Weekly Wrap Up: November 2014 {and Notebooking American Girl Books}

by Meghan // December 1, 2014 // Comments off

This month has flown by! Thanksgiving is already over and everyone is prepping for Christmas.

We haven’t had any real weekly updates the last few weeks, because well … we haven’t done a lot of formal schooling. Most everything has been relaxed and theme based. And of course, we spend a lot of time just snuggling Ila. =) I mean, I spend 6 hours a day nursing her, and after every feeding Lexie and Max both request a turn to hold her. So, we school when we can. 😉

Fall Indoor activities {quietinthechaos.com}

Lexie and “Jane Kirsten” having a picnic, building forts, happy baby ila

We worked on some pumpkin activities, which involved Max making his own pumpkin description book. (you can find it at www.ThisReadingMama.com) He really enjoyed it! We are still working on NOT eating the markers … =)

Handwriting Practice and Fine Motor {quietinthechaos.com}

practicing handwriting, coloring with markers, gluing pumpkins in book

We also had our first big snow: (Lexie doesn’t mind the cold if she can play in the snow. Mister refuses to keep his clothes on, so of course he gets “too cold” and needs to come in. haha)

Lexie is still notebooking her way through the Kirsten of American Girl series. She loves doing this and I am so glad she does. I am going to introduce her to a timeline soon. We have been talking about so many things in history lately, and I know it will help her understand something so contrast if she can see a visual. We have two chapters left to notebook, and then we will move on to the next book. I got our blank notebooking pages from notebookingfairy.com. I chose the biography pages, whole punched them, and put in a folder with prongs. We will add to it as we go.

Notebooking “Meet Kirsten”

Last Saturday I was working on some knitting, and Lexie asked if I could show her how to knit. Of course I said yes! I love that my girl wants to sew and knit! So, this is the little progress we made. You may be wondering how I helped a four year old knit- I sat on the edge of my chair, and had her stand between my legs, so I could get my arms around hers. I place my hands over hers, and we just went through the motions. By the end, she knew exactly what to do, although she struggled with the dexterity needed. I have no doubt she will be able to do it herself before long!

We did do lots of reading about Thanksgiving. You can see my post of supplemental books for Thanksgiving HERE (link coming soon). Lexie really enjoyed this and learned lots of new vocabulary from these readings. She has been using the new words every chance she gets!

And then, of course, we had Thanksgiving dinner. Usually we spend Thanksgiving traveling to see family, but this year with Ila being so little we just decided to stay home. It was my first year to cook a real Thanksgiving dinner for my family- we had turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole (from scratch, might I add…) and pecan pie. And of course I am using my turkey bones to make bone broth! As my sweet Lexie said, it was a “real Thanksgiving feast!” She was so funny, she was kinda wiggling around on her seat during dinner, and she says, “I am just wiggling my belly so I can make room for more!” haha She definitely belongs to us!

Between all this I have slowly started back running on the treadmill, and decorating for Christmas. I hope to get you a recipe for that DELICIOUS green bean casserole soon, and an update on our Advent activities. =)

Happy Holidays, and stay warm!

Weekly Wrap Up: 10/17/2014

by Meghan // October 17, 2014 // Comments off

Welcome to weekly wrap-up for the week of October 17, 2014! (Today is actually mine and my husband’s 8 year anniversary! woo hoo) Anyhow- here is a little update on what we accomplished this week.

Lexie (4) worked on her sight words each morning. I have printed out many different “sets” of sight words, which I have laminated. I keep these on a “master” ring, and as I assign them to Lexie, I put them on her own ring. This is something I learned while student teaching under a great Kindergarten teacher. These are words like at, the, am, that, my, you; basically words she will see a lot while reading, but that don’t follow the typical reading/phonics rules (although some do ..). She does great with these, and we introduce 1-2 new words as I feel she is ready.

While he was out getting groceries, daddy grabbed us some pumpkins to play in! He cut the tops off and we let the kids scoop out all the goop and seeds. They put the seeds in a clean, empty bucket; later we washed and roasted them in the oven (post coming soon!). We did this last year also, and they enjoyed it a lot. Lexie had more fun than Max (he surprisingly doesn’t care much for “messy” play), but Charlie enjoyed eating the seeds they dropped!

