My Tummy Team Experience!

This review is outside of my normal blogging scope, but it is a product that I feel passionate about because I’ve seen it change lives. For years after I became a mom, I assumed that the weakness in my core and pelvic floor was just part of being a mom. It was a sacrifice I was willing to make, but I hated that I couldn’t do some of the things I wanted to do with my children. I’d tried abdominal exercises (crunches, machines, etc.), but they didn’t fix the problem. I think the final straw for me was when I tried to do an elementary physical education course with my children and could not because of my weak pelvic floor.

What Can I Do?

I got on the computer and started searching trying to find something that would help. I am so grateful that those searches helped me find, The Tummy Team. Once I found the Tummy Team, I was able to identify the problems that I was having and found out that there was help available. The Tummy Team is a physical therapy program that helps to strengthen the core and pelvic floor.

They offer in-person programs. However, they are located across the country for me. Luckily they also have online programs that can be done from the comfort of your own home. In addition, once you purchase one of their online programs, you also receive access to their wonderful Facebook group, which is great for answering your questions and providing support in a safe environment.

What Worked for Me

Once I started on the Core Foundations program, I was shocked and saddened to learn that many of the exercises I had been doing to try and build up my core strength were actually making the problem worse. I like many other moms, have a Diastasis Recti, and crunches and planks were only making the problem worse.

However, by following the physical therapy and exercises provided in the program, I saw a noticeable improvement in my core strength within just a few weeks. In addition, I found that my lower back pain was greatly improved as well. I had unknowingly used my back muscles to compensate for my weak core.

I am finishing the Prenatal Crash Course to review what I regularly need to do and to ensure that I utilize my core in the best way possible during labor and delivery. This class also provides some guidance on postpartum recovery. If you have not been through the foundations course and are pregnant, I recommend the full Prenatal Core Training.

What Resources Do They Offer?

They also have a blog and some great free resources to help you get started or identify any problems. I know this is a sensitive subject for many people, and it can feel overwhelming, but I highly encourage you to take the time to check it out and take back your core strength. The prices are very reasonable especially compared to going through an in-person physical therapy program. If you have questions, please feel free to e-mail me or contact me through the messenger feature on Facebook. I am more than happy to answer any questions that I can about my experience with this program.

Resource and Referral Library

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

Resource Library

This post may contain affiliate or referral links. 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.

Lifegiving Table Chapter 14

Table-Discipleship Principle: ” Learning to see ourselves as people who reach out and meet the needs of others, everywhere, all the time, is at the heart of a lifegiving ministry.”

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I hope that you have gleaned some great information and seen changes in your home as a result of reading this book. While we still have much work to do in our home, I love the positive changes that I have seen as a result of implementing some of the many ideas. Making a few simple changes, such as planning ahead for Sunday breakfast and lunch and being intentional about our meal time conversations has paid big dividends. I also really appreciated the reminders that the seemingly insignificant things that we do for our families each day really do make a difference.

” I know that for me to keep my marriage alive and growing, to invest in my friendships, and to pass on a legacy of faith, mentoring, focused love and training in the lives of my children, I have to plan my time carefully and make sure there is room in my schedule for what matters most___ my people!”

This is an area that I’ve been working on and will continue to work on. There are so many things going on in my life right now and I can easily get bogged down in all of the tasks that are waiting for me. I have to be very intentional about setting aside time for my family and my friends. I feel like over the course of this book I’ve gotten better about scheduling that time with my husband and my children. My goal moving forward is to continue to strengthen those relationships while also making more time for investing in friendships. I have some wonderful people in my life and I need to cultivate those relationships in order to grow and flourish. Knowing that Sally is writing from a life that is much different than mine, but similar in that it is very full with many different tasks and people help make it seem so much more achievable. Sometimes I read books and it feels like they think I can just magically make the other responsibilities go away. However, I felt that what Sally was suggesting was much more like the story of filling a jar. Put your big rocks in and then the smaller stuff so that you don’t fill your days with the small stuff and have no room for the big stuff.

