RORI 13

Publix has an upcoming even called Running out? Run in. Look for it in store from March 14th-20th to take advantage of discounts from General Mills and Procter & Gamble. Plus, if you buy $25 of participating items during this event, you can mail in to receive a $5 Publix gift card to use on your next shopping trip!

Disclosure of Material Connection: To comply with new regulations introduced by the Federal Trade Commission, I must post that My Blog Spark provided me with a Publix Gift Card to use during the promotion. I also must say that the opinions are all mine.

Constantly Craving - Review

I had the opportunity to review Constantly Craving by Marilyn Meberg. This book was a slightly different pick for me, as I usually stick to children's books, homeschool books, or parenting books to review. It struck a cord with me though, because I have been struggling and praying for help with being a better example to my daughter. The description of the book was very intriguing to me in this regard so I thought I would give it a chance.

I am not finished yet, but I am loving it. It holds great advice and is leading me on an important journey!

Disclosure of Material Connection: To comply with new regulations introduced by the Federal Trade Commission, I must post that Thomas Nelson Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book to review through Booksneeze. I also must say that the opinions are all mine.

Upside Down Prayers for Parents - Review

 

I had the opportunity to review Upside Down Prayers for Parents by Lisa T Bergren.  I have really enjoyed her children's books like God Gave us You, so I was interested to read her advice for parents on prayer. The book was well written and I really enjoyed her approach.

You can learn more about the author at her website. There is additional information regarding the book here or you can read the first chapter of the book for yourself here.

Disclosure of Material Connection: To comply with new regulations introduced by the Federal Trade Commission, I must post that "I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review." I also must say that the opinions are all mine.

2012 Christmas books

 

 I blogged about the majority of our Christmas books last year, but I have a few more that have been added to our book bin. Cricket really enjoyed unwrapping them last year, but she has also enjoyed digging through the basket and picking a favorite to read each day this year. 

Pat The Christmas Bunny

This book would probably best be read to a preschooler, but it has been good for Cricket to read herself this year. She also still enjoys the interactive qualities of the book.

  

Christmas Is Here Strawberry Shortcake

Cricket loves Strawberry Shortcake, so this book was a hit. Trying to read it was frustrating to her though. It is suppose to be a beginning to read book, but the words were more difficult than that in my opinion.

 

Curious George Christmas Countdown

This story is very similar to the Curious George Christmas special so the story was familiar to Cricket. She also liked the countdown aspect, and I love books that incorporate some basic math skills!

If You Take a Mouse to the Movies

This book isn't about Christmas, but it is set at Christmas time and includes references. We are a big fan of Laura Numeroff, and this book didn't disappoint. I think it's a great Christmas book for anyone, since it isn't nativity or Santa focused.

The Story of the Wise Men and the Child

This story was a little to advanced for Cricket, I think it would be better for an older elementary. It was a good representation of the Christmas story from the perspective of the Wise Men. I always like taking a different look at a familiar story. 

The Christmas Story

This was a Target Dollar Spot find, and I'm so glad I picked it up. It is a cute simple story that focused on the animals in the stable with Jesus. 

The King's Christmas List

This is my favorite new Christmas book. It focuses on the "giving" aspect of Christmas, and how our giving to others and being charitable is a gift to the King. Cricket enjoyed it as well and the lesson wasn't lost on her, which is always a plus!

 You should also see what others are reading this week at Mouse Grows Mouse Learns. 

Thanks for visiting,

Melissa and Doug Terrific Twenty Giveaway

Melissa and Doug is hosting a giveaway here for their Terrific Twenty Holiday Gifts for 2012. They will be giving away a gift a day from their Terrific Twenty list. You can go check out these twenty terrific gifts here.

The Fashion Design Activity Kit would be a big hit in our house, and I'm hoping to win it myself.

Blessings,
Katie

The Nutcracker

I had the opportunity to review The Nutcracker by E.T.A. Hoffman. I have always loved the story of the Nutcracker, but I have never seen or read the full story before. I was amazed by the content and quality of this book. It was truly an amazing find.

I am thrilled to add it to our collection of Christmas books. If you are interested than you should check it out for yourself here.

Disclosure of Material Connection: To comply with new regulations introduced by the Federal Trade Commission, I must post that "I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review." I also must say that the opinions are all mine.

Three weeks of Kindergarten in the books

Finding a groove

School seems to be rolling along. I am very glad that we have two years under our belt already, before starting "real" school this year. Cricket is already use to and loves me being her teacher. She understands what is expected of her, and the only issue we are really struggling with is retention...

Daddy comes homes and asks her what she learned that day, and she goes completely blank. I don't know if she really can't remember, if she is freezing in the moment, or what the issue is but we are working on it.

Daily Routine:

Cricket is bringing a baby with her to school more and more frequently. This is so she can be the teacher. It's great to hear her "teaching" and it's excellent for reinforcement of what we are learning.

Reading and Writing:

We continued the same Word Wall system, and did a few new activities this week.

She popped the word (written on bubble wrap), and did a write, stamp, decorate page.

Theme:

We started a new theme this week, and Cricket was pleasantly surprised....LEGOS!
I used several resources from 1+1+1=1, including these I am sentences.

I also made a collection of Lego challenges for Cricket to work on, and the first day she pulled Monochromatic.

So her is her all green masterpiece:

Can you tell what she created?

Religion:

Week two of Raising Rock Stars; the memory verse this week was:

In our work this week Cricket colored our verse display, reviewed it daily, traced the verse, arranged the words from the verse, and discussed what it meant. She struggled significantly more with memorizing this verse, but by the end of the week she could do it. 

Math:

We finally finished workbook 1 of Horizon K. 

I'm hoping some new concepts will be introduced soon, so that Cricket regains interest. I might have to skip ahead, if it doesn't.

Science: 

Cricket is very interested in experiments (or "experiences" as she keeps saying). So, I did two simple/unplanned experiments this week. I choose color based experiments to reinforce what we have been learning in art. The first was one was this great color water travel experiment that I saw here. 

We actually went through the scientific process on this one, and discussed what we thought would happen, observed the change, and discussed why it happened.

The second experiment was what should have been a simple discovery bottle. This project almost got scrapped, but once I figured out how to hold the shaving cream and actually get it into the bottle instead of all collecting in it's mouth it was saved. Cricket really enjoyed mixing the bottle and watching the colors separate over and over again, so I'm glad I made it work.

Geography:

This week we journeyed to Thailand via Expedition Earth. Cricket was so excited to be learning about countries again, and I think she jumped for joy on Wednesday when I pulled out the animal cards!

Art:

We continued to the next lesson from Pineapple Paintbrush regarding color tones. Cricket used pastels to fill in the color sheet, and enjoyed smoothing them for the first time.

When she was done, we cut it, and folded it. Then you could look at it from the end and see either the cool colors or warm colors. 

Test:

Cricket did well on her test once again. She aced the written part; writing all five of her words for the week.

She also did very well on her oral exam. She only missed one question overall. Cricket couldn't remember the continent we are studying. Luckily we have a few more weeks there, so maybe next week will be easier. 

Extras:

Cricket really wanted to put on a puppet show for her dad. So, she developed a story, and worked on perfecting it. She is getting much better at holding the puppets and moving them in meaningful ways. She also told a good story when all was said and done!

Blessings,