Unfortunately, both of them broke out in a rash after playing in the pumpkin (which they had smeared all over their faces and arms). We still aren’t sure why this happened? They ate the roasted seeds, & those didn’t bother them …

cheeks broken out from pumpkin? =/

One thing is for sure, I’ve gotta get the kids some epi pens. J.Tom has severe reactions to wasp stings and would need to go to the ER if stung on his chest/neck/head, and although the kids have never been stung, I don’t want to risk what might happen if they were.

This week I started doing more “structured” activities with Mister. He knows maybe 1/2 of his letters? But isn’t interested in sitting down and learning them like Big Sister was. I am 100% okay with that, but thought he might enjoy a quick craft to get introduced to the idea. He enjoyed it for the most part; he isn’t a fan of glue on his hands (yet), but he had fun making an “H” and hanging it on the door by Lexie’s creations. While I did that with Max, she created a magazine collage with pictures she found in my Real Simple magazine.

For Mister I am going to focus a little on a letter or two a week and plan an activity for him to join in on while Lexie does something independently; he loves to be included, i just need to find things he enjoys. After he gets the hang of activities I hope to incorporate Before Five In A Row after Christmas.

For his H activity I just cut out a letter H, had him help me come up with “H” words (he knows his letter sounds, just not all the correct letter names) to write on it, then he colored on it and made ovals. I traced his hands and he glued everything together.

And you know … we do a lot of this (after every feeding, actually). They always want to take a turn holding Baby Ila after I nurse and giver her a bottle.

How was your week? Did you do any new activites?

A Peek into Our PreK Day with Pictures {Crew Carnival}

by Meghan // October 6, 2014 // Comments off

Our Homeschool Day in Pictures {Quiet in the Chaos}

This week we are linking up with the Review Crew’s “Our Homeschool Day in Pictures.” Click on the image above to read other Crew members’ posts!

This week Lexie’s reading EXPLODED! She has been reading her AAR readers like crazy; we love this program. I am so proud of her, but mostly I am just thankful her confidence has gone through the roof. She will try read just about any word I point to. We are working on using her finger to point to the words (she doesn’t like to do this, but reads much better when she does) and not using the pictures to guess what the sentence says. As you can see, we used an envelope to cover the pictures so she will read the words first, then look at the pics.

And now we do a whole lot of this ….

We have snacks outside, twice a day. (I think this is their favorite thing to do …)

The Mister enjoys playing “connect four” and reading books.

We have also been gardening (LOTS of tomatoes coming off our plants), and just adjusting to having a baby in the house. Overall, everything is going smoothly and everyone is adjusting well! =)

{a review} Preschoolers and Peace: Homeschooling older kids with success while loving the little ones at your feet

by Meghan // October 1, 2014 // Comments off

While Lexie is technically a preschooler, I am also trying to homeschool with two other little ones! One of those littles is a very rambunctious, loud, two year old boy … So I was very excited (and blessed) to review the e-book for homeschooling moms, Preschoolers and Peace: Homeschooling older kids with success while loving the little ones at our feet ($2.99). This was written by Kendra Fletcher from Preschoolers and Peace and is a wonderful resource for all homeschooling families with preschoolers running about.

About the Product:

This e-book is inspired by the “best of” posts from Preschoolers and Peace website. (If you haven’t visited the website, and you are a homeschooling parent to littles, I would suggest checking it out!) The chapters covered in the e-book include:

What a Homeschooling Mom Needs
Preparing Yourself to Homeschool Older Kids with Little Ones Under Foot
Planning Around Preschoolers
How Do I Keep Them Busy?
What Does a Two-Year-Old’s Day Look Like?
How Do I Get Any Preschooling Done?
How Not to Just Kill Time
Circle Time: Or How We Pull the Little Ones In
Preschool Boys
When All Of Your Kiddos Are Preschoolers
Preschool Chores
Planning for Preschool
When Mama is Worn Out (or pregnant)
Meal Planning 101

Really? Do you have any idea how amazing it is to find a resource with all this information in one place?! I am a member of several online homeschool groups- the number one most posted question posted is, “how do you keep your little ones busy while homeschooling your older kids?” This is also MY number one question!

