Goldtown Beginnings Series by Kregel Publications (Review)

When I showed my five-year-old the pictures of Jem Strikes Gold and Jem’s Frog Fiasco by Kregel Publications, he was unsure if he wanted to read and review them. I was surprised that he was not more excited but he explained that he was not sure about them because of the dog on the front. We discussed it and he agreed to give them a try. He does not know how to read yet, but we agreed to review them by having me read them aloud to him.

Goldtown

Even though he was a little worried about the dog on the cover (he is scared of dogs), he waited eagerly for the books to arrive in the mail. When the box arrived, he opened it to find two adorable paperback books with beautifully colored covers. The print on the pages was a little larger than normal, making it great for young readers.

When the books came in he wanted me to start reading Jem Strikes Gold right away. We curled up in the recliner to read a chapter or two that evening, and ended up reading half of the book. He kept wanting me to read more and my eleven-year-old daughter was working in the same room and ended up listening with us as well (it might have helped that she shares a nickname with one of the main characters).

Jem Strikes Gold tells the story of Jem and his little sister Ellie and their lives in a California gold town. They live in canvas tent with their parents. Their mom does laundry and bakes pies for miners and dad pans for gold. They help out with these tasks but also have time to play and get into lots of adventures. They learn how to deal with a bully, how to obey their parents, and how to be kind to one another and they even add a pet dog to their family. By the way, my son decided that since it was in the book and not in real life, this dog was okay.

Since we had such a positive experience with book one, I decided to pack Jem’s Frog Fiasco and bring it along with us on a short family camping trip that we were doing. We already had several longer novels that we were listening to on the road but I wanted a good book to read at the camping site. I thought that my older children might find it a little childish but knew that my five-year-old would enjoy it. However, all of the children enjoyed sitting around and listening to the story in the evenings. My daughter even helped me read a few chapters one night. While I wouldn’t necessarily recommend buying the books for older children, the story is fun for the whole family. (I did notice that Kregel Publications has a series featuring this same family designed for children in the 9-13 range.)

Jem’s Frog Fiasco is the second book in the series and continues the story of Jem and his sister Ellie. This book shares even more of their adventures with their dog, catching bullfrogs, a missing sister and lessons they learn about being kind to one another. It felt so very real to me because the children reminded me of my own. They love each other but still get into arguments and fuss with each other. The story has some serious moments and important lessons, but it is also filled with lots of laughter and fun.

While we used the books as fun read alouds, they also have some great printable educational activities to go along with the books. It includes comprehension questions, recipes, vocabulary, graphing, drawing, and more. These would make a great unit study. I am saving them to use in a couple of years when my son can read the books independently.

I highly recommend the Goldtown Beginnings Series for children ages 3-7. They make great read alouds and would also be good first chapter books for independent readers. The stories are fun and engaging while also teaching important morale lessons. My son has already requested books 3 and 4 in the series as soon as they are released next spring! Make sure to check out these books and all of their other offerings at Kregel Publications and then click on the graphic below to check out all of the other reviews.

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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!

Thanksgiving Resource Round Up and Gratitude Challenge/Printable

November is a great time to focus on gratitude and thankfulness. Over the last several years, we have shared various ideas and traditions to encourage gratitude. I will link those posts below so that you can take a look and see what might work for your family. This year we are going a 30-day gratitude challenge that starts today, November 1st (if you are reading this after November 1st please feel free to jump on in).

I will be sharing the day’s challenge each day on Facebook to help you keep track. I have included the entire list here so that you can plan ahead. There is even a printable version of the list at the end of the post if you want to put it on your refrigerator or somewhere in your home that would remind you each day.

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

I have tried to include a variety of ways that your family can show gratitude to God, each other, and other people. Please feel free to adapt these ideas to work best for your family. We will be going through them in order with the date coordinating with the number on the list. However, feel free to jump around to what works best for you that day. I would love to see you share pictures from your gratitude challenge as we encourage each other. Use #gratitudechallenge and #schoolinswag to see them on social media.

