The children can do them by themselves or you can join in with them. These also work great to incorporate physical education into your homeschool. I encourage you to give this one a try and tell me in the comments which letter was your favorite!

Right now Through April 1st Fit2B is having a huge 40% off sale to celebrate Beth’s birthday! I encourage you to check out their program to see if it might be a tool to help you with your struggle to fit fitness into your everyday life. No traveling to a gym, no purchasing expensive equipment, no need to find a baby sitter. You can get an annual membership for less than $90 during this sale and that covers your entire family. If you prefer you can even purchase smaller series of specific workouts. If you have any questions please let me know in the comments.

P.S. If you need a great health course for your daughter I did a post about their girls course and it is also on sale right now!

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.

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This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.

Nature Study: Birds

Spring is such a fun time to study birds. My four-year-old son was quite interested in the fall and early winter, but we did not see very many birds, as we would go for walks. He even put out a bird feeder but saw no birds eating at the feeder over the winter. However, now that spring has arrived, he is seeing a variety of birds at the feeder and in the yard each morning.

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Every day since the weather started warming up, we have had cardinals, wrens, finches, and robins in the yard. One day last week, we had a yellow bird that I thought I had never seen before. Once we identified it in the bird guide, we realized that we had seen it before, but it is only bright yellow during the spring mating season.

These birds have been an exciting way for our family to learn together. My older children can teach my four-year-old the names of the birds that we recognize already, and together we can look up the ones that we do not know. We discuss colors and sizes with the younger ones and the older children are learning more about details, migration patterns, and identifying the birds that are not as commonly known.

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In addition to the birds in our yard, we have enjoyed taking walks down our road to see the various birds along the way. We also hike local trails to see if we can find different birds. We’ve even seen bald eagles on a few occasions. This can be a bit of a challenge with the children as they often scare the birds away before we can get close, but sometimes we get to spot some really interesting birds and they always have a good time.

To help my older children expand their knowledge and improve their nature journals, we have been doing a course of chalk pastel bird lessons for our art class. Then having them take those skills and do their own pictures of birds that they see in the yard or on our hikes. Once they have drawn the pictures they identify the bird in the bird book and write several facts about the bird. These have been some of their best journal entries.

One of the things that is so great about using birds for nature study is that they are readily available and it does not take a lot of specialized equipment to watch them. You can see them without any equipment and if needed identify them on the computer. I did find that there were a few inexpensive items that have made our bird study easier and more productive. We love having a bird guide because then my children can take it with us on hikes or use it at home and identify the birds they find. We love having a bird feeder in the yard to attract more birds. They are many inexpensive feeders and it is also a benefit to the birds. You can even make your own using a pine cone, peanut butter and bird seed or a pipe cleaner strung with cheerios. I have included a list of a few of these great resources below.

I would love to hear about what birds you are finding in your area this spring? Do you have a favorite bird book or resource?

Bird Study Resources:

Peterson First Guide to Birds (small but quality and easy to carry on hikes and easy for children to use.)

Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America (this is a thicker book that we keep in our kitchen for identifying the birds in our yard)

Clear Window Bird Feeder (This is so much fun for getting an up-close look at the birds. We enjoy having the birds ‘join us’ while we eat our breakfast inside and can watch them eat their breakfast.)

Binoculars (These are not required to see birds but can be helpful if the birds are further away.)

Bird Chalk Pastel Lessons (Such a great way to expand your study of birds and also to improve nature journals.)

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library, you will get a link and password to the library; we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you updated on what we have going on.

Resource Library

This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always, I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in, and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.

Deals and Freebies

Free Makeover Your Morning 5-Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Enrichment Studies has a great free fine arts memory match game this month!

Free Help Your Child’s Memory Book from All About Learning Press!

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Getting Our Mornings Going: Quick and Easy, Protein Packed Breakfasts

Recently, I realized that our morning routine had gone out the door, and we needed to get it together. I realized that breakfast was a bottleneck for us, but I was not sure how to fix it.

My son has always done better with a high protein breakfast and my husband wants nothing to do with oatmeal. So we typically cooked a full breakfast each morning: eggs, meat and potatoes, egg casserole, pancakes with bacon, etc. For a long time this worked well for us, as my children were all early risers and would help make breakfast each morning.

