Wordless Wednesday: May 23, 2012 (w/linky)- Mommy Hannah

She takes such good care of "her" babies.

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Top 10 Favorite Websites To Use For Homeschooling

Top 10 favorite websites to use for homeschooling

I found this great little meme today, I guess with pretty good timing. Angie, from Many Little Blessings hosts this every week and this week she is making it apart of the 10 in 10 series through iHomeschool Network.  Over the last couple of years I have used quite a few different websites for our home preschooling. Some are sites I get craft ideas or printables from. Others are sites that the girls actually use. And there are even some favorite blogs that I find some great activities on. Here are my top 10 (in random order).

Let's start with the top sites the girls get on:

1- more.starfall.com- This is an expansion of starfall.com and it does have a small fee. However, I think it is completely worth the money. In using more.starfall.com the children have access to the great phonics and reading lessons available on the free site, but they also have access to a lot more. There is more phonics in the form of games and activities. In addition the children love all the math games (from recognizing numbers to addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and geometry), stories, colors, nursery rhymes and songs. 

2- sesamestreet.org- Every week they have a different theme that you will find on their home page.  There are games and quite a few muppets have their own page with lots of different educational games.  Some topics your child will learn include:

patterns
sorting
alphabet
numbers
I love that each muppet's page lists facts about the muppet, like birthday, description and favorites.

3- speekee.co.uk- I won a 3 month subscription to speekee, which is a Spanish immersion course featuring the puppet Speekee. The children liked it so much we decided to keep our subscription current. They learn from real Spanish children through songs and real life conversations.

Now to move on to the sites I use the most when preparing our homeschool lessons.

4- Handwriting for Kids- On this site I can create my own handwriting worksheets including alphabet, math (which includes a wide selection of subjects), vocabulary words. They even have practice sheets for Bible verses.

5- handwritingworksheets.com- This is a newer-to-me worksheet maker. With this site I can create single word, multi-word, sentence and paragraph worksheets just by printing the exact thing I want. The site then takes and creates the same content as dotted words for tracing. 

6- Progressive Phonics- This is a site that I have used with Tabitha and plan to start using soon with Amelia. We use the free workbooks that gradually have the girls reading more and more short vowel words as we progress through the story. The story is written so that the adult reads the black words and there are short vowel words included in red for the children to read. The first book only has short a words that increase in frequency as you progress. The next book is short e, etc. 

7- DTLK's Crafts for Kids- This has been a great site for ideas, especially when doing our Letter of the Week lessons. 

Finally, these last three sites are blogs where I have tried to be faithful in linking up our school time posts. Not only do the ladies at these sites have great ideas but linking up on their weekly linkys has made it possible for me to find some great blogs who are also sharing great ideas. (And now, thanks to Pinterest I can pin and remember all those great activities I want to keep for future use). 

8- Tot School at 1+1+1=1

9- Preschool Corner at Homeschool Creations

10- Read, Explore, Learn at JDaniel4's Mom

I am linking up at Top Ten Tuesday as shown above and I am also going to go and check out all the great lists at:

Britax B-Agile Stroller Giveaway

I am so excited to have the great opportunity to share the following giveaway with you. I am joining in once again with some great bloggers and Mom to Bed by 8 to bring you...

About Britax:

BRITAX has been a leader in mobile safety for more than 70 years, with a legacy of leadership in developing innovations that enhance the safety of child car seats and improve their ease of installation and use. Our uncompromising focus has made BRITAX the best-selling child car seat in Europe and one of the brands most trusted by American parents and caregivers since entering the U.S. market in 1996. Our commitment to improving child safety is unparalleled, as evidenced by the fact that our products undergo the most rigorous testing in our industry at five BRITAX testing facilities worldwide. We also work closely with vehicle manufacturers to encourage design improvements that enhance the performance of child car seats. In addition, we maintain an ongoing dialogue with consumers, child passenger safety technicians and other child safety advocates to ensure proper installation and use of child seats and develop new ideas to improve their safety and ease of use.

