The Kingdom Code Journal #5a

I am so excited to be back sharing with you about our Journey through the Code. The nature of my son’s business (lawn care) and the busyness of the holiday season made us decide to take a break for a couple of months. However, as spring is arriving, he is ready to jump back into both his Kingdom Code book work and his business.

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Key to the Lesson: ” I can reach my goals because I am aware of my strengths and have a winning strategy. “

He completed through lesson five back in the fall before we took our break and it was really beneficial in helping him get some details of his business worked out.

amazon-photos-shared-media287131530711203713 Prior to beginning this course and making his business ‘official’, he often charged people whatever they felt was appropriate. This normally worked out OK for him as he was working for family or close friends and they treated him fairly. However, we knew that as he grew his business to work for others and prepared himself to run a business in adulthood, he would need to have a more specific pricing structure.

During this first part of the lesson he had to do research into potential customers and his competition. This helped to give him the information he needed to know how much he should charge. He also learned about advertising and various ways that he could share about his business to get new customers.

He completed a marketing strategies ideas activity as well as compiling his survey results into pricing data. This was very eye opening for him as he started to think about the possibilities for gaining new customers.

Stay tuned for the second part of lesson five of The Kingdom Code and don’t forget that you can get 10% of this program using Coupon Code: 10TKC08! If you have any questions about our journey let me know in the comments and I will be sure to try and address them in our next installment.

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Evan-Moor Top Student Workbook (Review)

Kindergarten has been an adventure with my five-year-old son. Some days he loves it and will do any work put before him and some days you would think I had asked him to write a dissertation and not merely his own name. Since he can be so moody about school, I am always looking for ways to get it done well but simply and quickly. I was excited to try out the Top Student Workbook because it included so many subjects all with-in one book.

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The kindergarten level of the Top Student Workbook includes: alphabet; math; shapes, colors, and patterns;phonics; mindful moments; early reading; reading comprehension; science; STEM; geography; social and emotional learning; and computer science. This makes it great for review and in many of those subjects this workbook could be a complete curriculum. The workbook is over 300 pages with a variety of activities to keep a student engaged and interested.

When it arrived, he was excited to check it out! He loved how colorful it was and that the different subjects had different color borders on the papers. This made it easy to flip between sections and for him to identify the sections he needed.

He has a tendency to leave his papers and work in various places and they can get lost or torn up by the toddler. However, having so many subjects located in one book meant it was easier to keep up with and no loose papers to get torn up by the toddler. We have been working hard to have him remember to put the workbook in his schoolbag when he is finished with his work.

Another feature that I appreciate as a mom is the answer key that is located in the back of the book. This might not be a huge deal for the kindergarten level, but these books go all the way up to 6th grade. While I can do the work in those upper grades, it saves a lot of time to have the answer key right there instead of having to work out the math problems.

We used the book in two different ways depending on our needs for the day. Some days I assigned him a page or two based on what we were working on in our primary curriculum. For example, when we worked on letter c in his new reading program I had him reinforce what we had learned by doing the letter C pages in the phonics section of the workbook.

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Other days, I allowed him to pick what subject he was interested in working on. He really enjoyed the STEM section which taught about water being able to be both a solid and a liquid. There was information that we read together, simple questions for him to answer, some matching and word tracing, and finally a science experiment that we could do together.

Most of the pages were simple workbook style activities that were done right there in the book and only needed a pencil. However, they also included a few more hands-on activities like science experiments, cutting and pasting, and optional craft activities to keep things interesting. For example, at the end of the alphabet section there is a letter dress-up project. The student would pick their favorite letter, pick a word that started with that letter, and then decorate the letter like that word. They gave examples of a B that was decorated like a bee and a U like a unicorn.

Overall, my son really enjoyed the colorful pages of this workbook. I appreciated having the review for so many subjects all together in one easy to use resource. I recommend this workbook for any parent that is looking for a resource to help them teach or review a variety of topics. They are also very reasonably priced at only $14.99. They are available directly from Evan-Moor or on Amazon. Be sure to check them out and let me know what you think.