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Life Changes and Schedules Change

However, between busy schedules, late nights, and sleeping a bit later in the morning, it just was not working anymore. It was getting to be later and later when we finished cleaning up the kitchen from breakfast and got our school day started. While one of the things I love about homeschooling is the flexibility to set our own schedule, these late mornings were causing us to be rushed to finish up and do things in the afternoons.

I really wanted to be able to go ahead and get our school day started by about 9 am so that we could comfortably be done before our afternoon activities. This also gives us much-needed free time for outdoor play and activities.

I brainstormed breakfast ideas with my family. I asked my readers for ideas for easy and fast protein-packed breakfasts that were low glycemic index and did not involve oatmeal. I added the ideas to my meal plan and gave it all a try.

I have found several ideas that we really love, and we have some other ideas we still need to try out. Daylight Savings Time threw our mornings off a bit last week, but all in all, I am seeing a marked improvement in our ability to eat breakfast, clean up the kitchen and get our day started ‘on time’.

I may add to this list in the coming weeks but I wanted to go ahead and share what has worked well so far. You will notice that some of these are made ahead, some cook fast, some were prepackaged, and others take longer but do not require a lot of hands on time which means we can be working on other things while breakfast cooks.

Frozen Breakfast Burritos

We tried two different versions of frozen breakfast burritos. I found a brand of premade breakfast burritos that were on sale buy one get one free, so I decided to give them a try. The price was very reasonable with the sale (about $1.17 each) but we found that they really didn’t suit the tastes of my family. We also tried making our own frozen breakfast burritos and those were a big hit! We will absolutely be keeping those in the rotation.

To make our own we simply scrambled up a dozen eggs with a bit of milk, a touch of salt, and some cheddar cheese. After cooking the eggs we sliced some additional cheese and placed a slice or two of cheese into each tortilla and then a scoop of eggs. We folded up the tortilla and wrapped it in foil.

You can refrigerate these for a couple of days or freeze them. When you are ready to use them, simply take them out of the freezer, place on a baking sheet and cook in the over at 350 for about 20 minutes or until hot. You can add salsa and sour cream that day if desired. These were very nice because there was very little clean up and only about 2 minutes of hands on time that morning.

Instant Pot Breakfasts

We found this recipe for an Instant Pot sausage, egg, and potatoes breakfast and were excited to try it. The first time we tried, we followed the recipe. We found that our family did not really like the sauce. I adapted the recipe by using water or broth instead of the sauce and found that it was much more to our tastes. We also skip the bell peppers because not everyone in my family likes them. We really enjoyed it with those simple changes.

I timed myself and it took me six minutes of prep work in the morning to get it started. This was cutting the potatoes, onion, and sausage and putting everything into the instant pot. It took about 30 minutes start to finish to get breakfast on the table, but only those first six minutes and then a minute or two to put it onto plates are active time.

I could set it to start and then work on getting the little ones dressed and ready for the day. There was lots of protein and it was delicious. My husband and son added a bit of Cajun seasoning to their potatoes to give them a little added kick.

We also found that we could boil eggs in the Instant Pot to eat that morning or for eating throughout the week. These are an easy way to add protein to any breakfast. They also work well as an easy high-protein snack.

Egg Molds

Scrambling eggs really doesn’t take all that long, but somehow it always seems to make a big mess and take longer than it should to clean up in our house. It also takes very attentive focus so that they do not burn. Egg molds solve this attention problem and clean up easily.

You simply scramble your eggs and mix in whatever add ins you would like to mix into them. This could be veggies like spinach, peppers, squash, or onions. You could also add in small bits of meat like ham. Then ladle it into the molds. You can stack two molds on top of each other and cook them at the same time.

This breakfast idea uses the instant pot for hands-free cooking. Place one cup of water in the bottom of the instant pot, put in the rack and then place the egg mold on top. If you are using two egg molds, be sure to place them off center of each other so that the top one doesn’t sink into the molds of the first one.

Then cook on high pressure for 8 minutes. We often added toast, fruit, or English muffins to round out breakfast on egg mold day. To speed up the process even more you could mix them up the night before, place them in the fridge with the lids on and then in the morning just take the lids off and put them in the instant pot.

