Children Desiring God

One reason I love homeschooling is that I get to teach my kids about the Bible and God during school! Last year we used the Joyful Heart Character Curriculum from Hubbards Cupboard. Each week we focused on a characteristic that God wants us to be (joyful, honest, loving, etc.) Best of all, it's free! There are a lot of other great free literacy and math resources on the website as well!

This year I want to focus more on who God is, so I started researching and found the Children Desiring God website. In their Sunday School lessons they have a curriculum called the ABC's of God, which goes through characteristics of God that start with each letter of the alphabet!



The curriculum is not free, but they have a free download of the scope and sequence with each letter, Bible passage, and memory verse. Besides it is geared at 1st-3rd grade, and my kids are 3 and 5, so, I'm just using the outline and coming up with my own activities each week suitable for my younger kids - which is what I love to do anyway!

As excited as I am to teach my kids reading, science, math, and other typical school subjects, I get even more excited to see them learn and grow in their understanding of their Creator!!

FLASH FREEBIE - Ocean Animals Classroom Decor Pack

So - I'm trying this flash freebie thing out for the first time! I just finished creating my first classroom pack - ocean animals and polka dots! It's 40 pages of a Calendar Set, Desk Nameplates, Numbers, and the Alphabet!

This pack will be a free download until tomorrow - 10 pm CST, Sunday July 28th. All I ask is that if you download it, that you leave some feedback!

Ocean Animals Classroom Décor Pack

Thanks everyone!!

-Lauren

Wednesday Freebie #8

I know it 's Thursday...sorry I'm a day late :-) But here are some great freebies to make up for it!!

1. Life Cycle of a Butterfly

By: Magnifying the Science Classroom

 

 

2. Uppercase/Lowercase Alphabet Matching Game
 

By:

 

 

3. Safari Bump - Adding Three Numbers Together - FUN GAME!

 

By:
 

 

 

4. Handwriting Font

By:
 

 

 

5. Integer Insanity
 

By:
 

Thanks everyone for sharing your fabulous freebies!!

-Lauren

 

Let's Get Acquainted: Advice for New Teachers

Today I'm joining up with Mrs. Reed at Flying into First Grade to share advice for new teachers!

Here's what I would say to first year teachers:

 

1. Buy only what you have to: There are SO many things out there that you might feel like you NEED, but try not to go overboard at first. Get a few things here and there, and as time goes on you may see that many of those things you thought you needed at first aren't really necessary!

 

2. Always have a back up plan: Just like in other areas of life, lesson plans don't always go as well as they looked on paper! Sometimes things just don't go as grand and smooth as you imagined! So, be flexible and be willing to change things up if necessary!

 

3. Never be afraid to ask: There are so many new things for you to know when you start teaching (even if you have taught before this can apply to starting at a new school!) So, never be shy about asking questions from your fellow teachers for clarity about anything! Most people love to share what they know with others!

 

4. Find a place to unwind: Especially during your first year, it is easy to get consumed with organizing, planning, grading, etc. at night and on the weekends. But it is so important to leave that stuff at school and have your separate life at home! Remember those fun things you love to do on the weekends and don't stop doing them! Otherwise you will get burnt out very quickly!

 

5. Make your room inviting: One thing I loved to do was stand at the door in the mornings when the kids were coming in and greet them all by name and with a smile and back pat or hug! It would be so easy to sit at your desk and finish up last minute stuff for the day, but I found the time was better spent making each kid feel welcome and loved the minute they walked in!!

 

6. Be confident: My first year I was a little too timid in the beginning with the kids, making it easy for them to run all over me! I didn't have the best control of the classroom. It's so important to let them know that you are in charge and you know what you're doing! Give the appearance that you are confident in what you are doing, even when you don't feel like it!

 

If you have some veteran advice to share, be sure to visit Flying into First Grade to join us!

 



 

Back to School Link Up!

I know it's not quite time for back to school, but I'm excited that I just finished making my latest Emergent Reader Pack about a new year at school, so I'm jumping the gun a little!

