learning

Greene Bark Press {Crew Review}

September 6, 2013 by Dana

Greene Bark Press, Inc. specializes in original books that expand the imaginations of young readers. They believe that in this digital age, it’s still important to provide children with solid, colorful books that allow children to grow and learn. They believe books should capture a child’s attention.

Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again features the adorable Wally Waddlewater. Wally wants to find a mailbox to send a birthday card to his Grandmother. Through this book, Wally learns how to safely cross the road with rules.

This 26 page board book is full of color and detail. Designed for ages 3-8, the words found in the book are challenging for the age group and easy to follow along. The story itself teaches children the rules of street safety, showing them how to safely cross the road. It also teaches safety in crossing train tracks and other important outdoor areas.

This was a wonderful book. I wanted it specifically to share with Laycie since, out here in the boondocks, we don’t have many roads for her to cross. Street safety is something she really needed to learn since she can be very impulsive and what better way to learn than with this adorable book about one of her favorite animals: a duck! She absolutely loved Wally Waddlewater and now she knows how to safely cross both the road, the parking lot and the train track.

We were able to practice the lesson we learned in this book by crossing our driveway. We made sure to Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again as we did it, just like Wally Waddlewater did in the pages of the book! She loved being able to reenact the story in this way and verified she had learned the lesson provided in the book.

Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again is available from Greene Bark Press, Inc for $8.50 plus shipping. It is a boardbook written by Ginger Pate.

To read more reviews for Greene Bark Press, Inc., please click the banner below.

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Gryphon House: The Homegrown Preschool {Crew Review}

August 2, 2013 by Dana

Gryphon House Publishers graciously offered the Schoolhouse Review crew their choice of two products for this review: Global Art and The Homegrown Preschooler. I must say I was extremely torn over which I would chose. Art is a HUGE deal in our house but so is preschool learning for my younger two.

Weighing my choices, I chose to review The Homegrown Preschooler: Teaching Your Kids in the Places They Live, which actually went very well with my last review, Circle Time by Kendra Fletcher {Read that review here!}. The books complemented each other well for our lessons but enough about that.

The Homegrown Preschooler was a great reminder of many of the concepts I have previously used in our homeschooling. It gives a great explanation of using play and hands-on activities for active lessons with younger children. The Homegrown Preschooler gives examples throughout the book of activities, ideas and games that can be used with children of any age to develop their learning and life skills.

This 204 page book is packed with beautiful images of children engaging in various activities. This fully-colored guide for “Teaching You Kids in the Places They Live”, is jam-packed full with activities dealing with math, science, reading, and much more. It includes great meal planning recipes for kids along with great recipes for play dough and other useful preschool tools.

The Homegrown Preschooler guides you in turning your home into an environment in which your children can learn. This book teaches the parent how to use the things that are available to them to bring learning home, and how to create a safe and educational place for the learning to be done in. Preschool is about play and fun and all the things that children love to do!

Inspirational stories can be found throughout this book from the authors and others who have been there done that. Fingerplays, songs and other fun activities are shared for you to utilize in your own preschool environment. There’s also a great section of printables and design instructions in the back of the book for your personal use.

The Homegrown Preschooler is written for parents of preschoolers between the ages of one and five. I chose to read and use this book with my five year old, who is a bit old for some of the activities. We were able to use much of the books suggestions though since Laycie is slightly delayed in learning due to her Epilepsy.

After reading this book, I decided making my own play dough doesn’t sound too bad. I also started using more hands-on elements with Laycie, creating a few sensory bins using toys, rice and other things we have around our house. Some of these sensory play times have also made it into our bath where Laycie enjoys making a mess and then washing it up, teaching her the skills of homekeeping as she works.

Many of the suggestions in the book, are things we have been doing a long time. We work together and have Circle Times and field trips that allow our family to bond and socialize. We clean together too, learning skills from one another as we work. Sometimes I even let each child teach another the skills they are good at.

The Homegrown Preschooler is a great book for any parent with a young child. I know I will be pulling it out in the future as Jackson grows and I am in need of a reminder for activities to do with him. This book will be beneficial for years to come as it teaches you skills and techniques that can really be used throughout the child’s younger years.

The Homegrown Preschooler is available from Gyphon House for $29.95 plus shipping. For more reviews of The Homegrown Preschooler, please click the banner below!

The “U” Word {Homeschooling}

June 10, 2013 by Dana

I have four children. Three who are school aged and one sweet baby. I chose a long time ago to homeschool them. If you have been on my blog long, or are my Facebook friend, etc then you already know all of this.

We are not traditional homeschoolers. I don’t have time for that! But we are homeschoolers none the less.

I came to realize recently that I don’t talk a whole lot about our homeschooling adventures. I honestly have no idea why except maybe it’s because, to me, our homeschooling doesn’t look a whole lot different than the everyday normal. We play, we eat, we draw, write, color, watch tv. This list could get pretty long. We do all the same things you do when your children are home, only we do them as part of our schooling.

See we are Eclectic in educational style. We are extremely relaxed. We border strongly on Unschooling.

I can hear your sharp intake of breath. “Did she just say Unschooling?! Isn’t that doing no school at all?! You mean she’s not teaching those kids?! The shame.”

No, no! That’s not what Unschooling is at all! Unschooling is allowing my children educational freedom to learn on their own. Unschooling is having faith in God to lead our daily studies. Unschooling is letting my children be children as God intended for them to be.