Waffles

When I think of waffles, I do not think of a speedy breakfast. If we actually make waffles from scratch in the morning, it can take a very long time and due to the grains and syrup, they tend to be high on the glycemic index. However, my children love them, and I wanted to find workable options.

First, we searched and found a couple of brands of frozen organic whole-grain waffles. Whole grains lower the glycemic index. Then we looked at our toppings to see how we could improve those. Instead of maple syrup we used agave or yogurt and my son adds peanut butter to his for extra protein. These were supper fast and easy but a bit pricier than homemade.

The other option that we found was to make and freeze our own waffles. We can use a whole grain waffle recipe, add in a little protein powder and make yummy healthy waffles. Making waffles can be a messy ordeal but it doesn’t make any more mess to make four batches than one batch so you can make enough for three or four breakfasts all at once.

We tend to do this on a morning that is not rushed but you can also do this one evening and freeze all of them. Then just pop them in the oven for a few minutes when you are ready to enjoy them.

Breakfast Casserole

This idea is one we have been using and perfecting for a while now. It does take quite a bit of time to cook so you do not want to make it fresh on a morning when you are trying to rush out the door. However, it is an easy recipe to double and it does not take very much ‘hands on’ time. You can mix up a large one the first morning or even the night before. We use twelve eggs, a pound of sausage, eight ounces of cheese, two or three shredded potatoes, a bit of milk and salt and pepper to taste.

I also like to add vegetables depending on what we have available, particularly squash or broccoli. Bake until the eggs are cooked through (about 40-45 minutes). Then we eat half of it the first morning and store the other half in the refrigerator until later in the week when we warm it up for a second breakfast.

I hope you find these ideas useful. I am still testing out some options for muffins, breads, and even a healthy ‘pie’ that might be good options to make ahead and have for breakfast. I will share those in another post next month. Please remember that I am not a medical professional. These breakfast ideas work for us but if you have questions about health and nutrition please consult your physician. I would love to hear about your favorite high-protein breakfasts.

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Deals and Freebies

August 31st is the LAST day to sign up for the Journey Homeschool Academy Science Courses! If you want more information click on the link above or check out Journey Homeschool Academy High School Biology Review

SchoolhouseTeachers.com is doing an amazing sale this month!

Starting August 31st all of Evan Moor’s Daily Practice titles will be on sale 20% off!

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Counting, it’s in the Cards: Math Lessons From Card Games

My four year old had little desire to learn his numbers. He knew how to count but was not interested in being able to recognize written numbers. I had not pushed the issue as I knew that it would be far easier to teach it when the time was right and he was ready. Little did I know that the job would be outsourced and I wouldn’t even have to teach him. No, I didn’t send him to school, I let him play card games.

*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. *

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In January, my daughter learned to play a game called Dutch Blitz from some Amish friends from Ohio who were here doing volunteer work. She really loved the game and the girls were kind enough to mail her a set of cards so that she could continue to play. She began playing several times a week with most of the different volunteer groups that stayed at our church. In my mind I thought it was a great chance for to get to know other people, but I never thought about what my four year old was learning. He wanted to be able to play with his older sister and the other volunteers and so he watched the games, played with help, and very quickly learned to recognize the numbers so that he could play on his own. They have enjoyed it so much my husband found them an expansion pack so that they can include more people.

cards

In March, a dear couple who my children have come to love, came back to North Carolina for their third volunteer trip. In addition to playing Dutch Blitz they taught the kids how to play Diamonds Rule. They could not believe how much better the four year old was with his numbers than when they had been here in January. He learned to play Diamonds Rule and could quickly recognize where each number needed to be placed in the stacks. This was a simple game played with a standard deck of cards. In this game, he had to be able to put down the right card at the top or bottom of a stack in numerical order.

He now knows his numbers 0-9 and I never had to actually teach them. When he came to a math lesson a few weeks ago in a curriculum that we were reviewing, that taught the numbers, he proudly told me that he already knew those numbers.

There are many other games that can teach math concepts. Think about using the card game War for practicing greater than and less than or the card game 21 for addition skills. Games often help motivate children to want to learn those concepts to participate in the game. What games have you used intentionally or unintentionally to teach math skills?

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Deals and Freebies

Starting August 31st all of Evan Moor’s Daily Practice titles will be on sale 20% off!