Start a gratitude tree or jar that each member of the family can add to each day
Hymn Study: We Gather Together
Alphabet Gratitude (work together as a family to come up with something you are thankful for using each letter of the alphabet)
Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (Read and discuss or copy down into journals)
Make sugar cookies in the shape of hearts or fall shapes and pass them out to people for whom you are thankful. This could be friends and family or people who you interact with throughout the day, such as cashiers, postal workers, bus drivers, etc.
Read a Thanksgiving Book (If you need suggestions, you can check out this post for a great list.)
Send a thank you card to someone who has blessed you.
Gratitude Art: Draw or Paint a picture of something for which you are grateful.
Hymn Study: Count Your Many Blessings
Scripture Reading: Philippians 4:6-7 (Read and discuss or copy down into journals)
Thanksgiving Poetry: Read some of these fun poems and maybe even write your own.
Thankful Senses: Share one thing for each sense for which you are grateful. For example, I am grateful for the smell of roses in the summer, the warmth of hot cocoa on a cold day, etc.
Thankful verses: Use a concordance or google and find out how many verses in the Bible talk about thankfulness. Based on that number, talk about how important thankfulness is for Christians.
Sibling Gratitude: Make a card or craft for your sibling and tell them why you are thankful for them. If you do not have a sibling, choose another family member.
Thankful Acrostic Poem: Create your own or print this free template
Tell a Friend: Make a point to tell a friend why you are thankful for them. You can tell them, send them a card, or call them on the phone.
Hymn Study: Come Ye Thankful People Come
Thankful Colors: Share things for which you are thankful using as many colors as you can. For example, I am thankful for green grass, red apples, and blue water.
Thankful Photos: Using a camera or your phone, take turns taking photos of things for which you are grateful. These can be turned into a collage or viewed as a slide show.
Scripture Reading: Psalm 7:17 (Read and discuss or copy down into journals)
Make cards or a small homemade gift for the staff or volunteers at your church to thank them for serving the Lord.
Thank You, Jesus: Write a letter/prayer to Jesus telling him how thankful you are for all he has done for us.
Show your gratitude for all of your blessings by doing something nice for someone else. Rake a neighbor’s yard, take can goods to the food pantry, do a sibling’s chore, etc.
Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 16:34 (Read and discuss or copy down into journals)
Make a thank you card for a local public servant ( trash collector, firefighter, police officer, etc )
Thankful I Spy Game: Play the I spy game but use things for which you are thankful. For example, I might pick the dishwasher because I am thankful that it makes cleaning our kitchen easier.
Create placemats or a placeholder for each person joining you for Thanksgiving dinner. Share what makes you grateful for them on the placemat. (You can use construction paper or buy these inexpensive paper ones.)
Read a Thanksgiving Book (If you need suggestions, you can check out this post for a great list.)
Thankful Neighbors: Make a card or bake cookies for your neighbors. Take them over and tell them how thankful you are to have them as neighbors.
Make Gratitude Journals to help keep this habit of gratitude throughout the year.

Gratitude Challenge Printable

Thanksgiving Resources Posts

Hymn Study: We Gather Together

A Month of Thanksgiving and Praise!

November Hymn Study: Count Your Blessings

Thanksgiving Resources Round-Up

Thanksgiving Books and Celebrations

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.

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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.

Deals and Freebies

One of my favorite Amazon sales, just in time for Christmas shopping! Buy 2 Get 1 Free Books!

Tuttle Twins has a great Veteran’s Day sale happening 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!

Thanksgiving Books and Celebrations

One of our favorite ways to celebrate various holidays is through books! Thanksgiving is a great one for books because there are so many wonderful books that look at Thanksgiving from various perspectives and topics. You can read books about the Pilgrims and Native Americans, books about the first Thanksgiving, books about gratitude, books about modern-day Thanksgiving, and fictional books that teach lessons about being thankful.

How to Use Books in Your Celebration

We use books in various ways, including having them set out as part of our seasonal decorations. This often sparks the interest of the children, and I find them reading the books that we have displayed. I can also pull from the display whenever we need a read-aloud for the family. *Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links; see below for more information. * Thanksgiving Books

For my kindergartner, we are using these books as part of his reading curriculum and doing various seasonal activities to expand upon them. For example, we might read a book about turkeys, make a turkey craft, and sing some turkey songs. Another week we may choose a book about pilgrims or gratitude. We will definitely spend a week on Cranberry Thanksgiving doing various activities that we find, as well as using some of the ones from Five in a Row. (Stay tuned for a post specifically on Cranberry Thanksgiving soon.)

Thanksgiving Books for Older Students

For my older children, we enjoy finding chapter books or more detailed picture books that relate to the holidays and allowing that to be their reading assignment for the week. Thanksgiving on Thursday is a good choice for elementary students. You could also use Samuel Eaton’s Day for a compare and contrast with Tapenum’s Day or Sarah Morton’s Day.