Lexie and Max are not close enough in development at this point, for us to do formal schooling together- At two years old, he obviously isn’t learning to read, write his numbers, grip a pencil properly, or create lapbooks. His “learning time” is just as important as my 4 year old’s, but it looks much different right now. And keeping him busy and quiet while she is trying to focus on reading her Bob Books readers?! That has been one of my biggest challenges. He joins us for read alouds, and circle time, but at two isn’t ready for the same activities she is at four years old.

What I Thought About It and How I Use It

Preschoolers and Peace: Homeschooling older kids with success while loving the little ones at our feet helped remind me of my options, and give me ideas for more options. But more than that, Kendra begins her book by reminding us of our relationship with God; that Christ is where our identity lays, and that making time for prayer and Him are first and foremost to homeschooling.

My favorite tip that she gives is one in a series of steps- determine what activities you can do with littles around, and which ones you cannot. There are certain lessons you may not mind your toddler being underfoot, such as Bible, or read alouds. Then there are lessons you may want to do while the “nappers are napping;” for me, that is definitely reading/phonics. The e-book is full of activities you can use to keep your toddler busy while schooling your older children. I am going to post the list Kendra provides on our bulletin board in the kitchen, and rotate the activities Max gets to enjoy each day/week. That way I don’t have to work hard to plan things for him to enjoy, yet he still feels like he is part of “learning time.” (Because he asks to do it with us all the time.)

But as I have mentioned, this book is more than activities. It is a collection of ideas, homeschool how-tos, and inspiration that every homeschooling mom needs! I found the e-book to be so helpful I have printed it out, highlighted it, and re-read many parts of it in just the few weeks I’ve owned it.

Preschoolers and Peace: Homeschooling older kids with success while loving the little ones at our feet has helped me rearrange our time, relax, and make our homeschool days count! I try to live each of our days as if this precious gift of homeschooling my children will end tomorrow, and this book has given me a refresher course so I can do just that!

Connect With Preschoolers and Peace

Preparing for Labor Naturally

by Meghan // September 26, 2014 // Comments off

For this pregnancy and labor, I did some things I have done before to prepare, but I also added in a few new natural ways to stay healthy.

We all know it is so important to stay (or get) healthy during pregnancy. Here are a few things I did for this pregnayc, labor and delivery.

Third Trimester Tea– Beginning in my third trimester I started drinking *a lot* of Earth Mama Angel Baby Organic Third Trimester Tea. I like the taste, and drank anywhere from 1-4 cups a day.
Get plenty of rest– I got plenty of sleep. My husband joked about how I was in bed 18 hours out of the day … it is quote possible I was. I slept from 8:30 until 7 in the morning (most days), took naps when my children did (for 1-3 hours, and laid down in bed at 7 when the kids went down. This was mostly because I couldn’t sit comfortably with a baby in my ribs, but I probably would have slept that much anyway!
Exercise– honestly, I didn’t exercise this pregnancy like I did with my others. When I had the time I didn’t have the energy. I know exercise gives you more energy, but not when you have first trimester nausea and extreme exhaustion, or can barely move in the third trimester. I did walk to the park a lot with the kids, and in my second trimester I did quite a bit of at home work outs. But nothing as intense or regular as my first two pregnancies.
Eat well– Eating lots of healthy fats won’t make you fat (unless you coat them in sugar…). Healthy fats help every part of your body and baby’s development. From brain function to hormone production, healthy fats like organic farm raised eggs, avocado, coconut oil, grass fed butter, and natural peanut butter, make for a healthy pregnancy and baby! I ate a *lot* of eggs, and still do.
Fermented Drinks and Foods– Fermented drinks like water kefir and Kombucha are so good for your gut and immune system; they are especially beneficial to baby’s gut and developing immune system. I drank lots of kombucha with mint this summer, and we enjoyed our homemade fermented kraut, kimchi, and veggies all summer as well.
Cod Liver Oil, Iron, and Folate– I personally chose not to take a pre natal vitamin. I made this decision because typical prenatals are full of synthetic vitamins that the body does not absorb or process well. And also, because I couldn’t find one I liked with folate instead of folic acid. Typically though, my friend recently showed me a supplement similar to this l-methylfolate 15 mg, which includes folate. Anyway, I’m not getting pregnant again to try it, haha! So, folic acid is the synthetic, man made version of folate. Folate is the actual supplement you need for baby’s development- not synthetic folic acid. So I chose to take a pure folate supplement, and raw liver pills I made at home. I am always anemic, and most iron supplements cause constipation and are not readily absorbed in the body. I chose to buy grass fed, organic beef livers (from a local source I know and *trust*) and cut them into pills. I froze them on a cookie sheet and stored in the freezer for a few weeks. Then I took a few of them at a time, frozen, when I felt I needed an iron boost. The last supplement I took was cod liver oil, because of all the healthy benefits it provides through vitamins A and D.
Gentle Birth Formula– I will say, I believe this had the BIGGEST impact on labor and delivery for me. My water broke at 2:30pm, active labor/my contractions started at regular intervals 4 minutes apart, at 4:00pm. When I got to the hospital at 6:00pm I was 5-6cm! This has NEVER happened to be before; I have longer (12+hours) labors. This baby was born at 9:49, and was here in 4 pushes. It was seriously a 5 hour labor start to finish, from the beginning of contractions. And though I did cave and get an epidural at 7 cm, until that point labor was very manageable; not fun, but manageable. I truly believe this tincture helped my body prepare for labor. *it does have blue cohosh in it, but you can purchase the tincture without it*
Water, Water, Water!-I think it speaks for itself, but lots of water! I keep two bottles in the fridge and down one at a time; when one is empty I refill it and start on the other.

