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

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.

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

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.

excelearte 3

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!

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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.

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

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!

The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls 5& 6 (Book Review)

What do you do when your daughter loves a series that she began last year, even though they are really below her grade level at this point? You agree to review them and let her read them, of course! I love to encourage reading for fun and delight and sometimes that means reading something that is an ‘easy read’ because you want to keep going in a series or because you want to know what happens next. Last year we had the opportunity to review books 3 and 4 in the Secret of the Hidden Scrolls series by WorthyKids Books . This time we had the pleasure of reviewing Secret of the Hidden Scrolls: The Shepherd’s Stone (Book 5) and Secret of the Hidden Scrolls: The Lion’s Roar (Book 6).

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Instead of just my opinion on the books, I thought you might enjoy hearing from my eleven-year-old daughter, Elizabeth.

Tell me about Secret of the Hidden Scrolls: The Shepherd’s Stone (Book 5):

Mary and her brother Peter travel through time back to Bible times and in this book they meet David (the one who fought Goliath) and go with him to the army camp and watch as David fights Goliath. While they are doing that they are trying to solve the mystery of the hidden scroll. This means they must figure out what words are on the scroll because it is in a different language. The message on the scroll in this book is “fear not God is stronger than any problem!” When they say the word it turns into the right word. You have to read to the end to find out if they solve the mystery in time.

Tell me about Secret of the Hidden Scrolls: The Lion’s Roar (Book 6):

The lions roar (which starts each new adventure) takes Mary and Peter back to the story of Daniel in Babylon. They watch as the high priest is trying to get rid of Daniel. They see that Daniel still disobeys the law and prays to God and how he knows God will protect him. Then he gets thrown into the lions den. Mary and Peter look for Daniel and then they get thrown into the den by the high priest who is looking for them because they would not bow down to a statue. Will they escape? You have to read the book to find out! The message in this book is” God is in control”.

What do you like about these books?
I like how they turn a Bible story into a book that is fun and interesting.
Who do you recommend them for?

If you are looking for a way to teach a younger child, ages 6-10, about the Bible and God.
Anything you don’t like about these books?

Not really, I really like them.

From a parent’s perspective, I felt like they did a good job of staying true to the Bible though there are obviously fictionalized components. The book begins in modern times with two siblings staying at their uncle’s house. Since this is not their first adventure they know when they find an old scroll that it is going to take them on a time traveling adventure. Each book takes them into a different Bible story with a new message to solve. At the end of the book there is a section which explains where in the Bible you can read the story and a little about the fictionalization of the story. I think that makes for some great discussions about being sure to understand what is in the Bible itself.

WorthyKids Books recommends this book for first through third grades. I think the story is great for an even wider range, maybe kindergarten through fifth grades read aloud. The independent reading level is probably closer to second or third grade, though a strong first grader may be able to read it. Check out the giveaway that is linked in the image above for a chance to win all seven books! Also, be sure to click on the graphic below to check out what the other Review Crew members thought about these books. Tell me in the comments what Bible story you think the author should turn into the next book in the series.