Homeschool Bites: Day 9

Yesterday we spent our entire morning in the waiting room of a Dr's office because I was the driver for a family member who had to go in for a routine procedure.  Nothing serious, just had to drive.  The girls were extremely well behaved!  I was very proud of them. Part of that success was due to the giant apples I brought for them to eat as snacks, and part was due to the activity bag we brought along.

Since we couldn't homeschool at home that day, I brought a lot of educational things with us in order to keep the kids busy and engaged while we waited for a couple of hours.

Books are always important in our homeschooling routine.  I love the Big Blue Book and the Big Green book because they contain several of our favorite smaller books in them!  We read all 12 books while we waited!  Charlie even helped me read Go Do Go.

Color books are also an important aspect of education and entertainment.  We talk about the colors and explore the different ways we can make a picture look just by adding color.  Lena didn't do too much coloring, but it kept Charlie entertained for at least 30 minutes.  She is getting much better about coloring in the lines.

Flash cards are great to bring along because they are fairly small, and a lot of activities can be done with them.  We talked about a lot of animals and told some stories about them, and we used the Learn to Read cards to go over some letter sounds and talk about rhyming.

Lena had no interest in lacing cards, but this was a new and interesting activity for Charlie. She got a little frustrated with the project, but she quickly learned.  The smile of pride on her face when she finished her first lacing card was priceless.  I loved that she was able to work through all of the frustration and finish what she started.  I think that made her feel pretty good too.

Finally, we included these activity boards.  The small stickers aren't really stickers at all.  They are thin peices of vinyl that can be moved and removed where ever the kids want them to be.  We have a theater set and a ballet set.  The girls love to make up different stories to go with the pictures they design.  It's a really good creative outlet for them and they can spend a lot of time on this activity.

Homeschool Bites: Day 8

For a family of rock hounds, we have to take some time to check out rocks of all kinds of shapes and sizes.  Today we pulled out our polished stones just to give the girls a colorful taste of some of the beauties of the Earth.

Part of the lesson was to handle the rocks, look at them, make observations about them and the draw what they see.  Charlie of course drew a lot of purple rocks, but she was quick to point out to me she did draw the black rock that looked like a Christmas tree (obsidian arrowhead) and a green rock she liked.  During the lesson we also practiced verbal description by calling their Aunt and telling her about the rocks.  We worked on asking them questions, such as what color are the rocks, what shape are they, etc and eventually they started getting pretty good at describing them.

After the rocks were put away I had Charlie do some journaling.  I asked her what she wanted to write, then I helped guide her hand to write what she wanted to say.  This is the phrase she came up with all on her own. I think we have a little scientist on our hands!

Homeschool Bites: Day 7

I swear Charlie is going to be a Party Planner when she grows up!  Ok, based off of her wide range of interests, I like to think she's going to be quite a bit of things, and I'll be happy with whatever she chooses.  However, as a party planner, she's only four and already light years ahead of me!  Check out this great tea party spread she set up all on her own!

I love the fact that she sets up impromptu tea parties for herself, her sister, Mommy and Daddy, her stuffed animals, the pets, friends, or just about anyone who will sit down for a cup of tea and a chat with her.  We also use this time for a little bit of informal education.  We talk about manners, food groups, and sometimes we even make real tea and cookies to share to practice with pouring tea among other things.

Today's homeschool bite was to show you that learning can happen anywhere at any time.  For the girls we like to sit back and watch them play, but we also like to jump right in sometimes and help them learn new concepts and solidify some we've been working on.  Not to mention tea party conversations are awesome!

Seeing Double! Keurig Vue V700 Giveaway

I don't know about you, but I've been eyeing a Keurig for quite some time now.  All of my favorite hot drinks in one place.  It would be like having a coffee shop ready with my order as soon as I got up in the morning, or needed an afternoon pick me up, or even a drink for those late nights spent working.  Keurig is the coffee system of my dreams, and if it's the coffee system of your dreams then enter here to win!  Even if it's not on your wish list, I bet there is someone on a gift list of yours that would love one!

Seeing Double! Keurig Vue V700 Event

Hosted by Mom To Bed by 8 and Donna’s Deals and More

Brew with a Vue. Keurig has done it again with an entirely new brewing system that gives you more of the tasty beverages you love, exactly the way you want them. Now, you can decide how strong you want your coffee to taste and how hot, no matter how big or small your cup is! From creamy hot chocolate to delicious iced teas and frothy cafe beverages, the Keurig Vue V700 delivers the size, strength, and consistency you love, with every single-serving.

Still deliciously simple. At just the touch of a button, Keurig's revolutionary Custom Brew Technology adjusts water pressure, timing, and airflow to deliver the perfect cup of coffee or tea every time. You'll love the Vue's quiet operation and shortened steep time, as it whips up cafe-quality treats in a matter of minutes. Plus, there's no grinding beans, measuring, or cleanup needed--just add water and enjoy.