 

I love using these packs with my kids at home because we have a big color copy to read together, a black and white copy for them to color, cut, and put together on their own, and then picture cards that they can retell the story with and play matching games. My 5 year old loves being able to read the story all by himself, and my 3 year old loves to retell the story using the picture cards!

I'd love to see what things you are planning on for the first days of school! Link up with a blog post or product if you want!

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Wednesday Freebies #7

Hi All!

I've had so many people offer their freebies that I've changed the name to "Wednesday Freebies" so I can showcase more than one each week! Here are 5 fabulous freebies for this week!!

1. First Day of School Awards ~Editable~

By: Jennifer Drake

 

 

 

2. What a Sweet Class! EDITABLE Bulletin Board Display!

By: Happily Ever After Education

 

 

 

3. ABC! Come Rap With Me! The Letter A

By: Tweet Music

 

 

 

4. Number Puzzles-Number Words, Pictures, Ten-Frames, Tally Marks, and Numerals

By: Stacey Fisher

 

 

5. Write short 'Fortunately Unfortunately' pattern stories! Grades 3 to 7

By:

 

Have a happy Wednesday!!
-Lauren

Liebster Award!



Yay! I've been nominated by Jo at Tiny Toes for the Liebster award! Thanks Jo! What a great way to connect and share our blogs with others!  

 Now I have to answer some questions and pass the award on to others!!

 

     11 Questions for me:

     1.  Are you married?  How long?  Children?

     Yes! Married to Matthew for 8 years.

     We have 3 kids (ages 1, 3, and 5) and #4 coming at 

     the end of August!

 

     2.  Do you prefer a snowy winter or a hot summer?

     Well, right now I'm going to say a snowy winter because

     I am 8 months pregnant and it's been in the 100's all week!

 

     3.  How early do you do your Christmas shopping?

     Not that early - I usually do it all after Thanksgiving.

 

     4.  What is the one thing you've always wanted to do but

           haven't been able to?

     I always wanted to be a great gymnast.

 

     5.  Which gift certificate would you most want to receive?

     To a place where there are lots of choices of things

     to get....like Target! :)

 

     6.  What drink (alcoholic or not) do you most order when you eat out?

     Diet Coke

 

     7.  Have you ever wanted to learn to sew, crochet, or knit?  Can you?

     Never cared to learn that, but I admire people who can!

 

     8.  What does you ideal date night look like?

     Dinner out without the kids!

 

     9.  If you could bring your act to X-Factor... what would you bring?

     Um...not quite sure about that one!

     10.  Are you a night-owl?

     Definitely not!

 

     11.   On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest ability...where

      do you put your technical abilities at school?

     6

------------------------------------------------------

11 Random Facts About Me

 

1. I had Lasik surgery when I was 21, but after 5 years had to start wearing glasses/contacts again.

2. Toe rings gross me out.

3. I can read and write Arabic script.

4. I love the Disney Channel.

5. All my kids' names start with C.

6. I don't wear shorts.

7. My first 3 kids were born in Jordan.

8. I eat peanut butter every day, even though my husband is allergic to peanuts.  

9. I don't like to drive.

10. I love coffee.

11. Nutrition & Computer Science were my first two majors, but I switched after 3 years of college to Elementary Education!

--------------------------------------------------------

Here are my Nominees for the Liebster Award!

1. Fifth Grade is Fab

2. The Beezy Teacher
3. KinderKarla

4. My Kinder-Garden

5. A Tale of Two K Teachers

6. My Kinder Garden Blog

7. Sea of Knowledge

 

And here are my questions for all the Nominees!

1. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

2. What is the best vacation you have ever taken?

3. What are you most proud of in your life?

4. What time do you wake up on school mornings? In the summer?

5. What is your favorite thing to cook?

6. What is something  you can't live without each day?

7. What movie could you watch over and over?

8. Did you always want to be a teacher?

9. What is your favorite restaurant?

10. What is your favorite season of the year and why?

11. If money were not an issue, what kind of car would you drive?

 

For my Nominees - to accept the Liebster Award please do the following!