About the Britax B-Agile Stroller:

• One-Hand, Quick Fold with automatic chassis lock
• Travel System Compatible with other major infant car seat brands, including Graco, Chicco, and Peg Perego, when used with BRITAX infant car seat adapter (sold separately)
• Lightweight aluminum frame (16.5 lbs total weight)
• No re-thread, adjustable, five-point harness and head pad with reflective binding
• Infinite seat recline positions
• Large under seat storage and additional pocket with zipper
• Linked parking brake locks both rear wheels
• CLICK & GO integrated adapter system works with BRITAX CHAPERONE and B-SAFE infant car seats
• Three-wheel design provides improved steering and maneuverability
• All-Wheel Suspension provides for a smooth ride
• Frame designed for stride clearance
• Large canopy with ventilation window
• Included Accessories: BRITAX CLICK & GO infant car seat receivers
• MSRP (USD) $249.99

Giveaway ends June 5 at 11:59pm, open to US residents only, ages 18+. Brought to you by Britax and Mom to Bed by 8.

To enter to win a Britax B-Agile Stroller, please use the rafflecopter form below. Good luck!

Tuesday's Giveaway Link Up- May 22,2012

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Welcome to Tuesday's Giveaway Link Up with your hosts Aimee @ Classified: Mom & Karen @ Tots and Me & Alicia @ McCrenshaw's Newest Thoughts!

This link up will be posted Monday at 7 PM est. and run all week long! Make sure you stop in as often as you can to list your latest giveaways.

Here is how to use the Giveaway Link Up



1. Post your reviews and/or giveaways, as many as you have, be sure to add the end date (family friendly please)



2. Help spread the word about the giveaway link up by grabbing our button, Tweeting or posting on Facebook. (Not mandatory- but it helps get more exposure to your giveaways as well!)



3. Take a moment to enter any giveaway that strikes an interest to you!



If you would  like to follow the three hostesses, we will gladly follow you back! Simply leave us a message to do so.





Thank you for linking up with  Aimee @ Classified: Mom & Karen @ Tots and Me & Alicia @  McCrenshaw's Newest Thoughts! 

Free Sign Ups for FunBites Giveaway

I have shared a little bit about the FunBites cutter I was sent to review. I would love to have you join me as I giveaway one FunBites Cutter.

The winner of the giveaway will have their choice of one of the two cutters above. I received the Cube It! FunBites cutter and I love it. The review is coming up soon with the giveaway. This post is for bloggers who are interested in helping me promote this giveaway in exchange for a Facebook link on the Rafflecopter form. In addition, if you share about this opportunity you will get a Twitter link as well. There is no fee to participate, just a promise to post the giveaway with Rafflecopter when it goes live and sharing about the giveaway a few times in the two week time period the giveaway is live (beginning, middle and end).  If you would like to join me head over and link up.

Click here to be redirected to the sign up form.

Muffin Tin Monday: Finger Food

I could not really decide on a theme today, but I wanted to use the FunBites Cutter again. So I just cut the sandwiches, cheese and honeydew melon into squares/cubes and added some yummy finger foods I knew they liked.

Starting From the Bottom:

Monterey Jack cheese bites

Peanut butter and apple butter sandwich bites

Carrots

Popcorn

Honeydew cubes

Froot Loops

You might notice I am missing a child. Tabitha spent the morning sleeping on the couch. Poor thing doesn't feel good. And I made her tin special for her too. ( I used shredded cheddar instead of Monterey Jack. It's about the only cheese she likes.)

Pinterest Finds Week of May 21

Last week I shared a couple of recipes I wanted to try. We actually tried the Simplest Chicken and Dumplings and they were delicious. I was going to make the Chocolate Mousse Oreo Parfaits, but decided the mousse was a little too involved for the children. So we just made Chocolate Pudding Oreo Parfaits. I have found some other great recipes, but this week I would like to share some fun activities I found for the girls.

Make your own bubble wands:

Source: happywhimsicalhearts.blogspot.com.au via Karen on Pinterest

Ice Letter Hunt:

Source: readingconfetti.com via Karen on Pinterest

Sight Word Hockey

Source: makinglearningfun.com via Karen on Pinterest

Toddler Sensory Bottles

Source: theiowafarmerswife.blogspot.com via Karen on Pinterest

And seeing as Memorial Day is right around the corner I just thought I would share the link to my Patriotic Board, maybe you will find something there you would like to try. I was reminded of a couple of things I want to try.


Linking up to

Pinterest Monday