I teach by playing with my kids or seeing to it they have the necessary tools to learn with. I teach as they ask questions to learn more about something they want to know. I teach by explaining that it’s not proper to say “I ain’t gonna play with she today” and why it’s not. This list can go on too.

What you won’t see in my home every day is me standing at a black board writing out words or me standing over my daughter as she practices her writing. You won’t find me patiently waiting while they finish up a test or timing them as they learn their math facts. You won’t find my children learning rote memorization of facts they don’t find interesting or us reading from a text book written just so they can be equal educationally to millions of other students.

What you will find is a library stocked with interesting books on 1000’s of subjects that they can and do pick up and read at will. You will find a stocked video area and a subscription to Netflix, along with a full channel satellite package so they can view documentaries and other educational movies at the drop of a hat as we learn. You will find the internet connected at all times so we can research things that catch their interest or puzzle their minds. You will also find tons of toys for interactive play, legos for building and math, crayons, paper, coloring pages, and a working printer for challenging them to absorb their world daily.

That is the way of Unschooling and Relaxed, Eclectic education. We learn every day about many different things in a way we love, making education something we love. And I, nor my children, would have that any other way.

Winston’s Turning 12 {Thoughts From Me}

December 27, 2012 by Dana

Christmas is finally past and we move onto the last birthday of the year, which starts our birthday season around here. Winston turns 12 on December 28. I can hardly believe he’s already 12. My baby has grown up way too quickly.

Every day he comes one day closer to being a strong, patient and loving man. In a few months, I expect that he will be taller than me. In a few years, he will be grown and moving on. Momma is sooo not ready for all of this.

I’m proud of my baby. He’s always supportive of me. He does all I ask with very little attitude. He’s a servant and a man of strength. He’s kind to his siblings. He enjoys working hard.

Recently, he’s discovered a love of nature. He enjoys hunting. For Christmas, he shot his first gun. One of his presents was a starter bow set to learn archery, something he requested to do.

The years are getting shorter and I am trying to make the best of the time I have left with him as my child. Children grow up way too fast. They leave the nest before Momma is ready to let them go. But every precious moment and memory they bring us is worth the process of going through it all. I will never forget a single day, I’ve spent with my handsome son.

Happy Birthday to my precious boy. May his life be all he wishes and his dreams come true. He’s been a blessing to my life and I pray he always knows love and happiness in his future.

A Quick Look at Homeschooling {Homeschooling}

March 21, 2012 by Dana

So I need to make a blog post but I’m sitting here distractedly watching my sweet almost 4 year old cut up pieces of morning art project on my brand new couch, gritting my teeth hoping she doesn’t miss and cut a hole in it! She took it upon herself to make a beautiful chalk drawing on a sheet of yellow construction paper. Her new obsession is cutting paper into tiny little squares.

She amazes me. She is smart as can be. She even amazed her therapists yesterday as she worked through her tasks with ease and brilliance of memory. *Yep she gets that from me!* LOL

She’s finally finished her artwork and now she is carefully carrying it and her tiny squares back over to our dining table where she was supposed to be working in the first place. Her chalk rolls across the table and she runs to the other side to retrieve it. “I got it Mommy,” she excitedly tells me.

This kind of stuff is exactly why I choose to homeschool. If my children attended public school, I would completely miss out on these precious moments and they would miss out on this time with me. Not to mention my little Laycie would miss out on her special creative moments like the ones she’s had this morning. And it’s the same for my other children. This is what homeschooling is all about.

I must say this is not the post I intended for this morning but I guess God had different ideas for me! I’m finding following his lead is much easier than I once thought and my life is much better for it. The joys of my days are found in the Love He has blessed me with.

What is joyful to you today??

June 2011 Update

June 6, 2011 by Dana

The month of June has brought out the heat in South Carolina. Hot days, hot temps, simply hot, hot, hot. Not that the kids seem to mind. They are enjoying days filled with water sprinkler fun, swimming in the river, playing outdoors games like kickball, baseball and bike riding. Their only dislike is how hot it already is outside.

Emmalee’s puppy is growing like crazy. He’s already two inches taller than Claire, our Cocker Spaniel. He’s annoyingly loving and lots of fun.

The kids have been getting a lot of hands on nature study with the extra outdoor time. We’ve been watching areas we’re hanging out in for Poison Ivy and Poison Oak and finding it sometimes, thankfully avoiding it. We’ve seen new babies flying, swimming, crawling everywhere. Caught minnows and tadpoles in the river and pond. Even helped clean out the overgrowth surrounding our pond so that we can enjoy time fishing and playing on the banks.

I haven’t been able to go to bed early and sleep through the night because of the puppy’s needs. This is also reflecting on getting up early which I haven’t been able to manage due to not being able to o to sleep early. I have been reading my devotional book daily and reflecting on the things I have read. This is such a blessing since I can’t seem to get much else done while chasing a toddler and a puppy during the day.

I’m hoping to be able to get back to work on my list soon, working on my goals. I have several ideas for new blog posts that I’m hoping to be able to get into writing. We have new curriculum to start working on and the kids are super excited. We have plans for swimming, boating, fishing throughout our summer. July we are heading to Georgia to visit family. It’s going to be a busy month but we are more than ready.

Bring on Summertime in June.