Tots and Me... Growing Up Together: July 2019

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Wordless Wednesday: July 31, 2019 (w/linky) - Camp Time

Harold went to Mini-Camp a couple of weeks ago. With Mini-Camp the children only stay one night to get them used to being away from home. Amelia came with us to drop him off.

For some reason I never got any pictures of us picking him up on Friday.

And then on Sunday, we brought Hannah to camp for her full week of Friendship Camp.

She was thrilled to be here, not so thrilled I was taking her picture.

Hannah with her counselor.

Hannah with her counselor and her friend from co-op. She was thrilled Lily was in her cabin.

And then on Friday we got to pick her up. Yes, she ran from us. The little stinker.

Hannah with her counselor and CIT.

And she made a friend.

Time to go home.

We had to rush out of there because the library was having an Astronomy program that evening. After the presentation, we got to look at Saturn and Jupiter through the telescope. It was pretty cool.

Looking forward to seeing your Wordless (or not so wordless) Wednesday posts this week.

No button currently, and there won't be one until I can figure it out seeing as Photobucket has changed things. Feel free to still share the picture in place of the button on your Wordless Wednesday post or in a list of Wordless Wednesday linkies. Just link it to my Wordless Wednesday permalink please.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Littles Learning Link Up: July 30, 2019

Each month you will find:

A seasonal round-up (usually toward the beginning of the month)
Posts where I share what I have been up to with my elementary-age children and the preschoolers I work with at our homeschool co-op (including occasional highlight posts where I share how we used ideas that have been linked up here on Littles Learning Link Up).

Each week, I will host a link up, where you can share either what you have been up to recently, or old posts that may go with the theme. Feel free to link up more than one post.

Each week I will continue to feature a couple of posts from those that have been linked up.

I hope you will continue to share your wonderful posts, and I hope you will find something new to try with your child(ren).

It would be great for everyone to stop by and visit the other linked-up posts as well. Check them out, leave some comments, pin those that interest you. Let's make this a real party and socialize with each other.

Here's a peek at what we have been up to in our homeschool.

I spent some time trying to get caught up in our My Father's World curriculum last week. However, I have to go through the same lessons again this week as Hannah was at camp last week. Amelia and Tabitha are at camp this week, so I figured this was the best way to go about getting these weeks finished. Harold gets to re-listen to the readings, but I think that is going to be good for him.

We have been reading about the Hundred Years War and Joan of Arc, then we moved on to the Ottoman Turks. From there we moved on to Ferdinand and Isabella uniting Spain, with a brief mention of Christopher Columbus, who we will come back to. Then we learned about Henry the Navigator. As usual, I'm learning some neat things as well.

Because the were written during this time period, I also took some fairy tales out of the library. I found a version of Cinderella that I really liked illustrated by Kinuko Y. Craft. This was a version recommended in the MFW teacher manual. We also watched Cinderella and Cinderella 2 (the Disney animated versions), plus Ever After with Drew Barrymore. We have the live-action Disney Cinderella and Cinderella 3 to watch this week.

We are continuing to use the Home School in the Woods Time Line figures to review history. Not only are we reviewing people, places, and events we learned about, but we are also learning new information. I thought it would be a great opportunity to be able to link what was happening in different parts of the world throughout the time we learned about all year. Plus I love that we can place where Bible events and people fit into history. We are going to work on building our timeline this week.

The children are continuing to work through literature study guides from Memoria Press. Hannah and I are working on Mr. Popper's Penguins. Harold and I are reading A Bear Called Paddington. Amelia has been working on Charlotte's Web. And Tabitha has been working on Farmer Boy. We are learning new vocabulary, working through comprehension questions, and doing enrichment exercises. One of Hannah's activities was to draw a picture of Captain Cook in his new home.

Harold, Hannah and I have been reading Eye to Eye with Animals books that we are reviewing from Library and Educational Services. These are books that Harold has taken up to his room to read by himself. However, I decided we would spend some time reading them together during our mommy-time. We've been reading about Brawny Bears and Amazing Apes this week.

We loved that the Spectacled Bear was in the bear book. Harold and I have been reading A Bear Called Paddington while using the Memoria Press study guide and we remembered from last year's unit study that Paddington is supposed to be a spectacled bear.

Let's take a look at that review schedule real quick:
Two weeks ago I shared reviews for the Music & Creativity Foundation Course from Simply Music plus the USA Activity Bundle Pack from Crafty Classroom.

This week you will find reviews for the Home School in the Woods Timeline Collection. Next week I will share my reviews for Library & Educational Services and Memoria Press, Later in the month you will find the review of the study guide for Britfield & the Lost Crown (I just posted my review of the book yesterday). I also plan to share any new insights we learn from our re-read of the book as a family read-aloud.

In September I will be sharing my review of Easy Grammar Plus from Easy Grammar Systems, Online Times Alive from City Creek Press, Inc, and the 200 Essential Math Skills for Second Grade workbook from Reading Eggs.

Here are some things I would like to share with you:

First of all, I don't want you to miss your opportunity to enter to win a signed copy of Britfield & the Lost Crown by C.R. Stewart.