Making time for God each day is one of those important things that needs to be prioritized in our day. It is so easy to get into the day and take care of all of the urgent needs of those around us and forget to make time to fellowship with him. We have been implementing a quiet time routine for my older two children as well as myself and it has been so helpful in me being consistent. I know I may have to be a bit flexible when the new baby arrives but continue to prioritize that time, so that I have what I need to continue to give and meet the needs of my family.

She begins the chapter with a quote from one of my favorite authors. “Eating and reading are two pleasures that combine admirably.” C.S. Lewis. If you know me or have been reading the blog for very long, you probably realize that I enjoy both of those pleasures and sharing them with my children. They love to snuggle up on the couch with a treat and some hot cider and listen to me read aloud or gather around the table for our poetry tea times. In our area the weather is supposed to get quite cold and yucky again so I’m planning some warm times and good memories tonight with a new book and a sweet treat.

What is a time every day when you can schedule time with God?

Place anchors in your week that bring you delight, comfort, and pleasure.

What do you need in order to keep your body going in a healthy way?

What can you read that might give you great stories to fill your soul?

There was a long list of things to try at the end of this chapter. I do not suggest that you try them all at once because for most people that would be overwhelming and lead to burnout. However, I encourage you to choose a few that you can implement in your life and see how it strengthens you and your family. I have decided to make the four ideas above the ones that we focus on first. If those are going well, I may revisit and try to add a few more. I’m being intentional in small things, like daily quiet time, drinking lots of water to keep my body healthy, reading books not just for learning but also for pleasure, and putting anchors into our week to bring delight and keep my priorities in check.

It would be a blessing to me for you to share in the comments how this book and study has influenced your life and family. I’ll be taking a few months off from formal book study group for the upcoming arrival of our new baby, but hoping to start a new book in the spring so stay tuned! If you are looking for book suggestions to keep you reading, check out My 2018 Book List.

Resource Library

This post may contain affiliate or referral 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.

Civil War Medicine and an Iron Clad Ship

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This was our first real week back to school and history from the holidays. The break was nice but we (or at least I) were ready to be back in our routine. We started off history with a field trip to one of our state historic sites, the CSS Neuse, a confederate ironclad that was salvaged from the river in the 1960s. If you live nearby, I highly recommend this trip. It was very informative, fun, and affordable.

We started the time there with three demonstration stations. At one station, they learned about spinning wheels and weaving, at one station Civil War medicine, and at the third they were able to learn all about local battles and how railroads and ports played an important role in the war.

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One thing the children found really interesting about the Civil War medicine presentation was that the basic surgeical tools used then are remarkably similar to some of the tools still in use today. However, modern medical techniques greatly increase battlefield survivability. More importantly, the understanding and control of infection is vastly better today and makes a huge difference in survival rates.

After the demonstrations, the children each received a scavenger hunt to help guide them through the museum and learn more about the CSS Neuse and the Civil War. This was a fun way to learn in a more self-guided manner. The remains of the ship are preserved in the museum and really neat to see. They also have a full size replica that is across the street and helps people get a better idea of what it would have looked like during the war. There was information about the ship itself, various battles, life during the war and other relevant topics presented on display boards with artifacts, models, and videos.

Once they completed the scavenger hunt, they had a chance to work on a small weaving project using a cardboard loom. It was a great way to finish up the trip and leave them wanting to learn more. We are hoping to go back and a spend a day learning more about the fiber arts aspect of the time period, an unexpected bonus for what was intended as a military history trip.

This was a great way to kick start our studies and a field trip I highly recommend to those in this area. If you are not local they have some resources on the website you can use to get more information virtually and there are other great Civil War historic sites listed on the National Parks website or many of the websites for various states.

Next week we are working on a timeline of the Civil War and learning more about some of the battles. The children will work together to complete the free printable timeline project found here. Then they will each choose a battle, or campaign, to learn more about and present to the family. To help them with their research I have found several sites that have good information. The National Parks Service and this Ducksters timeline which is geared more towards children. In addition we may use the World Book online resources that are included with our Schoolhouse Teachers membership.

What Civil War field trips have you enjoyed? Please let us know in the comments. Don’t forget we have a list of Civil War resources in the free resource library.