And that’s it! Those are the things I did this pregnancy to prepare my body for labor and delivery, and have a healthy baby. What do you do to prepare your body for pregnancy, labor, and delivery?

{picture credit}

Disclaimer: I am NOT a health professional and this is not health advice. Please talk with your doctor/midwife before making medical and health decisions.

Weekly Wrap Up: September 6, 2014

by Meghan // September 24, 2014 // Comments off

{written week of September 6, 2014} Lexie has been very excited about learning time- she loves our “learning time books” (Sonlight read alouds) and doing her activities. I had planned to sorta put school on the back burner these last few weeks before baby, but she is having no part of that This week Lexie (4) has been working on:

reading with AAR (she is doing great!) and sight words
writing numbers 1-10 with Singapore and identifying more difficult shapes (soon to be 3d shapes)
fine motor skills/writing & strokes HWOT
Bible, read alouds, and science with Sonlight
Bears lapbooks (she wanted to learn about bears)
we have also been playing with play do and Sands Alive for fine motor and creativity
writing words- she has “writing books” her daddy brings her from each country he visits. She has been practicing writing out words phonetically. It is amazing what she can write! very proud of her

Max has also become VERY interested in our “learning time books,” aka read alouds. He likes to climb in my lap and read with us, which is great. He even retold a story (kinda..) to his daddy when he got home the other night. He is also learning his shapes and we are still working on his letters. For his birthday, my Granny got him this ABC puzzle by HAPE Toys; we *love* this puzzle because it allows him to manipulate the letters (standing them up, etc). It is wonderful for tactile learners. I hope to start Before Five In A Row with him after Christmas- I think he will really enjoy the stories and activities.

Playing letter sound BINGO- part of AAR Level 1

Overall it has been a wonderful last few weeks in our homeschool, before we add another tiny human to our home!

Preschooler {3 yrs old} and Toddler {23 mo old} Summaries

by Meghan // August 29, 2014 // Comments off

(Written Thursday, August 28, 2014)

17 days until baby wright #3 should be here (September 14th) … of course it could be more or less than that, only the baby and God know the plan. I talked with my very sweet friend that is going to have Bug and Mister while I labor, and it feels good to know my babies will not only be safe and taken care of, but that someone else is praying about this for me. God knows our circumstances, and theirs and we know He will send baby on when the time is right.

I woke up this morning, about 2:30am, to more storms. We have had a TON of rain here the last 10 days, so much the trail and parks we enjoy most are flooded terribly. (Good thing we decided not to have the birthday party at those parks, just in case in rained). I couldn’t go back to sleep so I hopped in the shower and am drinking my first cup of coffee since July 2nd. I quit coffee, mainly because I like it with cream and I am doing no dairy for baby, so this is really nice even if it is with rice milk.