Disclaimer:
I received a FREE copy of this product through from Evan Moor in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.

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2020 Reading List February Update

I have been really enjoying my reading time in 2020! I have tried to be very intentional about using spare minutes to read instead of browse the internet and I am finding that I have more time to read. I am also trying to go to bed a bit earlier and read a chapter or two in the evenings.

2020 Reading List Update

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So far, I have completed The Hobbit which, I was reading with my oldest son. I am not always a huge fiction reader but I really enjoyed it and look forward to reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy later this year. I also read Better Together by Pam Barnhill. This was just the motivation I needed to really get our morning time back on track. She had so many good ideas and real life strategies. Finally, I am in the process of reviewing The Unbreakable Faith course by Pilgrim’s Rock and I read The Box as a part of that review. I will be sharing a full review in a few weeks but I think it is a great introductory book for those wanting to learn more about apologetics.

I am also currently in the process of reading another five books. That sounds like a large number to be reading, but several of them are intentionally read over a longer period of time and I like to keep a couple of different types of books so that I can chose depending on my mood. We are using Core 52 as a family in conjunction with my church and really enjoying digging deeper into God’s word. I am also enjoying the encouragement of Mom Heart Moments by Sally Clarkson when I can steal a few minutes of quiet in the morning.

I have started Plan Your Year by Pam Barnhill. I love planning but was feeling a little stressed about next year when I will have a high school student, middle school student, 1st grader, and a two year old. That is a wide range and I want to make sure that I can create a realistic plan for meeting everyone’s needs. One of the things that I have really enjoyed with Plan Your Year was creating a vision for our homeschool that really clarified my goals for our children. I am looking forward to continuing to work my way through the book.

Nurtured by Love was written by Shin’ichi Suzuki and is recommended reading for anyone with a child in Suzuki music lessons. I didn’t take the time to read it when my daughter started violin almost a year and a half ago, but given that she is now in both violin and piano Suzuki lessons and two of my sons are in violin I decided it was time. So far, it has been a very interesting read. I do not necessarily agree with all of his conclusions, but I think he had some wonderful ideas and his music program is very effective.

Finally, I have been reading Rhythms of Renewal. In our fast pace society it is so easy to be over committed, over tired, and burnt out. I love the idea of intentionally setting up rhythms of renewal. I have been enjoying this book so far and gleaned some great ideas about creating rhythms in my own life.

I look forward to finishing Rhythms of Renewal and Nurtured by Love this month. Once I have finished those books I will probably start Parenting Beyond the Rules. I also hope to read When Less Becomes More in March. I will also be starting Little Women with my daughter in March once she has finished the book she is currently working on in her literature program. What books are you reading this year? I would love to hear your thoughts on any of these or recommendations of what to add to my list.

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Deals and Freebies

Little Women is only .99 on kindle right now! (Amazon prices subject to change always check before purchasing.)

FREE Baby Yoda Art Lesson from Nana!

All About Learning has released the best deal of the day: A FREE Snowman Pack with reading and spelling activities for a variety of ages.

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)

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

Smartick (check out our full review here) is offering a 25% off discount if you use this referral link! Elizabeth is still loving this program.

LitWits Kits Review

I have not been this excited about a literature unit study in a long time! LitWits was generous enough to give us four of their LitWits Kits to review. We love to read and we have used and enjoyed a variety of studies but this one fit our family perfectly. While I personally think it is important for students to occasionally analyze literature and learn how to really break it apart, I think it is far more important that they learn to enjoy reading and making connections with what they read. These kits did just that and as an added bonus to this busy mom, they were super easy to implement.

We were able to choose which titles we wanted from the 46 available titles. I was having a hard time choosing because there were so many wonderful titles, I ended up choose two and allowing my 6th and 8th graders to each choose a title. We chose The House of Sixty Fathers, My Side of the Mountain, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler, and All Creatures Great and Small.