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Field Trip Friday: Neuseway Nature Park and Planetarium

We recently had the opportunity to visit the Neuseway Nature Park and Planetarium in Kinston, NC with some friends. We have been several times in the past but it had been quite awhile because they had been closed due to flooding from Hurricane Florence. This is a great field trip for all ages because they have a variety of options and exhibits.

We started the afternoon with a few minutes of free play on the playground while waiting for everyone to arrive. Once we were all present, we ventured into the science and planetarium building. There are multiple exhibits that you can explore at your own pace, including a giant model of the stomach that you can walk through, vision goggles that help you understand what it is like to have vision problems, a farm to table exhibit, building blocks, a hospital center, and even a tunnel.

Upstairs there are space themed exhibits, science books, and even a scale to see what you would weigh on different planets. This is also where the planetarium is located. They offer shows in the planetarium twice a day. You can also schedule a private planetarium show for your group for a small fee.

Once we had explored the science building and watched a planetarium showing, we ventured over to the nature building. This building houses both live animals and taxidermy exhibits, and had been badly damaged during the flooding. We were able to see a singing bird, who regaled everyone with ‘Happy Birthday’, turtles, alligators, and a tarantula. There were also some snakes on the other side of the room, but I decided I would skip that experience.

This is not a large center, but they have a variety of great exhibits and knowledgeable staff that are happy to answer questions. Admission is free unless you need special group accommodations. This is a fun half-day field trip for all ages.

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Where: 401 W Caswell Street Kinston, NC 28501

Hours of Operation:

Tuesday – Saturday
9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Sunday
1 – 5 p.m.

Costs: Free (unless you want to schedule a separate Planetarium show)

Homeschool Discount: n/a

Website: http://www.neusewaypark.com/454/Neuseway-Nature-Park

Food: There are drinks available for purchase and space for picnics outside.

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Deals and Freebies!

FREE Writing About Books: Book Reports and Beyond from Write Shop!

FREE: Check out this great new FREE resource for classical and Charlotte Mason education! Classical Christian Education & Charlotte Mason. Great for folks already homeschooling or if you have friends that are looking into it!

E is for Ellie’s People

Last April we had the privilege of traveling to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania to visit some friends and see the sites. While were there my daughter enjoyed learning more about the Amish culture. Since she was so interested in the culture, my mom found the book Ellie by Mary Christner Borntrager for her as a part of her Christmas gifts. Ellie is the first book in the Ellie’s People Series.

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Ellie pinterst

Ellie is also one of my daughter’s nicknames, so it seemed like a great book for her. In our hurricane relief efforts, our family has had the opportunity to meet and work with many different groups of Amish and Mennonite who have traveled to our church to help with the relief work. This has fueled my daughter’s interest in these unique cultures.

The author was born and raised Amish and uses the books to share the stories of her childhood and youth among the Amish people. Each book focuses on the story and life of one particular person (the namesake of that book) but also shares about others in the community. While these books are fiction, they include a lot of real information about the Amish culture and Mary Christner Brontrager’s childhood. My daughter even mentioned that, “I like how it uses a few words of Pennsylvania Dutch and then includes an English translation for those words.” In Ellie we learn about Amish weddings, funerals, and other customs through the eyes and experiences of Ellie.

After reading Ellie, she asked us about getting more books in that series. I was able to get a good deal on a collection of them and she read them rapidly. Reading late into the night and each morning before she got up. I loved that she found books that she enjoyed that much and that were also helping her learn and appreciate more about another culture.

Have you read Ellie before? What is your favorite ‘E’ book? I would love for you to share in the comments and let us know.

Inlinkz Link Party

abcblogging

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

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Deals and Freebies

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Drive Thru History® “Acts to Revelation” ( Review)

drive thru history picture 2

Our family does not watch a lot of television or movies. While each week is different, on a given week our television is not normally on more than once or twice and it is not unusual to go an entire week without turning it on at all. Since we watch so little television, I like to make sure that what we do watch is very high quality entertainment or educational material. Drive Thru History® “Acts to Revelation” is one of those programs that fits the bill of both educational and entertaining. Drive Thru History® is a company that we have come to love and trust and this newest production is no different.

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These DVDs could easily be assigned as schoolwork to coordinate with your Bible and/or history studies. However, my children love them and ask to watch them in their free time. Dave Stotts is funny or ‘punny’ as my children like to say but also does a great job providing an amazing amount of Biblical and historical knowledge in each episode.