I can’t believe that next week my babies will be four and two years old! I will begin with Lexie’s summary.

Proud of her birthday dress

To say Lexie is vibrant, happy, and full of silliness is an understatement. She loves to play in her dressy dresses, go “camping” with Max, and read books (all. day. long). She is currently reading the Bob Books: Advanced Beginners books. You can read a bit more about that Here.

She enjoys our learning time together, helping me bake, and playing downstairs. Of course outside is usually her very first choice of play time, especially if it involves water. Developmentally, her language is amazing. Her fine motor (writing) skills are improving, and her confidence has grown by leaps and bounds.

If there is anything I can say about being a parent for the first time, it is that you can definitely go with your gut. Lexie has always been very social, but despite being in daycare and Mother’s Day Out when we lived in Arkansas, she was/is still very introverted in a group. Whether it is at daycare, library story time, or gymnastics, if it wasn’t her close friends and family, she wanted to sit by the grown up in charge and watch (she is my people watcher!) or play mostly by herself. Today, she starts out that way in a new setting, but quickly warms up! And just a few weeks ago at the neighborhood block party she jumped right into the festivities without needing us to encourage her at all! My point is- we have never rushed her. We did not push her to stay the night with family before we felt she was ready, participate in things she didn’t feel comfortable with, and here she is learning within her OWN boundaries how to feel confident. There are definitely rules to raising an introverted child, and being an introvert myself I understand her insecurities and what makes them “flare.”

I love watching her grow and change, but am very sad my baby is almost four and not such a baby anymore.

Lexie and Max are sleeping in the same room now; it is going surprisingly well! Hopefully it continues to go well after baby arrives … Lexie wakes some nights needing to go potty, and sometimes that wakes Max up, but in the last few weeks he has gotten used to her being in the same room and he sleeps through it.

He naps in his crib from 12:15-2:30/3:00. J.Tom comes home for lunch and Lexie spends that time with him; at about 12:45 she goes downstairs and has “rest time” on the bed down there. She is allowed her books on the bed with her but must be quiet. She does pretty good with it.

As for Max Payne, well he is a little “stinky pot,” as he calls himself. He is TT potty trained; we are still working on poopy, which he usually does after he wakes up at nap time, but some days that isn’t the case. I am not sure he has distinguished between having gas and needing to potty, or if he is just a bit afraid of using the potty? Either way, he will get there and we have aaaall winter inside to get it down! haha In the mean time, we are down to using 2 diapers a day (nap and night time) and that makes this mama a happy camper!

He does and says everything big sister does. Everything. They are a mess together and I am thankful they are such good friends (for now..) and pray we can continue to foster that relationship as they grow. He can identify many of his letters, but not all. He just hasn’t been interested in learning them like Lexie was, and if there isn’t interest it just isn’t going to happen. So I haven’t been pushing it. He loves to count and read nursery rhymes.

Oddly, he isn’t a big fan of messy play or crafts. He gets most interested in painting, but even that doesn’t hold his attention long. He would rather be driving trucks and engines around on the floor and furniture. =) Or playing in water. The boy still loves water, and being outside. He and Lexie will spend what seems like hours downstairs playing pretend together.

At this point (well, for a while now), he is jumping with two feet, climbing everything he can get a foot on, and LOVES to bounce on the trampoline. “Dog dog” is his buddy- poor Charlie girl puts up with a lot from Max! He refuses to say Charlie, although we know he can. She is just “dog dog” for now. She doesn’t seem to mind. =)

loving on his “dog dog”

His personality has just blossomed in the last 6-8 months- he is funny, rowdy, and so sweet. He and Lexie are both obsessed with their Daddy, and we are so thankful we have had this summer home with him. It has been wonderful watching him do nap time with Lexie during his lunch hour every day, and eating dinner with him every night.