Quality Time with Books

We also really enjoy spending time together enjoying a book and a snack. Sometimes a specific snack that relates to the book, and sometimes something as simple as a store-bought cookie and a glass of milk. For example, we make cranberry bread when we read Cranberry Thanksgiving. Baking together is always fun, but don’t let that be a stumbling block. Using a boxed mix can still make memories. What are your favorite ways to incorporate books into your holiday celebrations? Any great Thanksgiving books that I should add to my list

Thanksgiving Book List:

Cranberry Thanksgiving The Very First Thanksgiving Day Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks Arthur’s Thanksgiving The Squirrels’ Thanksgiving Oh, What a Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving on Thursday Happy Thanksgiving, Curious George Samuel Eaton’s Day Thanksgiving Poems Tapenum’s Day Sarah Morton’s Day Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims

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 new things 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

f my favorite Amazon sales, just in time for Christmas shopping! Buy 2 Get 1 Free Books!

Tuttle Twins has a great Veteran’s Day sale happening 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!

Hymn Study: We Gather Together

We should practice gratitude and thankfulness all year, but I think November is a great time to refocus ourselves on gratitude. When I was thinking of hymns, I wanted one that reminded me to be thankful and encouraged us as we celebrated Thanksgiving. We Gather Together was written in the early 1600s, by an unknown Dutch author, and first published in 1624 by Adrian Valerius. When it was written it was used to celebrate the freedom of the Netherlands from Spanish rule. However, Theodore Baker translated the text into English in 1894 and called it a “Prayer of Thanksgiving.” While it may have started as a song about the Netherlands independence, it is seen now as a song celebrating the Church seeking God’s help and thanking Him for His presence in the pursuit of victory over evil.

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

We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing;
he chastens and hastens his will to make known;
the wicked oppressing now cease from distressing:
sing praises to his name; he forgets not his own.

This song is a great reminder that we should gather together with friends and family as well as our church congregations to give thanks to God. As you learn about this hymn, I have included free copywork and a hymn study worksheet to help guide your study. There are also a variety of different versions of this song linked in the resources, so you can listen and pick your favorite style. In addition to studying this hymn during your school time, it would be a great hymn to listen to as you gather with friends and family for Thanksgiving. There are also a variety of scripture references related to this song listed here. We enjoy reading over those together and sometimes choosing one as a memory verse. If you wanted more copywork, you could also use the Bible verses as copywork.

I also am excited to share with you that we are collaborating with Nana from You Are An Artist Chalk Pastels who is doing a great painting to go along with this hymn tomorrow. This is a fun way to engage your little artists in hymn study or your musicians in art. To check out the art lesson from You Are An Artist Chalk Pastels you need to be a You Are An Artist Clubhouse Member! This brand new lesson is included in the You Are An Artist Clubhouse membership.

Hymn Study Resources:

We Gather Together (kids singing)

We Gather Together (guitar)

We Gather Together (bluegrass)

We Gather Together (Hymn Story)

Download Your Freebies Below!

Hymn Study Fact Sheet

We Gather Together (November Copywork)

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

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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!

Channie’s Visual Handwriting and Math (Review)

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When we were preparing for him to start Kindergarten a couple of months ago my five-year-old informed me that he knew how to write the letter B for Benjamin and did not need any more letters. I did not push the issue and decided that he would learn when he was ready. While he was not interested in sitting down and learning his letters with any traditional means, he enjoys more creative outlets like clay, sand, and dry erase markers. Knowing how much he likes dry erase markers I was excited to let him try Channie’s Dry Erase Flashcard For Alphabet & Number by Channie’s Visual Handwriting & Math workbooks. In addition, he loves math and numbers and we were able to check out their math workbook: Neat Numbers.

When we received these products my son was very eager to try out the dry erase flash cards. For him, any excuse to use markers is a good one. For me, any program that will help him enjoy learning his letters is a win. This product was great because it included shaded blocks to help him maintain size uniformity, and dotted examples for him to trace and blank blocks for him to write independently. I really appreciated the fact that they were small and easy to finish even with a short attention span and developing fine motor skills. Depending on his desire to work on them, we could take just a couple of minutes and do one letter or he could work on four or five different letters or numbers in a sitting if he was enjoying it and staying focused.

The Neat Numbers workbook has three different types of pages working on neat numbers as well as basic math facts. The first type of page allows them to trace the number multiple times. The second type of pages gives them an example and allows them to write the number independently into each block. As the learner progresses through the book, they reach pages which have basic addition and subtraction facts that they solve and write the number into the block. Those pages progress from facts with pictures to numbers only and eventually blank squares where they could write their own facts.

