Secret Santa Blog Hop

Even though we are done (or almost done) with this semester and are READY for a break, I know for me, my mind is never completely able to take a break from thinking about and planning stuff for my kids! We're here to bring you some fun Christmas gifts to give you a head start on next semester!

Here are 2 free activities from my All About Penguins - Print & Go Pack.

Don't forget to hop around to the rest of The Elementary Entourage pages and grab all the great freebies! Have a great break and Merry Christmas!!

An InLinkz Link-up

12 Days of Christmas Sales

I'm teaming up with some awesome teacher-authors to bring you some great deals leading up to Christmas! Each day we will offer you different discounted items to stock up on for last minute holiday fun, or to get a head start on planning for next semester.

Here are just a few of the items I will have on sale in the coming days!

 
  
 

Visit The Primary Gal's blog to see all the great deals offered!

It's Almost Here!

Back to school is almost here for us! I am planning on starting up on August 25, which is when the districts around us will start. I'm linking up again with Where the Magic Happens for our "Diggin' Into" series to talk about how we get ready for the beginning of school!

Homeschooling is obviously different than the classroom at the beginning of the year. We don't have to spend time getting to know each other, but there is certainly more complaining about not getting to watch tv and having to do work :-)

I like to build anticipation about how much fun we'll have when school starts, so we're already talking about things we'll learn and stuff we'll get to do. I've ordered my curriculum for my 1st grader

 

and found a few cute items at the Target dollar spot.

 

And we've even done a few "fun" activities to get their fingers and hands ready for writing again!

 

 

We also just moved into a new house a few days ago, so of course one of the rooms I had to set up first was the school room! It's actually just half of the room, and the other half is a play room to keep 2 little sisters occupied while I work with the older 2. It's not much, but it's more space than we have before, so I am very excited! This is the work in progress!

 



I am so excited to be a part of the awesome giveaway for the end of our Diggin Into series. Check out Laura's post to see the great prizes! It starts August 11th, so be sure to check back then to enter!

Wordless Wednesday - Free Summer Fun!

What are some ways you have free summer fun? I set out bowls with water, and the kids love it!

 

 

Let's Talk About Books!



We love books around our house! So I'm really excited to be linking up with Mrs. Jump's Class for her Let's Talk About Books Linky! We recently found this book at the public library and I had to check it out!

 

We love Elmer the Patchwork Elephant! The books are so bright and colorful! This one is about Elmer and his cousin Wilber and the adventure they go on to try and see the whales like their grandpa did when he was younger. There are so many fun crafts you can do after reading these books!

 

Make your own Elmer with an elephant template and tissue paper.

 

Or take it up a notch and make one using a milk jug! So cute!

Top Ten for Summer

I'm linking up over at Deanna Jump's blog with the top ten things I want to do this summer!

 

1. First and foremost I want to potty train this little jewel! She turned 2 in January and is definitely ready, I just haven't had time to be consistent with her.

 

 

2. Clean out the house and have a garage sale. We are planning on moving overseas early next year, so now is the perfect time to start cleaning out and downsizing!

 

3. Have more dates with these two! We try to make time to go out for one on one special times with mommy or daddy, but it doesn't happen too often during the school year.

 



 

4. TpT Conference in Vegas! I'm so excited to be going to this conference! I'm looking forward to learning a lot and meeting some awesome people!

 

5. Research and order our curriculum for homeschool next year. Up until this point I haven't used much curriculum since my oldest just finished kindergarten. But going into 1st grade I feel like we need a little more structure, so I'll be researching to find out what we need and get it ordered!

 

6. Zoo, Children's Museum, and swimming!

 

 

7. Spend time with my family (parents & siblings and their families). We love being altogether, and even though it's a little crazy with my 4 kids and my sister's 3 boys (and all 7 of them are 6 and younger) we always have fun together!

 

 

8. I'd like to start exercising again. If only I could get the kids to sleep in. What age do they actually like to sleep....cause it ain't happening yet! It's all I can do to keep them in bed until 7am!