The Bears (that’s the boys, per Lexie) spend time together every night when Daddy gets home, just rough-housing and being “bears.” Lexie gets a bit jealous; she is very much her daddy’s girl and wants to join them, but she loves to laugh at them and their silliness. We try to encourage her to let daddy and Mister have bear time. Both of them are super snuggly and I think they will do great with Baby #3!

petting the “baby cow” at the fair

enjoying the cool mornings and teaching Max to swing

Silly babies!

I really can’t believe we will be a family of 5 soon- Lexie and Max will both be such good big siblings. *feeling blessed*

Happy Kids Songs {a review}

by Meghan // August 21, 2014 // Comments off

Over the summer, we were excited to review a great set of songs (and coordinating workbook) by Happy Kids Songs. These songs are geared for children 3-8 (though any age child would enjoy them!), focus on character lessons, and are based on scenarios children encounter in the real world.

In the Happy Kids Songs series, there are eight albums costing $4.95 each; each album has 5 fun (and catchy) songs. There are also fun, free activities on the website that parents can download; or if you wish you can purchase the activities in the form of an interactive workbook ($12.56).

We received for review:

Friends & Sharing (Set 1)
Happiness & Attitude (Set 5)
Manners & Character (Set 6)
Happy Kids Songs Workbook: Hands on Acitivities to Build Character, Social & Emotional Skills

Friends & Sharing

Sailing on the Seven Cs
Everybody wants to find a Friend
Sharing Friends
Happy as Happy can be
Together

Happiness & Attitude

Shake it Out and Dance
Who Knows What’s a Kudos?
I don’t Understand
Be Good to Yourself
Better Together

Manners & Character

H-o-n-e-s-t-y
The Magic Word
Quirks
The Golden Rule
Six Little Kids

How We Used Happy Kids Songs:

My kids love listening to music in the mornings after breakfast (while I finish up a few chores), during transitions, while we play outside, and during their independent play. I downloaded the songs to my iPad and we listened to them during these times. My four year old and I would then discuss what the songs were encouraging us to do (share, be kind, smile to feel better, etc) and we would practice a scenario. Children learn a lot through role play; role play is something Lexie isn’t a huge fan of, so this was a great opportunity to allow her to do that in a fun environment. She enjoyed it! There were a few things I needed to explain, like what a “quirk” is, or a “kudo.”

My (almost) two year old also enjoyed dancing and singing to the songs. He couldn’t keep up with all the lyrics, but every now and then he would blurt out one of the few words he knew from the chorus. =)

The workbook was fun as well. It has the lyrics to the song, pictures to color, and other activities. We did some of these, though honestly we didn’t do them all. But what’s great is we can come back to them as needed and do some
more!

I also really like that on the website you can see what topics are covered, listen to samples of the songs, and find two different ways to purchase. *and the downloaded songs can be burned to a CD*

If your family enjoys listening to music, I would recommend the Happy Kids Songs sets. The songs themselves are catchy, and of course the behavior and emotional skills the songs focus on offer lifelong skills. Plus, it is just nice to find children’s music that is different than everything else out there! These are definitely unique sets!

Connect With Happy Kids Songs

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Twitter @howsyourfam
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We Choose Virtues {a review}

by Meghan // June 9, 2014 // Comments off

I have mentioned before how much we enjoy character lessons in our home, so when we had a chance to review a set of Parenting Cards ($38.49) by We Choose Virtues. The parenting cards are a wonderful resource for any family wanting to implement character lessons in the home, and are best used with children ages 3-18. (I reviewed the NIrV of the parenting cards- this version includes both Old and New Testament verses. The NKJV only has Old Testament verses.)

Each set of cards teaches the same virtues:

diligence
helpfulness
perseverance
gentleness
contentment
attentiveness
honesty
kindness
self-control
patience
obedience
forgiveness

How We Used The Parenting Cards

We enjoy character lessons, and integrating them into our conversations through out the day- everywhere from reading Bible stories to our own behaviors- Lexie really likes to point out which character traits/virtues we should be working on and when. =)

Implementing these cards into our homeschool was very natural for us. You can teach the virtues in any order you’d like. As you may have read we are using Sonlight for our core curriculum. Each week of our SL lessons includes a character/virtue topic with a matching Bible verse; I thought this would be a perfect way to add in our We Choose Virtues cards. I simply organized the cards in alphabetical order for easy navigation, and choose the card that is most closely related to our topic in the SL. Some weeks we had perfectly matched character traits (obedience, attentiveness, diligence, and kindness to name a few), and some weeks we just had to choose what was most closely related to our topic. I loved doing it this way.