My son was doing very well with the tracing pages but is still working on using the blocks to help him with uniformity and sizing for his numbers. I found that sometimes there were so many blocks on a page that we needed to split it up into more than one session for him to focus and do his best on each practice.

If you have a student that is struggling with handwriting and needs more assistance, these and the other great products offered by Channies may be just the solution you have been looking for. The extra guides and colored shading can offer the support needed to make them successful. Other Review Crew families reviewed these and other Channies products so be sure to click on the graphic below to check out their reviews.

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An Adventure Inside an Adventure

Our family recently had the opportunity to spend a couple of days camping in the mountains between two scheduled trips to our state fair. We had lots of fun adventures and I am planning several Field Trip Friday posts about that trip, but today I want to talk about another part of our trip. Our adventures through three different books while we were on our trip. We listened to two books on audio while we were traveling and read another one aloud at our camp site. (If you have not tried Audible, you are missing out on a great way to get more reading into your life.)

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I love that books can give us a family adventure while we ride and I enjoy watching the children make connections to the book as we go throughout our days. On this trip, the first book we listened to was My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George. This book is about the adventures of a boy named Sam that leaves home to live by himself on a mountain. He learns how to make fire, build a home in a tree, find food, hunt, and more. They loved hearing all of his adventures and the fact that we were on our way to the mountains made it even better. At our campsite and as we hiked, they would talk about what Sam might have done. They looked at the trees and wondered what it would have been like to hollow one out and create a home. They found streams of water for bathing and cooking. They found rocks that could be used as shelters and wondered if the plants we found were edible. We are actually doing a unit study on this book so I will be sharing more in a couple of weeks but know that everyone in the family enjoyed this book. The children have all asked that we listen to the sequels soon.

Goldtown

While we were at the campsite we read Jem’s Frog Fiasco . This is the second book in the Goldtown Beginnings Series. I will be doing a full review of both this book and the first one in the series soon but I had to mention them because everyone enjoyed listening to them. They are designed for young children and are perfect for my five-year-old. However, the bigger children listened without complaint and wanted to me to keep reading. They tell of the adventures of two young siblings and their parents as they live and play in a California gold camp town. The book had my son looking for gold along the mountain lake near our camp site. He enjoyed it so much that we are looking into taking him to a mining museum to learn more and try his hand at gold mining.

Finally, on the way home we listened to The Last Archer. The story is a side story in the wonderful Green Ember series. We love this series by S.D. Smith and all of the adventure and excitement that he includes. The series is about “rabbits with swords”. It tells the story of groups of rabbits who are coming together to fight the “Lords of Prey”, create a mended wood, and put the rightful heir to throne back into place. We had gotten a little behind on listening to the series but the last book is coming out in the spring of 2020 so we are getting caught up so we will be ready for that book when it is launched. These books have so much to offer in the way of good versus evil, bravery, compassion, and more. I would say they are ideal for the upper elementary and middle school age group, but my five-year-old enjoys listening to them as well.

Whether you are traveling or at home, books can be a great way to have a family adventure. They give children shared experiences, positive role models, fun stories, and fuel for the imagination. How do you use books and stories in your family? What are some of your favorite book adventures?

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Deals and Freebies

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)

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.

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

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!

Excelerate SPANISH (Review)

My eighth grader and I had been discussing a four-year high school plan for him, and he decided that he wanted to learn Spanish for his foreign language requirement. We had been planning to wait until next year to begin, but when we were offered the opportunity to review Excelerate SPANISH Streaming from Excelerate SPANISH he decided that it would be a good idea give it a try and become more familiar with Spanish before high school.

While I took several years of Spanish in both high school and college, many years of not using it meant that I had forgotten much of what I once knew. Therefore, I was excited about a program that utilized steaming videos and would not be very parent intensive. In addition to utilizing spoken and written words, this program uses a system called Total Physical Response (TPR). Per their website, “Studies in brain functionality and linguistics show that TPR facilitates foreign language acquisition for all age groups. TPR activates various motor cortices of the brain, making it easier to learn Spanish than you’d ever thought possible!” This system is most simply described as adding motions to each word to help you remember the words.