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We got started by using My Side of the Mountain as a family. I purchased the audio version of the book and we listened to it together before completing the activities that went along with the book. We had the extra benefit of listening to this on our way to a short family vacation in the mountains which tied in beautifully (but is certainly not required to make this unit study wonderful.) The study suggested that you use props to help the children connect to the story. I thought the actual mountain camp site made a great prop and loved how they were making connections to Sam’s adventures. They found Hemlock trees like he used to make his home, rocks for fire starting, wild edibles, a stream, and more. Then we adapted the prop process when we got home and I had them find and collect props that went with the story and share them with the family. They found some of our homemade jam to represent the jam that Sam made, rocks, leaves, sticks, and more. Even the five-year-old was excited to participate.

“Here’s one critical thing we do – or rather, don’t do – to make great books fun for kids: We don’t ask kids to read with assignments in mind.” From LitWit e-mail

Next, there were a list of hands on projects that could be completed to go along with the book. There was an idea for a poster to advertise the tree he lived in, an opportunity to make a clay pot, sketching on bark, and a play demonstrating the character of Sam. I decided to allow each of my older children to decide which of these projects they wanted to complete. My son and daughter both chose to make a pot like Sam made for his jam.

Then, together we made breakfast using their ideas that were based off of the book. We had cornmeal pancakes with blueberry jam and watered-down root beer that served as sassafras tea. I loved that they were not all that fond of the watered-down root beer but they realized that if they were not used to having so much sugar, it might taste better. It was a really fun way to connect with the book.

The LitWits Kits also contained a great list of links to help you take your study of topics from the book further. For example, there were links to falcon videos because of Sam’s falcon, links about some of the other animals he encountered, music links, and even links about the author. There were also downloadable worksheets that you could use to assess understanding of story line, vocabulary, and other aspects of the book. We chose not to use them with this book but may use them for some of the other titles.

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All of these components combined to make a fun and enjoyable book study. Sometimes, when a study over analysis a book it can leave a student ready to be done with the book and move on. These fun and engaging activities had my children talking about the book and making connections throughout their day.

The kits for the other titles are set up in a very similar fashion. I am choosing to have my children independently do the title that they chose and then, after the holidays, I plan to use All Creatures Great and Small as a family study. I am excited about learning more about some of the veterinary topics as well as English culture and I know that my daughter will enjoy the chance to make hot tea and Yorkshire pudding.

LitWits Kits can make a great independent literature study but I think they are even more amazing as a family study. The opportunity for us all to share the same wonderful story and a variety of fun activities really fits into what I want our homeschool days to look like. I wish I had known about these kits years ago! be sure to click on the graphic below to check out the other titles reviewed by Crew Members!

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Gift Ideas For Your Budding…Artist

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Welcome to the first of our lists of Christmas ideas based around a child’s interest of hobby. I am excited to share some of our favorite art resources for all ages today. Art can be anything from crayon drawings or fun crafts to formal art lessons. There are so many great art supplies that make for fun Christmas gifts, will be helpful to your budding artist, and since they are being used won’t feel like clutter. A win-win for everyone!

I have divided this list up into several age categories, because I find that typically younger children enjoy the opportunity to just be creative and explore various materials, color patterns, and textures. Older children that have a stronger interest in art may be looking for more formal art instruction and higher grade materials. Gifts can be a great time to splurge on the higher quality materials that we might not normally buy, but that can really make a difference for some art techniques. For example, I did not realize until recently how much difference in quality there was between various brands of color pencils. We still use the trusty Crayola pencils for regular coloring but have invested in nice color pencils for my Bible journaling and some of the children’s other art work.

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

Gift Ideas For Your Budding… Artist

Preschool/ Early Elementary Ages

Bucket of Crafts (a great way to get creative)
Pipe Cleaners and Pom Poms
Dot Markers
Toddler Crayons
Ultimate Crayon Collection
Finger Paint (fun for all ages)
Toucan Art Box Subscription (inexpensive art subscription that sends you two crafts each month with step by step instructions and needed supplies. Often also includes bonus activities. )

Older Elementary/Middle School

Quality Colored Pencils
Chalk Pastels
Pastel Chalk Pencils (great for the child that likes the look of pastels without the mess)
Graphite Pencils
Drawing Books
Sketch Pads