Countertop coffee shop. With the Keurig Vue system, you get the single-serve brewer with interactive touchscreen display, 66 Vue packs and a water filtration kit. And, for your convenience, it comes with two 16-oz iced coffee tumblers to get you started right out of the box.

Well, if that isn't the pot calling the Keurig fabulous!

• Includes Keurig V700 Vue Brewer, 10 Variety Vue packs, 12 travel-sized Breakfast Vue packs, 12 Vue House Blend Vue packs, 16 Donut Shop Vue packs, 16 Celestial Iced Tea Vue packs, two 16-oz tumblers, and a water filter kit
• Variety pack includes one each of Gloria Jean Hazelnut Coffee, Timothy's Decaf, Tully's French Roast, Celestial Seasoning Southern Sweet Tea, Green Mountain Breakfast Blend travel-sized, Celestial Seasoning Sleepytime, Barista Prima Italian Roast, Cafe Escape Milk Chocolate, GMC Nantucket Blend, and Donut Shop
• Tumblers: plastic/acrylic construction
• Colored touchscreen user interface
• Eight brew sizes: 4 oz, 6 oz, 8 oz, 10 oz, 12 oz, 14 oz, 16 oz, and 18 oz
• 74-oz water reservoir
• Brew coffee from 187F to 197F
• Strength selection for stronger flavor
• Removable drip tray with adjustable plate
• Vue packs are #5 recyclable plastic

One winner will receive a Keurig Vue V700 + K-Cups!

Giveaway ends January 20th at 11:59pm, open to US & Canada, ages 18+. To enter please use the Rafflecopter form below. Good luck!

Special thank you to our co-hosts: Penny Auctions Canada, Homeschooling Mom 4 Two, Simply Sherryl, The Dragyn's Lair, Spend With Pennies, Sparkles and a Stove, Freebie Spot, The Frugal Batavian, Cherished Handmade Treasures, Iowa Mom, Just Davey and Me, My Four Littles, Down South Savings, Powered By Mom and Baby Costcutters!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received no compensation for this publication. My opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own. Living a Sunshine Life is not responsible for sponsor prize shipment. Please contact Mom Powered Media with questions or to see your business or blog featured on the next big event!

Homeschool Bites: Day 6

Today the girls were excited to break out the piggy banks to get acquainted with money. 

This is Lena's princess piggy.

This is Charlie's purple piggy.

First we explored the coins to look at how they were the same and how they were different. Then we had them start to sort the coins into different bowls.  We also talked about the different coins and how much money they represented.  This part was a little more Charlie's speed, but she still struggled a bit with the concept.  

The girls favorite part of the entire lesson was plunking the coins back in their banks.  If I remember right, that was always something I loved to do as a kid too.

Homeschool Bites: Day 5

The weekend got away from me thanks to busy work and year end closing of my business.  Sorry I didn't get Day 5 posted on time, but I assure you we did work on something, and that something is scissors!  Both girls got some good practice with scissors, then they both got to make a mosaic with some of the paper they cut out.

Charle started her scissor work by cutting lines.  She did a great job cutting straight lines but needed a little assistance with some of the curvy lines.

Lena got right to work cutting strips of paper into smaller pieces for a mosaic project.  We discovered that her blue scissors weren't working great for her, so later we switched scissors because Charlie's has a small tab we can set to give the handles a little assistance in cutting.  She cut paper like a rock star after that!

After the paper was cut the girls grabbed the glue and started in on their mosaics.  Lena told us she made a birthday cake.

Charlie went for a rainbow.  Both girls did an excellent job on their mosaics and we have plenty of paper to keep practicing with cutting and gluing.

Homeschool Bites: Day 4

Today's Homeschool Bite is all about teeth.  We spent some time last night talking about our teeth and what they do.  

First we watched the clip from Sid the Science Kid on PBSkids.org about exploring teeth.

We took some time to look at our teeth in a mirror and discussed why they have different shapes.

Then we tried eating some different things to see how our teeth worked to bite and chew them.  First a banana.  We use our incisors to bite the soft banana.

And then the hard carrot.  We use our canine teeth to bite into the carrot.

We talked some more about teeth and their names, as well as proper dental care.  I printed off some great teeth coloring sheets from Science With Me.  Charlie insisted on making her teeth rainbow colored, then explained to me the extremely detailed procedure she thinks would work to make our teeth rainbow.  I'm still not sure I understand, but she was pretty sure about it.

Finally we read a couple of books about teeth.  The first was from the kids Anatomy book, so we read the pages about teeth and talked about the parts of the teeth and again how to take care of them.  Then we read The Tooth Book for fun and talked about all the different people and animals that have teeth.