1. Link back to my blog

2. Answer the questions I wrote for you

3. Share 11 random facts about yourself

4. Nominate between 5-11 other blogs (with less than 200 followers) for the Liebster Award

5. Create 11 questions for your nominees

6. Contact your nominees to let them know they've been nominated

 

That's it!! Have fun!

 

-Lauren



Giveaway Winner!!

Congratulations to Karla Heleotes!
She is the winner of the Target Gift Card! Enjoy your back to school shopping!

Thank you to everyone who entered!
-Lauren

Target Gift Card Giveaway!!

Hey All!!

I'm so excited that I've finally hit 100 followers on TpT!! To celebrate I'm giving away a $20 gift card to Target!!

All you have to do to enter is become a follower
of this blog and leave me a comment! You can enter a second time by liking my page on facebook!
The contest will end Saturday night and I'll announce the winner on Sunday.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
This is my first Rafflecopter giveway...so hopefully I'm doing everything right! Thanks and good luck!!

~Lauren

This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. We hereby release Facebook of any liability. Winner(s) will be contacted by email 48 hours after the giveaway ends. If you have any additional questions - feel free to send us an email!

It's Not Ideal But It'll Have to Do!!

This fall I will be in a unique situation trying to homeschool my kindergartner. Besides the fact that we'll have a new baby at the end of August, my husband and I will be taking a class with our church that will be Mondays through Thursdays from 8:30-12:30. We are taking this class so that we can move back overseas next spring. Unfortunately that means someone else will have to watch our kids those mornings. :( I don't like that part one bit, but it's just for a short season!!

So, instead of being creative and doing a lot of planning and preparing myself, I have resorted to buying colorful workbooks for my son to go through. Ugh. I might have him do computer work in the mornings when I'm gone (since the sitter will have his 2 younger sisters to watch) and do pages from the books in the afternoon when I get home. But, we'll just have to experiment and find what works best! Like I said, it's by no means ideal or what I feel is best, but it's really what has to happen for now. He is honestly very much above kindergarten level in reading and math because I've already been homeschooling him for awhile and he learns very quickly and easily, so I know he isn't going to suffer educationally or get behind at all by doing things this way for a short time.

 

Here are his books I've ordered. A little bit of this and a little bit of that. He was excited to see them and look through them all, but after a few minutes of looking at his math book he said, "This doesn't really seem that fun." Ha. Well...sorry bud.

Wednesday Freebie #6

I just finished the newest set of Mystery Picture Graphs - a Back to School set!! The pictures are school bus, schoolhouse, teacher, pencil, and 1+2=3.

 

I'm giving away the teacher picture graph

 for this week's freebie!

Click here for the download!!

To get the whole set, please visit my store.

 

Have a great week!!

 

~Lauren

Schedules!!

It's such a funny word....schedule...but it's one of my favorite! As a mom of 3 young kids, it is a must in our house if I want to keep my sanity! When we don't have a schedule to follow, chaos ensues. The classroom is much the same way. There are built in things in your schedule at school (lunch, specials, etc.) but if you don't have a plan for the rest of the time, it's almost impossible to get everything done that you need to!

Every few months it seems I am changing up what our daily routine looks like. Our spring looked something like this:

 



This was mostly for my oldest, and was adjusted for the younger two as needed. Now that it's summer, we've been traveling, visiting family, and not really having much of a schedule....and it's driving me nuts! It's amazing how the kids' behavior is affected by a lack of schedule. I have some ideas floating around about a routine for the next month or two until we get back into school, but I have yet to write them down and start doing them! Something I have done in the past that I'd like to start again is sibling play time, where 2 of the kids have scheduled time to play together, and the other one can do something with me or have alone time (which I also think is good for them to have). This helps keep the bickering down since they are not all together all the time! All this thinking has inspired me....I'm off to make a new schedule!!

~Lauren :-)