High School/ Adult

Art Desk
Famous Artist Books (or The Master and His Apprentices (Art History) Review)
Bob Ross Videos (or if you have Prime you can find them here)

All Ages

Water Color Pencils (one of my favorite art supplies)
You Are An Artist (our very favorite art lessons)
Art Frames (these are on my Christmas wish list!)
Canvas

Be sure to check back for each of the posts this week relating to a different interest. If there are other interests or ideas that you have, please feel free to share them. You can also check out Educational Christmas Ideas (that don’t feel like school supplies), Clutter Free Christmas Ideas, and Twelve Christmas Adventures for clutter free Christmas ideas. If you have other interests or hobbies that you would like to see included, please share in the comments.

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Deals and Freebies

Not Consumed has a special early sale on their new Bible studies! Sale ends today!

Evan-Moor is having a 40% off sale on their e-books. use code: VDAY40

The Old Schoolhouse is running a great special on their magazine! $19 for a year’s subscription and some fun digital curriculum as a bonus.

Crystal Paine is launching her newest e-book, Slashing Your Grocery Bill for a special launch price of just $7!! She always has great tips on saving money over at her blog, Money Saving Mom.

Sally Clarkson just launched her newest book, a devotional for moms! You can purchase it at Amazon now .

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!

Gift Ideas For Your Budding….

I absolutely love the Christmas season! The decorations, the food, lights, smells, family time, songs, and all of the joy and excitement. I love giving gifts and enjoy receiving them, but the one thing I don’t love is feeling like we have so much clutter because of all the gifts. I want to be very clear, that I am super grateful for the love that is shown to my children through gifts and they love them. It is just that when they get so many things all at once, it can feel like clutter. If we are not careful, things can even get pushed to the side and forgotten about.

In an effort to help calm the clutter but still encourage fun and love that are incorporated into gift giving, I thought I would come up with some fun but useful ideas for children with various interests. Over the course of this week, I will be posting each day with ideas for a different interest. If there are other interests or ideas that you have please feel free to share them. You can also check out Educational Christmas Ideas (that don’t feel like school supplies), Clutter Free Christmas Ideas, and Twelve Christmas Adventures for even more clutter free Christmas ideas. If you have other interests or hobbies that you would like to see included, please share in the comments.

Gift Ideas For Your Budding….

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Deals and Freebies

Not Consumed has a special early sale on their new Bible studies! Sale ends today!

Evan-Moor is having a 40% off sale on their e-books. use code: VDAY40

The Old Schoolhouse is running a great special on their magazine! $19 for a year’s subscription and some fun digital curriculum as a bonus.

Crystal Paine is launching her newest e-book, Slashing Your Grocery Bill for a special launch price of just $7!! She always has great tips on saving money over at her blog, Money Saving Mom.

Sally Clarkson just launched her newest book, a devotional for moms! You can purchase it at Amazon now .

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!

Late Colonial Period Through Revolutionary War: Resources for Early North Carolina History

From sugar cakes to gun powder in the cabbages, so much was happening in North Carolina during this period in history. The French and Indian War, the construction of Fort Dobbs, the Regulator Movement, the Moravians settling in Salem, thousands of settlers moving ‘over the mountains’, a grand tea party in Endenton, the Mecklenburg Declaration and the Halifax Resolves to propel us into the Revolutionary War. Throughout the year we will be working our way through North Carolina History and geography. Each month I will share some resources specific to the topics and time periods we are studying that month. I also have a more comprehensive list of North Carolina history resources that I am continually updating as I find new resources.

History Resources Late Colonial through Revolutionary

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You might be wondering about Governor Martin and the Gun Powder in the cabbages. I find that children remember history much better when it is connected to a story and there are many wonderful stories from history. One story that my children love to retell when we are at historical events, is how Governor Martin hid the gun powder in the kitchen garden with the cabbages in an effort to keep the patriots from taking it after he fled from Tryon’s palace. Stories like this help children connect to the event and keep it from being a ‘boring list of events and dates’.