Resource Library

Homesteading Homeschool

In today’s modern, Amazon Prime, on-demand society we’ve grown accustomed to having virtually any good or commodity delivered to our homes with just a swipe. This level of convenience shelters the consumer from the realities of production, supply, distribution, and the quantity of work that goes into getting these products to us. I feel it’s important to understand, especially for our children, that meat doesn’t come from the back of a grocery store. That carrots and potatoes grow in the dirt and human hands picked every tomato we eat. That every blueberry, strawberry, apple, mango, peach, ect is kissed by a bee as a flower.

There is something vaguely romantic, at least in the platonic sense, of living off the land, raising your own food, surviving on your own. Our ancestors called it living

While we certainly do not live on a huge farm and live self-sufficiently,(and I use and love Amazon Prime for many things) we have been blessed with a few acres on which to create our own small ‘homestead’ and we often use the land and the skills to help in our homeschool. This year I’m planning to have a monthly post that discusses some aspect of our experience and how we are using it to support our homeschool goals.

20160322_101956 — School is for the birds!

Over the course of the year I’ll talk about our chickens, 4-H livestock projects, gardening, canning and other endeavors. We believe that these activities benefit our family not only in the obvious tangible ways like eggs and fresh produce. They provide our children with opportunities to better understand the world around them and the science behind how things grow. They understand where their food comes from and the sacrifices made to provide the food that is on the table. They are learning responsibility and dedication. My son has learned business skills as he sells his extra eggs to friends and family. There are so many things to learn by being hands on and providing for our family.

One of our other adventures that has been a learning process for all of us is bee keeping. I’ll talk about why we chose bee keeping, how it helps our homestead, our family, and our schooling. I’ve seen my son really engage in the bee keeping and take such great responsibility for tending the hives and helping with honey extraction.

In addition to our outside ‘homesteading’, I’ll talk a little about the way we use cooking and handicrafts like weaving to add to our lives and our schooling. My daughter just received a loom for Christmas and is working on her new skills and anxious to contribute some great things to our home.

Each of these topics are simple ways which we hope to instill a fundamental understanding of the ‘work’ that goes into our convenience based lives. If you are reading this and thinking that it all sounds great but you don’t have enough land or time I want to encourage you to keep reading the posts. Each month I’ll include simple ways to incorporate some of these ideas even if you do not have land or lots of time. I learned the hard way that it is much better to start small and add one thing at a time so that you do not get overwhelmed. One of our favorite resources is 4H and I encourage you to see what is offered in your area.

I look forward to sharing with you and would love to hear what ideas you might have for incorporating homesteading into your homeschool. Share in the comments what you would love to learn more about.

Books and Resources:

Mushrooms

Ball Complete Guide to Canning

Backyard Homestead

Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

Seed to Seed

Planting Guide (this is the one for my area but your local cooperative extension will have one for your area as well).

Backyard Chickens (this site has a wealth of information about raising chickens)

Resource Library

Homeschool Homestead Posts

Our Livestock Show

Homestead Homeschool: Our 4-H Goat

Homesteading Homeschool: Our 4H Pig

The Lifegiving Table Chapter 13

celebrating Life

Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:46-47 (NIV)

I’ve read this passage many times over the years but I love how Sally talks about wanting her home and her table to reflect that passage. Our table can be a place of fellowship and praise; believers breaking bread together with glad hearts. I long for my table to be a place where people can gather and be glad. I know that it will never be a place of perfect peace and harmony as I’m raising children. However, I love the idea of working towards creating that environment so that it is a place where we feel connected and nourished both physically and spiritually.

Sally states, ” Having deep meaningful relationships is not just a pleasant addition to our lives, but an element essential to our identities.” There was a time in my life when I let things get so busy that I was not taking time to cultivate deep relationships. I had ‘friends’ and acquaintances but I was not spending time developing those relationships. Between work, mothering, volunteering, and other obligations I felt I barely had time for those under my own roof. If I am not careful, I can still fall into those patterns at times. I have learned that making time for those relationships is vital to my overall well being. God created us to be in relationship, first with Him but also with others. This does not mean that I have to go ‘hang out’ with my friends every day or neglect my family or my duties. However, I do need to take time to cultivate relationships both with-in my home and in the community. This can be as simple as inviting a mom and children over for a play date and tea or gathering at the park with friends.