Last year we were blessed with the opportunity to review Drive Thru History®: The Gospels as a part of Drive Thru History Adventures. When the opportunity came to review Drive Thru History® “Acts to Revelation” , I knew it would be a great chance to continue with our studies. This time instead of getting the online subscription, we received the DVDs and study guide that are ours to keep and revisit as we wish.

Drive Thru History picture

Drive Thru History® “Acts to Revelation” is an 18 episode series on three DVDs. In each episode, the host, Dave Stotts, goes on site to learn and teach. Being able to see the actual locations where Biblical events took place really helps make them real to my children. They know that Athens, Thessalonica, Corinth, and Malta are all real locations but it can be so hard to conceptualize. This allowed them to see what they look like today, see the historic sites, and visualize what it might have been like in the days of Paul.

In this series, we start at Pentecost and follow along as Saul becomes Paul. Then we follow Paul through his missionary journeys. The final disk includes the martyrdom of Paul and Peter as well as John on the Island of Patmos and the book of Revelation.

We have been going through the episodes together as a family and using the included study guide to help facilitate our discussions afterwards. The study guide is a great resource and is conveniently located inside the DVD case. The study guide includes beautiful pictures, a summary and discussion questions (and answers) for each episode, and Bible readings for each episode. Since we watched the episodes together, I generally did not need the answers to the discussion questions, but they would be really helpful if you were having your child go through the series independently.

Drive Thur History 4 — The VW that my son liked so much!

I love how he drives to all the different places that Paul visited and lets us see them. I also like all the different cars he drives. My favorite car was the VW Beetle. Matthew, Age 12

We watched two of the discs during our review period look forward to finishing the last disc over the next few weeks. Each episode is just under 30 minutes, includes a short review of the last episode and then moves forward in the story of the New Testament. My children would have binge watched all of them if I had allowed it, but we felt that this program was best utilized by watching one episode at a time and discussing it together before we moved on to the next episode.

Included in each episode was the relevant scripture, a video or retelling of that part of the story, and the sights and information about the modern day place. For example, in one episode we heard a reading from Acts 27 and saw the story of Paul’s shipwreck on the Island of Malta. We then were able to see what modern day Malta looks like. They also included maps with most episodes to help you understand the geography of the locations that he was visiting in that episode.

I recommend Drive Thru History® “Acts to Revelation” for any family that is looking to learn more about the Bible or wants a fun and entertaining series to watch together. We watched with children ranging from 4-12 and they all enjoyed it, but I would say it is probably best for upper elementary through adult to get the full understanding. This is a great addition to your home school curriculum or your family Bible study time. You can also check our my review of their Drive Thru History ® Adventures program. For more information on how other Homeschool Review Crew families used Drive Thru History® “Acts to Revelation” click the link below.

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Through The Year in Foot Prints: March

Dr. Seuss’s birthday was March 2nd. We always enjoy celebrating Dr. Seuss and reading on that day. This year was extra special because it happened to also fall on the day we had planned to celebrate my youngest son’s birthday. While my daughter was looking for fun craft ideas she came across some ideas for using hands to make fish representing One Fish Two Fish.

Footprints march

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I decided that using Joseph’s feet and making his monthly footprint art into fish would also be fun. So we printed out a fish bowl template. Then we dipped one foot into red paint and placed it on the fish bowl. Next, I did the other foot in blue paint and placed it on the fish bowl.

Then we washed his feet off with a baby wipe and allowed the paint to dry. Once the paint dried we added a quick mouth and eyes with a black sharpie marker and cut the fish bowl out.

One thing I will note, is that if you were going to do this craft with children who had bigger hands or feet you would want to choose a different fish bowl. I would try to find one that was landscape and not vertical to allow more room.

This was an easy and fun craft and I look forward to adding it into our collection and watching his feet grow throughout the year. I hope you enjoy this craft. I would love for you to share your finished projects or ideas with us!

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Supplies:

White Cardstock

Red and Blue Paint

Markers

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Deals and Freebies

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

D is for Danny and Daisy Dolphin

This week I chose a picture book that is near and dear to our hearts. My children have all loved this book (and the others in the series) and the fact that it is set in our home state of North Carolina. Though not as well known as some of the other books I have shared, it is a wonderful addition to any children’s library.