We received both level 1 and level 2 and my son is utilizing level 1. In level one each lesson consists of a 30-45 minute video class. In looking over the videos in level 2, it is set up similarly but the videos are a bit longer, ranging from about 40-60 minutes. They also include more conjugation practice. The lessons introduce Spanish vocabulary in a story format. So, at the beginning of each lesson the teacher introduces all of the vocabulary needed for a story by telling you the words, writing the words on the whiteboard, and teaching movements to go with the words. Then she begins to put them together to tell a story. For example, in the first lesson the story was about a man who was waiting for a bus, he waiting a long time before getting frustrated and using a taxi.

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My son really enjoyed how she used the stories and motions to practice the new vocabulary. However, he felt that it went too fast and he needed to watch a lesson multiple times before achieving mastery. We were watching a lesson each week but after the second lesson we realized that he really needed to watch the same lesson multiple times so we went back to lesson one and watched it a couple of times. He liked the concept and enjoyed the program but I do not know that we will be able to finish an entire course in a year’s time based on the need to watch each lesson multiple times. I am hoping that as he gets more familiar with the format and his Spanish vocabulary increases, it will be easier to pick up on the new vocabulary.

There are optional workbooks that are available to go with this program. The program can be used as a stand-alone program without the workbooks, but personally I think that if you were using the program for high school credit, you would need the workbooks to round out the program.

If you have a student who learns best through movement or needs material presented in multiple formats (auditory, written, and kinesthetic) this might be a great fit. Keep in mind that it moves very fast in each lesson but with the streaming format you have the ability to re-watch lessons as often as you need to for mastery. Be sure to click the graphic below to check out the other Crew Reviews to learn more about their experience with Excelerate SPANISH Streaming.

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Smartick Math Program (Review)

When the request came out for reviewers for the Smartick math program, we were just getting back into the swing of school and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to add another program to the list. However, signed up for the free trial and let my daughter give a try. She stayed up way too late that night trying the program and was very quick to let me know she wanted in on this review. She was thrilled when she found out that she was going to get the chance to use Smartick on a regular basis, even though math is not her favorite subject.

Smartick recommends using the program about 15 minutes a day four to five times per week. Each day they give the student an assignment that takes about 15 minutes, in addition there are competitions that the child can choose to participate in to practice those skills and earn points, called “ticks”. Each user also has a virtual house that they can decorate. As they earn ticks, they can spend them to buy things for their character or house. In addition, as they reach a certain number of ticks their house changes and new amenities are added. For example, my daughter is really excited that she has almost earned enough ticks to get the house with a swimming pool.

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When I asked my daughter how she felt about the program after having used if for about a month she said, ” I love the program and how you can earn ticks and get things to decorate your house. The wishing well is really cool. I wished for a swimming pool and after I wished they showed me a button. It told me that after you got a certain amount of ticks you could get a house with a pool. I like how there are lessons that teach you things and also competitions that you can do to try and earn ticks, if you win. There is also a thing where you can get friends and you can see their house, get them presents, and see how many ticks they have. There is also a button in the middle where you can play games when you first log-in for the day you have to do a session and then you can decide what to do after your session is done. ”

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When I asked her what she had learned from the program or how it had helped her, she said that the competitions had really helped her build speed with her multiplication facts.

I love that this program has made my daughter enjoy doing math. She is really motivated to earn the ticks and almost every day she has spent more time than required, sometimes as much as an hour, working on the program in order to earn more ticks. As a parent another component of this program that I appreciate is that each day they send me an e-mail that tells me how she did during her 15-minute session. It gives information on the types of problems, percentage correct, and speed of completion. This makes it very easy for me to know that she is staying on track or catch any problems early.

Smartick Picture 1 — An example of one of the daily e-mails.

In addition to the e-mails, I can log into my parent dashboard and view lots of additional information. I can see a calendar of which days she completed a session, how she did on each session, a break down of the exact problems that she completed, any questions she has asked the wishing well, how many ticks she has earned, and how she has spent ticks. This makes it very easy to monitor her progress.

My only real concern with this program is the friends program. As a family our children are not allowed to have online friends that we do not have a personal connection with. On this program, anyone can request to be friends with any other user. We made the decision to have our daughter not accept friend request except for a few from children of other Review Crew families. She honored this request and we did not have any problems but I had to depend on her honesty in that policy. The friends feature also did not share very personal information but did allow them to see into the virtual house and see their ticks.

If you are looking for a way to get your student to willing spend time practicing math facts and concepts, a subscription to Smartick might just be the answer to your problems. In just 15 minutes a day your child can increase speed and accuracy while having fun with math. Be sure to check out the other Crew Reviews by clicking on the link below!