So after I chose which card we would focus on that week, I quickly looked it over. The front of the card tells you which character trait you are focusing on, has a really cute catch phrase for what the trait means, then it also explains what that character trait does not look like (which is a great reminded for little ones!). At the bottom there is a Bible verse that goes with the trait. You can see an example below:

The back of the cards is where any “teacher notes” can be found. Here you will see a “User Challenge” section that give your family a challenge for the character trait, such as doing kind things for others without them knowing (on the Kindness card). It has a reminder of what the trait looks like coming from the parent, so for instance, “kindness is best taught by passion and lead by example.” There is a “Teachable Moments ….” section that gives you things to think about, topics to discuss with the family, and activities to enrich your lessons. At the very bottom on the back of each card, there is a “Kids of Virtueville” section that has the name of a character that goes along with the card to help children remember that particular card. We didn’t focus very much on the characters themselves, but we did read their little story and discuss the question included.

What We Thought

I truly love using these cards in our home! I posted ours up on my weekly board in the kitchen, where I write down what we are studying (so I have everything handy for us talk about throughout the day). This was a perfect spot, because every time bug looked up and saw it from the table, she wanted to discuss it!

I like that each cards says, “I am … ” Kind, Obedient, etc. It is positive reinforcement that they already have these characteristics. Then the “I am NOT …” tells what the trait is not and reminds us what behaviors we should avoid. These cards are meant for the whole family- and I love that! Because can’t we all use some character lessons sometimes? (I certainly can!)

The cards themselves are made of a great quality cardboard material, so they are very sturdy. If you have a laminator, which many of us homeschooler do, they would be easy to laminate, though not necessary. They are 8.5 x 5.5 cards, which means they are nice a BIG, but not too big. The illustrations and words are big and bright enough to help make them stand out.

We also received the We Choose Virtues Download Bundle; this bundle is $7.99 by itself, but is free when you purchase the Homeschool Kit. The bundle includes extras to go along with your cards:

Teacher’s Handbook
Family Character Assessment
Coloring Pages
Butterfly Awards
Sing along song sheets

These were fun and easy to incorporate into our lessons- the teacher’s handbook has tons of helpful information and activities to include. I did the character assessment for Lexie, but really she is a little young to understand the concept- however, she can understand the concept of improving, so that is what we focused on. The coloring pages are of the characters that are mentioned on the cards; we didn’t do these with the lessons, but just for fun when she wanted to do some coloring (she really doesn’t like to color very much ..) We have not used the butterfly awards yet, but this will be a huge hit! And the sing a long sheets are fun!

****And for the month of June, use Promo Code BIG50 for 50% off WCV’s amazing set of 12 11×17 Kids of VirtueVille Posters! Then, from June through August, use Promo Code BTS20 for 20% off anything in our WCV Store. This includes any kit. Let’s start School with Virtues this year! (*Only one promo code per order)

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Sonlight Box Day: P4/5 {our first ever}

by Meghan // May 30, 2014 // Comments off

As you may know we have chosen Sonlight P4/5 for our homeschool learning fun this year. I did not buy the entire package they offer for a few different reasons. As easy as it would be, we already had a few of the resources, some I didn’t really want to include, and others I found less expensive elsewhere.

While I did purchase many things directly from SL (my IG, binder, tabs, several books, etc), I didn’t get everything from them. So .. because of that we would not be having a regular “box day” like many homeschooling families get to enjoy. But, the school supply and book nerd in me desperately wanted a box day (yes, I did it partially for me) and I also knew Lexie Raye would LOVE it! And if it involved books, so would Max. So I took an old sturdy box I have been collecting all our resources in, and used it for our “box day!” I am so glad I did!

Lexie was asking me questions about every single book she pulled out. I knew several were going to be favorites right away- anything that looked like a chapter book (she LOVES them), the Berenstein Bears Big Book of Science and Nature, and Peter Rabbit. Oooh how we love Peter Rabbit in this house. =)