She also says, “Friends give us strength as we walk through life.” This statement is so very true and I have been blessed with some of the very best. God led me to a group of ladies in college that remain faithful in my life. We have laughed together, cried together, and stayed close through marriages, babies, international moves and more. In addition to those ladies with whom I have daily contact but only get to see annually or semi-annually God has blessed me with other local friends that can comfort me when I’m upset, set me straight when I over react, and praise God with me in the good times. I pray that I can be their strength as well. We know that our ultimate strength comes from the Lord but I believe that he uses our friends to help us along the way.

I really connected with the section on helping one another where she talks about having friends and family who are instrumental in a child’s faith. She says, “all of us stand for this legacy of faith.” The Bible clearly gives parents the responsibility for raising their children in the Lord. However, having family and friends that can help us on this path is so important. We have been blessed with an extended family that helps us to guide our children as well as great friends. Several years ago we became part of American Heritage Girls and Trail Life. Those organizations have provided us with several such families and examples for our children. In a world where we often feel like we are swimming upstream against the culture, it is amazing to have other examples of Godly men and women in our children’s lives. Those men and women reinforce what we are already teaching our children about living Godly lives.

As we close this chapter I encourage you to consider one of her ideas in your own home. Whether that is asking discussion questions around your table or inviting someone or a group of people over for a friendship tea. Even having a few friends over for lemonade and cookies while the children play can strengthen your friendship. We have one last chapter next week to wrap up this study. I have enjoyed going through the book and sharing with everyone. I hope that it has made an impact on your lives as it has with mine. If you have tried anything or made any changes in your home and are willing to share I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

Resource Library

This is a great FREE challenge to help get some of that energy out inside even during this crazy weather. Lots of new activities and several age levels to choose from.

A Quick History Update

It feels like it has been awhile since I updated you on Our Journey Through History. We have had a nice extended holiday break that included a snow storm and my daughter’s birthday. However, we did get some history done during break and are jumping into the Civil War this month.

Over break we enjoyed watching Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier as a review of our study of the Alamo. There are obviously some fictional aspects of this film but it is a great way to spark discussion about the events surrounding the Alamo and the expansion of the United States. We listened to O Henry’s Christmas story, Injunction part of a radio theater presentation by Focus on the Family, Traveling Home for Christmas. This was a fun story that gave some insight into life during the California Gold Rush.

We also enjoyed molasses cake with apple sauce from an Oregon Trail recipe. We did have to adapt the recipe as it was far too loose as written, so we doubled the flour to get the right consistency. It was a tasty treat.

As we begin our study of the Civil War and try to get back into a normal routine, we did a K-W-L chart about the Civil War and have several field trips planned. If you are unfamiliar with a K-W-L chart you simply make a three-column form. The K you list all of the things you ‘Know’ about the subject. Under the ‘W’ you list the things you want to know about the subject. This can help you as you are covering broad topics to include those things the children are interested in learning. When you have finished the study, go back and put the things that you ‘Learned’ under the ‘L’.

I was surprised to realize that they both had an interest in Civil War medicine. This was not an area I had originally planned to focus on but given their interest, we will be including several activities to learn more about that aspect of the war.

If you have not yet gotten your resource list for this month remember to check the free resource library. We would love to hear what books or resources you like to use when studying the American Civil War.

Also check our free resource library with history freebies, recipes, and more!

Resource Library

A Few Freebies and Deals This Month!

I’m pretty excited about this new app and its on sale for 25% off right now! We love All About Spelling but this app gives us so much flexibility to take our work and practice on the road and not have to worry about losing the tiles. Check out AALP Letter Tile App today!

Apologia is having a huge store wide stock up sale! Great time to buy if you want to change curriculum for next year or if you are looking to switch things up this semester.

Free Daily Writing Prompts for Elementary or Teens Write Shop is offering free daily writing prompts to help make teaching writing just a little easier.

Write Shop is also having some great sales and giveaways for their 17th birthday this month! 17% off and a free gift when you use code 17years.