 

9. Get all the kids (and us) caught up with checkups, dentist appointments, and vaccinations.

 

10. Finally, I want to enjoy my baby girl while she is still a baby! She'll be 9 months old this week! And also I need to finish up all my baby books!! I'm a little behind :-)

 



Wordless Wednesday

 

In honor of Earth Day - How have you reused something in your classroom/school room? Our snack container became our block container!

 

Wordless Wednesday - Tangrams

How do you use tangrams?? I use them to keep my 2 year old busy while the other kids and I do school. =)

Spring Freebies Linky Party!

Happy First Day of Spring!

Let's get hoppin' into the new season with some great free resources and ideas all about spring! (Did you see what I did there....hoppin'...bunnies...ok nevermind. :-) Link up below and browse around!

My newest freebie is a cute bunny hundreds chart mystery picture! Kids go nuts for mystery pictures, and they won't even realize they are reviewing numbers and colors! This comes with 2 different versions for differentiation!

 

 

An InLinkz Link-up

Valentine's Day Forever Freebies

This weekend I'm involved in a Facebook Free-for-all, where you can get some great free resources for a limited time! (See previous post)

But I also wanted to get together a collection of Valentine's Day forever freebies that will be available all the time! Link up your favorite V-Day forever freebies below and be sure to browse around at all the other great resources!!

Here are two of mine:

Free Valentine's Day Heart Owl Hundreds Chart Mystery Picture

 

 

My Valentine Count & Color Book

 

 

Thanksgiving Link Up!!

With less than 2 weeks until Thanksgiving, I wanted us to share our best Thanksgiving products! Here are a few of mine!


Hundreds Chart Mystery Pictures - Thanksgiving Pack - Grades K-2



Turkey Multiplication Mystery Picture - Grades 2-4

Mystery Picture Graphs - Fall Pack - Grades 3-5

 

 Link up your favorite free or paid Thanksgiving products here!

 

October Link Up!

There's more to October than just Halloween! There's also Columbus Day, United Nations Day, and World Animal Day (not sure what that is...but I saw it on my calendar!)

Link up your activities that go with any of these October themes!!
(You can put the name of the activity/product instead of "Your Name"!

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Autumn Freebies Link-Up Party!

I'm joining "Notebooking Nook" and many others in sharing fall freebies!

I added my Hundreds Chart Pumpkin which is part of the Halloween Pack (see post below)!

Click on the picture above to see many more fall freebies, or link up your own!

Bundle Up!

I just recently discovered the idea of "bundling" on TpT. This is where teachers will put several similar products together and {usually} sell them for a discounted price. Maybe everyone already knew that....where have I been? :)

Anyway, I think it's a great idea! So I recently made several bundles available in my store! The first is some Math Journal Daily Prompts - geared at 1st or 2nd grade.

The second one is a bundle of Reading Comprehension Cards - for grades 2-4!

 

 

Link up below with a great bundle from your store....and browse around at some other great deals!!
(You can put the name of the product instead of Your Name if you'd like!)

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Linky Party - Wishlists!!

I don't know about you, but I'm hoping a lot of people who have wishlisted my items decide that the Back to School Sale is the right time to buy! Go ahead and link up with your most wishlisted item, and also if you want, one that is on your wishlist to buy!!

My most wishlisted item is my Hundreds Chart Mystery Pictures - a set of 24 mystery pictures using the 100s chart, great for K-2!

 

Something on my own wishlist to buy is this Daily Calendar Book. I'd love to use it with my kids at home!

 



 

What's on your wishlist??

(Put the name of the item instead of your name!) 

 

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Your Most Popular Freebie Link Up!!

Let's share our most popular freebies with each other! Link up with yours and browse around at others!!

One of my most popular freebies for grades K-2 is this Hundreds Chart Fun - Butterfly!

For grades 2-5 I also have this silly activity to teach students the Importance of Reading and Following Directions!

 

Now it's your turn! Share your most popular freebies here!!
(Your name can be the name of the freebie!)

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Thanks everyone! I can't wait to see all the great things you guys have!

-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!