Another wonderful part of this time period is the Moravians settling in Old Salem. This is a culture steeped in interesting traditions (and food). We have been blessed to attend a homeschool day there as well as a Candle Tea event. If you are able, I highly encourage you to visit. However, for those that are unable to visit there are lots of great videos and recipes included in the lists below. One of the things my daughter found most interesting is that she was served coffee and not tea at the Candle Tea event.

Fort Dobbs is an often-forgotten historical site in North Carolina. Now, it’s just off the main road in a mostly residential area, but when it was built in 1755 it marked the boundary between the civilized British Colony and wild Native American lands. There is a lot of great history at the fort and they recently finished a creating a life size reproduction of the original fort that can be toured. They also offer several special homeschool days and other events with lots of living history. We were hoping to tour the fort on a recent trip through the area but unfortunately, they are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. We did get some great pictures from outside the gate and look forward to making another trip up that way soon.

There is a lot of moving, expansion, fighting, and growing going on in North Carolina during this time period. Despite being regarded as a poor, backwater colony by the British, North Carolina was a tinderbox and rather influential in the movement for independence. Understanding all of these things helps put the Revolutionary War into perspective and sets up a better understanding of the culture of North Carolina during this period.

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I encourage you to check out some of the wonderful resources I have found below (many of which are free) and tell me in the comments what resources you use to learn about the Lost Colony and the early colonial era. Don’t forget to check back next month for resources on the late colonial period through the beginning of the American Revolution.

North Carolina Late Colonial Through Early Revolutionary Period Resources

Books and Magazines:

Tar Heel History on Foot (good for multiple months)

Voices From Colonial America: North Carolina

Living History Classroom (Free Digital Magazine)

French and Indian War in North Carolina (for older students)

Farming Dissenters

The Young Reader’s Series of North Carolina History: “King George and Broadswords!” The Battle at Widow Moores Creek

Videos:

Old Salem Videos

Old Salem (C-Span)

Old Salem (PBS)

Friends in Liberty: North Carolina in the American Revolution

Trail of History Fort Dobbs

Fort Dobbs North Carolina Weekend

History Kids: French and Indian War

Battle of Alamance (short clip)

North Carolina’s Role In American Revolution

Websites:

Moore’s Creek PowerPoint

French and Indian War

Regulator Movement

History of Fort Dobbs

Eighteenth Century Timeline

NCpedia (An online encyclopedia of all things North Carolina)

Battle of Moore’s Creek Curriculum Materials

North Carolina in the Revolutionary War

North Carolina Continental Line

Field Trips:

Old Salem

Fort Dobbs

Tryon Palace

Alamance Battleground

Moore’s Creek Battlefield

Recipes:

Old Salem Recipes

History of Sugar Cakes

Moravian Sugar Cake

Colonial Pantries of North Carolina

A Taste of Carolina Colonial Recipes

Colonial Williamsburg Recipes (not North Carolina but the proximity means the food would have been similar)

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Deals and Freebies

The Old Schoolhouse is running a great special on their magazine! $19 for a year’s subscription and some fun digital curriculum as a bonus.

Crystal Paine is launching her newest e-book, Slashing Your Grocery Bill for a special launch price of just $7!! She always has great tips on saving money over at her blog, Money Saving Mom.

Sally Clarkson just launched her newest book, a devotional for moms! You can purchase it at Amazon now .

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!

Blogging through the Alphabet with Hobbies: Fishing and Fitness

This week we have come to letter F in our blogging through the alphabet journey. Fishing and fitness are two of the hobbies that our family enjoys. We all fish somewhat, but my two older boys find the most enjoyment from that hobby. Fitness is a hobby we would like to find more time for but we getting better and enjoy fitting it into our schedule where we can, and bonus for mom, it counts as the physical education portion of our school day.