Schoolhouse Teachers is having a huge Jan. Sale. A full annual membership for only $90 for your whole family. I have a complete review of this program coming on Monday but we are excited to be using a preschool class for Benjamin, several resources to help in our history, and possibly one of the health classes for the older children.

Struggling with memorizing those multiplication tables? Educents has Times Tales almost half off right now! They also have the complete learn to read Hooked on Phonics set at over half off right now. This is a slightly newer version than what we used but Hooked on Phonics was the program that finally taught my daughter to read.

This is a great FREE challenge to help get some of that energy out inside even during this crazy weather. Lots of new activities and several age levels to choose from.

Schoolhouse Teachers

When I started reviewing SchoolhouseTeachers.com and their Yearly Membership one of the areas that I was most interested in was the Preschool Playground. I’m a firm believer that most of a young child’s learning is done through play. However, as a busy homeschooling mom of three (soon to be 4) children and a small business owner, I also know that I need a little help in being intentional about providing opportunities and constructive play. My three-year-old also thinks that he should do everything the older two children do and that includes ‘doing school’. I love how there are so many different resources available to meet a variety of needs.

Sensory Science

The course we plan to start implementing next week is a course called Small-World Sensory Science. This course is twelve lessons (we will work on one lesson per week) on various science topics including oceans, sorting, gardening, and more. Each lesson includes an introduction or activity that you can lead with your child, and then sensory activities that they can engage in throughout the week.

This gentle laid back but engaging approach is perfect for the season that we are in as a family. I can easily set up the week in just a few minutes using mostly materials we already have available. It took me about 5 minutes to get together everything I needed to be ready to start next week and it was all materials we already had on hand around the house.

20180102_111806 — He loved helping me get his stuff ready for school next week. It all fits nicely into his tub.

Charlotte Mason Preschool

I’m also very interested in the Charlotte Mason Preschool class. I love the way it is broken down into various topics. This will allow me to pick and choose what I want to use as we are dealing with those topics in life and with my older children’s nature study.

I’m particularly interested in using the Snow and Ice unit if we happen to get some winter weather this year. Living in Eastern North Carolina, some years we get snow and ice, and some years we do not.

Middle Grades Resources

I also have a middle schooler that has been working more and more on independent research. It can be so hard to find safe and appropriate resources for him. I love the subscription to World Book that comes with the Schoolhouse Teachers Annual Subscription.

It also includes some really nice timelines that are pre-done as well as the chance for them to build their own timelines. I am hoping this will really help us as we work our way through history.

Video Library

Another resource that I’m very excited about it the video library. There are some great videos for any subject. The two series I’m most excited about are the Drive Thru History videos and the Torchlighter videos. We have seen some of the Torchlighter videos which feature various missionaries and the children love them and are looking forward to watching more of them.

There are so many options available and I love that we can try something and if it is not working for our family, I can simply stop and switch to a different class or I can pick and choose lessons to supplement some of the work that we are already doing. I also love that they have options available from preschool all the way through high school. Right now I have a middle school student, an elementary student, and a preschooler with a baby due in February. This means that in a couple of years I will have a child in every area and it’s so nice to have the flexibility of finding courses for each one in the same program and for one low annual cost.

**Update for 2019**

We are still loving using the classes at Schoolhouse Teachers. My son is now also using one of the 7th-grade literature programs and it is working so well for our family that my daughter is planning on switching to a similar course next year. Having so many courses available to us allows us to change things up as needed without any wasted money.

Also check our free resource library with history freebies, recipes, and more!

Resource Library

Monthly Lego Challenge!

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I know that many of our children love to build with Lego’s and they enjoy sharing their hard work. So I’ve decided that I’m going to do a monthly Lego challenge in 2018. Each month will have a different broad theme. The child can build their own creation or use a kit to meet that theme. If you have little ones who want to participate duplos or mega blocks are welcome as well. This is not a competition but a chance for every child to do their best and have their work showcased on the blog. I will announce the theme for the month at the beginning of the month.