Check out my review and giveaway post.

US only, 18 years old and up.

Ends August 4th, 2019

And check out these round ups from the past:

Beach Fun Round Up

Camping Fun Round Up

Now onto:

Littles Learning Link Up Features

On my last Littles Learning Link Up post, there were 4 wonderful posts linked up. I will be sharing 2 randomly selected posts as there were no clicks last week.

Please, don't forget to stop by other posts that are linked up. See what catches your eye, stop by, pin the post to a relevant board, and perhaps leave a comment to let the author of the blog know you have been by for a visit. I know I appreciate others commenting and letting me know they have read my posts, so I am sure others do too.

This week's first randomly selected post is:

Nicole from Mama of Many Blessings shared Bubble Fun and Edible Aquariums

This week's second randomly selected post is:

Tara from Homeschool Preschool shared Summer Playdough Mats

Join the Party!

I would love to have you join in this week! What sort of activities do you do with your young children? Do you have some favorite activities you would like to share? I invite you to link up below. I will be pinning posts on one of my relevant boards, and I would love to feature some of the activities each week from what is linked up.

Please know I may share a picture from your post and link back to it, along with sharing how we used your idea in our school time. By linking up you are giving me permission to use a picture from your post. I will ALWAYS give credit and link back. Additionally, if you choose to try out any of the ideas with your child, please make sure you give credit where credit is due.

Linky will be open through Monday night, to give me time to check out all the posts and get the Features organized. Please take the time to visit some of the other wonderful posts linked up.

No button currently, and there won't be one until I can figure it out seeing as Photobucket has changed things. Feel free to still share the picture in place of the button. Just link it to my Littles Learning Link Up permalink please.

I am sharing over at

Monday, July 29, 2019

Tuesday's Giveaway Link Up- July 30, 2019

Welcome to Tuesday's Giveaway Link Up with your hosts Karen @ Tots and Me, Emily @ Emily Reviews, Shelly @ The Attic Girl, and Rena @ An Ordinary Housewife.

So glad you could join us as we share our giveaways on Tuesday's Giveaway Link Ups.

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!

Featured Giveaway

Signed Copy of Britfield & The Lost Crown US only Ends 8/4

Featured Reviews

Studying the States with the USA Activity Bundle Pack {A Homeschool Review Crew Review}

Using a Play-Based Approach to Learn to Play the Piano with Simply Music {A Homeschool Review Crew Review}

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

Thank you for linking up with Karen @ Tots and Me, Emily @ Emily Reviews, Shelly @ The Attic Girl, and Rena @ An Ordinary Housewife .

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Throwback Thursday Blog-Style #266: July 25, 2019

Welcome back to...

I know, I know, Throwback Thursday seems to be all about sharing pictures from the past, great memories that mean something to you, that you would like to share with others. At least that is how it appears to me. Throwback Thursday wasn't something I was participating in, and then I came up with an idea.

I thought it would be great fun and a help to my blog to share old content, but not just any old content. Each week I will share an old blog post from a previous year, any year, BUT it has to be from the current week (for example, something I've posted around July 25th, from any previous year) I will go in, edit the post if needed, add a pinnable image if I don't already have one, and share it on Facebook.

Would you like to join in? You do not need to edit your past post in any way, you don't need to create a pinnable image, though it couldn't hurt, in fact it will help your blog traffic to add quality pinnable images to your posts.

Just go into your archives, choose a favorite post from this current week from any previous year, and link it up below. (If you don't have anything from this current week, it is still okay to link up with a post from a previous year around this time. And if you haven't been blogging for a full year, feel free to share any earlier post.)

Please make sure to share from the past as instructed above. The spirit of Throwback Thursday Blog-Style is to share posts from the past. Please follow the guidelines. I would hate to have to delete your link.
Thank you

I will be pinning posts to my appropriate Pinterest boards and will be randomly selecting a Featured Throwback Thursday post to share next week. Just a note, I will be sharing a picture from your post if you are selected as the featured post, but I will link back to your post. I will ALWAYS give credit and link back. By linking up you are giving me permission to use your picture in the post.

Here is my Throwback Thursday post
(This year I am going to focus on looking back at past reviews):

Originally posted June 24th, 2015
Ready, Eager, Able & Determined to READ with The Crafty Classroom {A TOS Review}

Here is this week's randomly selected

Featured Throwback Thursday post:

(I am keeping the same featured post as last week as there was no participation, probably because I didn't have time to post in the morning and completely forgot until the evening.)

Kristen from A Mom's Quest to Teach shared:

Reviewing Math Refresher for Adults from Math Essentials

To participate, link up below. It would be great if you could visit several of the other posts that have linked up. Stop by, comment, and pin images so we can help each other.

Happy Throwback Thursday!

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Wordless Wednesday: July 24, 2019 (w/linky) - Fun-Filled Weekend

Patiently waiting for the officials to decide whether the hot air balloons would launch.

Still waiting, but we were allowed to go on the field and talk to the pilots. We even got to get into one of the baskets.

It was finally decided that some of the balloons would be able to launch. We got to remain on the field to be right near them while they were inflating them and launching. So cool!