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I grew up fishing with my dad, though I like catching more than fishing (or waiting for the fish to bite) so I would bring my book on the boat and read until the fish started biting. I still occasionally fish, but my older boys absolutely adore it and thankfully my dad is more than willing to oblige them. It is a wonderful hobby that provides them with hours of time spent chatting with my dad and my husband, some tasty meals, and a good appreciation for the rivers and nature. My boys started fishing as soon as they were old enough to hold a fishing pole, and many people have told me that my five-year-old could out fish a lot of adults. They learn how to bait their own hooks, cast out, reel in the fish, take the fish off the hook, and then either release the fish or how to clean and prepare the ones we keep. They can even use a cast net to catch their own bait. This is a great hobby to get children outside and connecting with nature and family. If your family doesn’t fish, but you would like to try, many wildlife agencies, or fish and game departments, often offer kids fishing days that are free or very inexpensive. At those events they provide equipment and assistance. There are also charter or guide services that can provide a great personalized experience and are a great option if you really want to maximize one or two days a year on the water. If you’re local to Eastern North Carolina you can check out www.fishibx.com or Ricks Brothers Outdoors (@rickbrothersoutdoors1).

Fitness is one of those things that is really important, can be really fun, but is also easy to push to the back burner. Different things work for different families, but we have found that we have to be intentional about putting fitness on the calendar. We also are more likely to enjoy it and keep it up if we are working on a goal or doing something as a family. My husband enjoys running and recently my older two children have been joining him 2-3 times per week. They trained all summer and just competed in a 5K a couple of weeks ago. They did a great job and are looking forward to their next event in November. Having those baseline times and a new event to train for is very motivating for them. As a family we also enjoy bike riding, hiking, and taking walks. I don’t always meet my goal but I try to go for a walk with my two youngest children five times a week. These walks allow my five-year-old to get out some of his abundance of energy, they help me meet health goals, and my toddler enjoys the ride in the stroller. If the five-year-old is not with me, I enjoy listening to podcasts while I walk as a way to relax and enjoy the time spent moving.

In addition to those daily walks, we all enjoy a variety of workouts from Fit2B. Sometimes I do a workout by myself while everyone else is out on a run, sometimes we do core workouts together to help them strengthen their core (in a way that is tummy safe) in addition to their running, and sometimes when the littles are really wiggly and we can’t go outside, I just turn on one of the kids workouts to get them moving. There are many options from simple stretches, day to day movements, targeted workouts, and more intensive cardio. If you are interested in finding out more about Fit2B, you can check out one of their kids workouts here or check out the Fit2B website for more information.

Do you enjoy fishing? What are your family’s favorite fitness activities or resources? What letter ‘F’ hobby is a favorite in your home? Share with me in the comments, I always look forward to hearing from you. Don’t forget to click the link below to check out all of the other wonderful letter ‘F’ blog posts from this week and come back next week for letter ‘G’.

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Deals and Freebies

Sally Clarkson just launched her newest book, a devotional for moms! You can purchase it at Amazon now .

We have been listening to Alice in Wonderland on audiobook to prepare to watch a live version of the play this week. I had forgotten just how ‘crazy’ the book feels. If you are interested in listening to it, it is only .66 on audio right now.

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)

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

Blogging through the Alphabet with Hobbies: Eating, Eggs, and Experiments

For some reason the first thing that came to mind when I thought about the letter E was eating. While it is not really a hobby it can certainly feel like it some days. My little ‘hobbits’ like to eat three solid meals and multiple snacks throughout the day. Since I don’t really count eating as a hobby, today I’m going to talk to you about eggs and experiments.

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You may be wondering how eggs is a hobby, but I’m not talking about just eating eggs. My son raises backyard chickens and sells the eggs to family and friends. We have had chickens since my now thirteen-year-old was about three or four. At first, he would play with the chickens and watch me care for them, however, now he takes care of them each day and I only have to step in if there is an unusual problem. He handles feeding and watering, collecting eggs (with some help from the five-year-old) and making sure they have a clean and safe coop. He and his eleven-year-old sister have also started showing their chickens at various local shows as they learn how to properly handle the chickens to make them look their best. We have many different varieties and my son is learning about the pros and cons of each type of chicken. Some of them lay more consistently, some of them lay better in the winter, some of them have beautifully colored eggs, while some breeds have larger eggs.