You can e-mail me or place you pictures in the Facebook post for that months challenge. I’ll compile all of the pictures and share them in a blog post each month. With your picture I would love to have you share your child’s first name and age as well as the ‘title’ of their project. I will put this in the caption of the photo when I share. For example my son would have Matthew, age 11 ‘Tryon Palace’.

I hope that this is a great way for them to be able to share their hard work and get creative ideas from others. Please feel free to share this post or the Facebook post to get others involved.

Our theme for January will be ‘Outside’. This could be anything from outside, a scene, an animal, or an object. Please let me know if you have any questions. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone’s projects. I will place a Facebook post up asking for pictures on the last Monday of the month and have the blog post go live on the 1st day of the next month. So for January the Facebook post will go up on January 29th and the pictures will go on the blog February 1st.

Also check our free resource library with history freebies, recipes, and more!

Resource Library

If you are looking for fun easy ways to keep your kids moving while its cold outside, check out this FREE activity challenge as well.

Three Kings Day or Twelfth Night Celebrations

Growing up in Eastern North Carolina, our annual Christmas celebrations culminated on December 25th. In our family, we typically kept our tree up until around New Year’s Day. Then packed everything away. However, traditionally December 25th was the start of Christmas and not the end of Christmas.

When you think of the ’12 Days of Christmas’ song, December 25th was only the beginning of those twelve days. While I was in high school and college, I began to work with a missions organization and take trips down to Piedras Negras, Mexico. During some of these trips, I happened to be in Mexico for ‘El Dia De Los Reyes’ or Three Kings Day.

It was such a fun celebration with yummy food. Add to that a college roommate whose family celebrated the holiday, and I was officially hooked. While it does not hold the importance of December 25th in our celebrations, it is a holiday that we enjoy.

20171204_190501 — Three Kings Day Cake baked by my daughter for our 4-H project.

Fast forward a few years, and my husband and I became involved in activities at a local historical site. They had an event called ‘Twelfth Night’ that sounded like fun, so we decided to check it out. I was surprised by the similarities between ‘Three Kings Day’ and ‘Twelfth Night.’

Depending on who is celebrating and what historical information you are looking at, it appears that ‘Twelfth Night’ could have been celebrated on January 5th or the 6th. Three Kings Day is on January 6th. Both holidays are celebrated with a special cake. ‘Three Kings Day’ cake is called ‘Rosca de Reyes’ and is a ring-shaped cake with lots of dried fruit. It also contains a special baby doll representative of Baby Jesus hidden inside the cake. The person who finds the baby was to host the next party on February 2nd. Twelfth Night Cake is a sweeter, more European-style cake but also involves things hidden within the cake. A bean and a pea are hidden in the ‘Twelfth Night” cake. The man and woman who finds those become King and Queen for the night.

While we know that the wise men or kings probably did not find Jesus until several years after he was born, this is the day that many churches celebrate them finding Baby Jesus. In honor of that, some cultures that celebrate ‘Three Kings Day’ have a tradition of having children put out shoes with hay for the camels and waking up to find treats in the shoes.

Our family typically enjoys Rosca De Reyes and talks about the Wise Men that found Jesus. We use this as a time to wrap up our holiday celebrations and enjoy a bit of Mexican culture. It is a great time to do a hymn study on ‘We Three Kings‘ or a simple Bible study about what we know about the men who came to worship Christ.

I have included some resources, information below, and a couple of recipes to get you started. Has your family ever celebrated either one of these holidays? Do you enjoy learning more about other cultures and their special days?

Kings Day Recipes

Martha Washington’s Twelfth Night Cake

Rosca de Reyes

Resources:

Dia de Los Reyes

Three Kings Day

Twelfth Night

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library, you will get a link and password; we are adding new items to the library each month. 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!

All About Learning Press has a great giveaway going for a tablet and their awesome app!

$10 off $10 coupon for Evan-Moor Books makes for some great deals or maybe even a freebie!

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!

If you are looking to add some new electives or switch up some of your classes, SchoolhouseTeachers.com is having a great sale.

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

Apologia has a new FREE Christmas/Advent E-book!

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!