*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. *

Danny and Daisy: A Tale of A Dolphin Duo is book #13 in Suzanne Tate’s nature series. The beautiful illustrations are done by James Melvin. We have collected most of the books in this series and a few of her history books as well. They are all wonderful but Danny and Daisy was so well loved that my children wore out our first copy and I had to purchase a second copy.

Danny is a wild dolphin who needs help because he is alone and hungry. Since he is unable to get enough to eat or find his pod, he is brought to a science center to recover. There he meets his friend Daisy dolphin who was brought there because she had problems with her eyes. Together they have a great time and recover while also meeting lots of ‘helpful humans’.

This series of picture books is great for learning about different animals, mostly sea and beach animals, and how we can be ‘helpful humans’ and take care of the environment. They are short picture books that are fun to read and can be enjoyed my children of any age but I have found that my children particularly enjoy them from around ages 3-8. They could also be a fun way to introduce a science study about marine life with older students.

Have you read Danny and Daisy before? What is your favorite ‘D’ book? I would love for you to share in the comments and let us know.

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Deals and Freebies

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

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Artistic Pursuits (A Review)

I remember drawing one good picture of a flower in middle school, it was purple and large and my art teacher really liked it. Aside from that one drawing, artistic skills and abilities have never been a strength for me. My son is very interested in drawing and I wanted him to have the help he needed to develop his skills. He has been doing an art program with my daughter and enjoying it, but wanted more instruction how to draw well. I was very excited to give him the opportunity to try one of the books in the K-3rd Grade Level, Volumes 1-8 series by ARTistic Pursuits Inc.

When looking at the series I knew they were designed for younger students (my son is a 7th grader) but decided after talking to him to go ahead and give it a try. I did get Art in America, K-3 Vol. 8 which is generally recommended for the older end of that range and specifically focuses on drawing with graphite and colored pencils. I was prepared for him to feel like it was to ‘babyish’ for him, but the book is laid out in such a way that it works for a wide range of ages. Though a second or third grader could have done the lessons, it did not feel ‘babyish’ for my middle schooler and did a great job of giving him more basic drawing instruction.

This program is a combination of book lessons with some short video lessons. The book includes both a DVD and a Blu-ray. For this particular volume the only supplies that I needed to purchase were graphite pencils. He also needed plain paper and later in the book colored pencils but we already keep those supplies on hand.

The lessons were short and only took him about 15 or 20 minutes to complete. They are set up to be one lesson a week but since he is older I had him go ahead and do a couple of lessons most weeks. For each lesson you have instruction either in the book or a short video (about 5 minutes) and then a practice activity. This particular volume is twelve text lessons and six video lessons. In addition to basic drawing instruction, the book also includes information and lessons about various famous artists. Each of the twelve text lessons included a different artist. I loved that they were introduced to some great artists, including John Copley and one of my personal favorites, John James Audubon.

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For the lesson featuring John Singleton Copley the student was introduced to the artist with a bit of background information about the artist. Then they showed how he used basic shapes in his drawings using an example of one of his famous pieces. The student is then given instructions on how to translate that skill into their own drawing of an object they can see or a photograph. There is also an example picture done by a nine year old student. I think this feature is nice because it gives both the student and the parent a better idea of a reasonable expectation for the assignment.

The short video lessons demonstrated examples of different skills. One of them showed how to use shading to create light and dark and another taught students how to draw lines and circles with a ruler and compass. After each lesson the student had the opportunity to take what was learned and create their own art work.

As a seventh grader, my son was able to easily work through this course without any assistance from me. He enjoyed the short lessons and I could see improvement in his skills. If I were using this with a younger student, I would go through the lessons with them to make sure they understood the reading and be prepared to assist as necessary. it would still not take much prep work for the teacher and is a very easy to implement course.

Each volume of this series focuses on a different set of skills including watercolor, print making, paper construction, etc. With elementary aged children each volume is designed to be covered in one semester. If you are using it with older students, you could easily cover two or three in a semester. You can find more information about the other volumes at ARTistic Pursuits Inc. and donn’t forget to click the link below to read reviews from other Crew members. You can find reviews for each of the different levels and see how families with different ages used the program.

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