I love this hobby because in addition to the many benefits of learning to care for animals, I get the freshest eggs around each morning. We mostly eat or sell the eggs, but my daughter also recently entered a decorated egg shell into our State Fair. We look forward to finding out how she fared.

Hands On Drill Project

Little brother wanted to try!

Finished product

Science experiments might seem more like a school subject than a hobby, but my children enjoy doing them in their spare time. There are so many great experiments and materials available to keep them learning while they play. Sometimes they come up with their own experiments using household objects, such as, what happens when I change this recipe, will this plant grow here, or do these things float? Other times, we use kits or books to help guide their explorations and experiments. By providing your children with some basic materials such as magnifying glasses, vinegar, baking soda, scissors, plants, water, and other household materials they can come up with many creative experiments to help them understand the world of science. If they need a little help getting started or being creative, a book of experiments or a science kit can help them begin to think about science in a new way. I will share some of our favorite products in the list below.

Do you raise backyard chickens or enjoy science experiments? What letter ‘E’ hobby is a favorite in your home? Share with me in the comments, I always look forward to hearing from you. Don’t forget to click the link below to check out all of the other wonderful letter ‘E’ blog posts from this week and come back next week for letter ‘F’.

Experiment Resources:

Everything Kids Science Experiment Book

Big Bag of Science

Science in Seconds at the Beach

Magic School Bus Chemistry Lab

Lego Chain Reactions

Snap Circuits

Magnet Science (a magnet kit is a great way to get kids thinking creatively about experiments)

Candy Experiments (my son just got this one but he is excited to start testing them out. )

Outdoor Science Lab (this one is on my want to buy list)

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Deals and Freebies

Sally Clarkson just launched her newest book, a devotional for moms! You can purchase it at Amazon now .

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)

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

Blogging through the Alphabet with Hobbies: Drawing and Drama

Last week when we covered letter C I had a really hard time narrowing down my selection of hobbies but letter D was a different story. I have had difficulty coming up with hobbies that we enjoy that begin with a D. My son’s do enjoy drawing but that might be our only D hobby. Other hobbies that children might enjoy include dancing, dogs, drumming, and disc golf. Drama is another great hobby and elective course that can be very enjoyable and beneficial.

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

If you read my Blogging through the Alphabet with Hobbies: Art post you know that I do not have a natural gift for art or drawing but my children are learning to really enjoy it. I have provided them with lessons from SchoolhouseTeachers.com and You Are An Artist both of which they have enjoyed. However, one of the best things I have found for encouraging them in their drawing is to simply provide plenty of drawing supplies and opportunities. A good sketch pad, a variety of pencils, colored pencils, markers, and other drawing tools that are readily available help them to feel comfortable drawing whenever they see something they want to draw.

Drama is another great hobby D which is also often used as an elective. While we do not personally participate in drama and theater by performing, we love to go and watch our friends perform. Just last week we were able to go see a performance of Alice In Wonderland in which several of our friends performed. You can encourage a love of drama through attending performances, watching performances online, and participating in your local community theater or perhaps a church performance. You can also turn that hobby into a class or just provide instruction for a child that wants to know more with one of the six different Drama and Speech courses provided by SchoolhouseTeachers.com. Our children participate in the 4-H public speaking completion each year and really enjoy it. This could also be a great way to help a student who is interested in drama to get more comfortable in front of people and work on skills such as speaking clearly and projecting your voice.

Do your children draw or participate in drama? What are your favorite resources for those hobbies or what other D hobbies do your children participate in?

Drawing Resources

Sketch Pads

Pencil Grip Magic Stix Markers

Watercolor Pencils

Sketching Pencils

Display Frames (these are on my wish list)

Prismacolor Color Pencil and sharpener Set (these are more expensive than crayola but if you have a child that is serious about art I think they are worth the money.)

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Deals and Freebies

Sally Clarkson just launched her newest book, a devotional for moms! You can purchase it at Amazon now .

Today is the last day of the big Last Chance sale for SchoolhouseTeachers.com at only $29.95 for three months it is a great deal. You can check out how we use this program in our posts on the blog!

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)

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