Snow School

For some of you, snow is a regular part of winter while many others never see snow. We live in Eastern North Carolina so we do not get a lot of snow. Most years we have a dusting or a bit more at least once. In our house it is tradition to do ‘snow school’ on those days. We cancel regular school and everything focuses on snow. If you live where it doesn’t snow don’t despair, I have some fun ‘snow day’ ideas for you too! *Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. * While I certainly do not worry about covering every subject on our snow school days, I have found that I can incorporate most subjects very easily. One thing we always so is nature study. The snow and the world around us is so beautiful and quiet. We bundle everyone up and go for a nice walk through the woods behind our home. The children look for prints in the snow, neat patterns of snow, animals and anything else they can find. This also gets us out of the house and moving (physical education). Then the children play by pulling each other on sleds (we live in the flat lands), making snowmen, or having snowball fights.

When everyone is ready to come in and warm up we have some great food traditions. My husband makes his famous homemade hot cocoa and we always have a pot of warm potato soup. We also love to make snow cream (which for those unfamiliar is like ice cream made from snow) and have occasionally made maple candy. The maple candy is a fun connection if you are reading or interested in the Little House on the Prairie. 2014-02-12 12.00.01

Another fun outside activity is to ‘paint’ the snow. Take a bit of food dye (we use the plant based ones) and mix into water in spray bottles to achieve your desired colors. Then you just go outside and spray the snow to make cool designs. This works best when the air temperatures are cold enough to allow the colored water to freeze quickly. For a bit of math you can talk about the symmetry and other geometric concepts of snowflakes. We also cut out paper snowflakes for symmetry. I’ve shared some great resources on these concepts in the resource list below. While we typically don’t do much writing on snow school days aside from our nature journals there are some great snow writing prompts available if that is a subject you need to get covered but want to keep thematic. These are also great if you are doing a fake ‘snow day’ in climates that do not typically get real snow. If you are trying to keep the children entertained indoors there are some super fun snow themed art projects. One fun one is this salt dough snowman art. I also found this free snowman chalk pastel video art tutorial from You Are an Artist Chalk Pastels. Once we are all tired out from a day of playing and hiking in the snow, we love to cuddle up some hot cocoa and good books. I’ve included a list of a few of our favorite snow themed ones below. If you do not get snow, there is a recipe for making fake snow for the children to play with and you can do a snow themed day filled with books, food, and snow art.

Resources:

Snowflake Geometry Snow Math (Elementary) Geoboard Snowflakes Winter Writing Prompts (teens) Winter Writing Prompts (elementary) Making Fake Snow Snow Themed Sensory Play Snow Themed Bible Printables Winter Themed Multiplication Winter Themed Easy Readers Hot Chocolate Science Snow Week Resources (including one of our favorite fun snacks, tortilla snowflakes) Snowflake Activities (including several fun edible ones) Snow and Ice Charlotte Mason Preschool Lessons (Note these are not free but are included with a Schoolhouse Teachers membership.)

Snow Themed Books and Movies

Snowy Day (book) Snowy Day (movie)(free for prime members and you can get a free 30 day trial here.) Snowman Paul (Free for Kindle at the time of posting) Katy and the Big Snow Snow Treasure (great chapter book) Three Snow Bears (We love Jan Brett’s books) Boxcar Children Mystery in the Snow (only .99 for Kindle at the time of posting) Boxcar Children Mystery at Snowflake Inn (only .99 for Kindle at the time of posting) The Long Winter (This would make a great read aloud or audio book. if you have not tried audible you can get it free with a 30 day free trial here) Snow Storm Video (This free Amazon prime video shows a snow storm. This would be great for setting the mood if you don’t have any real snow outside. It is not an action movie but a great backdrop.) Snowflake Bentley (Amazon Movie–We have not yet watched this one but have heard great reviews about the book and plan on watching this one when it we need a break from the cold outside. ) Snowflake Bentley (Book)

Also check our free resource library with history freebies, recipes, and more! There is a great winter bucket list that would be fun for a snowy day.

When you sign up for our 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!

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. Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle) Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle) If you’ve not tried SchoolhouseTeachers.com, you don’t want to miss this sale! Journey Homeschool Academy is offering sale if you need a new science program! We love their high school programs and plan to try their elementary astronomy next year.