Throwback Thursday Blog-Style #180: November 30, 2017

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 November 30th, 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.

Last year I focused solely on recipe posts for the posts I wanted to share, and the year before that, I shared past review posts. It was fun remembering some of the recipes and reviews I had forgotten about. This year I will be sharing random posts.

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 if you would like your post to qualify for the Featured Post. Most weeks I find that there is a wonderful post, but I can't feature it because it is a current post, not from the past. I love reading the current posts, if you want to share them. However, I am not able to feature them, because the spirit of Throwback Thursday Blog-Style is to share posts from the past.
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 are my Throwback Thursday posts:

Originally posted November 29, 2016
Littles Learning Link Up: November 29, 2016 - Gingerbread House Craft

Here is this week's randomly selected

Featured Throwback Thursday:

Anna from Simply Mazes shared Maze Number 102: "Pop"

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.

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 Throwback Thursday Blog-Style permalink please.

Happy Throwback Thursday!

An InLinkz Link-up

Wordless Wednesday: November 29, 2017 (w/linky) : First Thanksgiving With Two Granddaughters

This Thanksgiving we were blessed to have all my children come for dinner on Friday, though hubby's children couldn't make it due to work schedules. Not only did we get to spend time with them, we got to see two of our granddaughters as well. It was our first Thanksgiving with them and it was their very first Thanksgiving.

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.

An InLinkz Link-up

Littles Learning Link Up: November 28, 2017

 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 early elementary children (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.

What have we been up to?

Last week was a completely school-free week as we relaxed and got ready for family to come over on Friday to celebrate Thanksgiving. My oldest children were all able to make it, with two of our granddaughters, though my husband's oldest children didn't make it. We hope to see them around Christmas. The children made some different crafts to help decorate for the holiday. They thought it would be fun to take those Thankfulness Turkey Placemats I made with the preschoolers in co-op. However, we put them on the wall instead of covering them with contact paper and using them as placemats. We also made a banner. There are some cute hand turkeys gracing our walls, plus a big turkey that Harold made all on his own by taping pieces of paper together, drawing a turkey onto it, coloring it and cutting it out. 

Tabitha has been working quite diligently on her story "The Magic Eye" for NaNoWriMo. I actually upped her goal a couple of times, as she was writing a lot more than I thought she would. Now she has a couple of days to finish. Unfortunately, Amelia couldn't figure out where her story should go, so she gave up and refused to write anymore. I completely understand that, seeing as it happened to me last year. This year, my character hasn't gone very far, and I haven't written nearly as many words as I needed to.

We loved our break, but I for one am glad to be back into our routine this week. We are still learning about Ancient Egypt. In our Bible readings of Genesis we are up to the story of Joseph. For science we have moved on from light and are now learning about air (the second day of creation). Yesterday we compared water in two glass jars. In one the water was room temperature, and in the other we put nearly-boiling water. We watched the steam rise, added a burning match to both, and watched a "cloud" form.

Harold has officially started working on addition with My Father's World, though he does know some, it was new for him to write out the equations with the help of the Unifix cubes.

I had to share a picture of how well he has been writing his name. This sheet is a part of the Learn to R.E.A.D Curriculum Notebook that we reviewed over the summer. Though we haven't been using the actual reading portion I have him complete his "Daily Warm Up" and calendar almost every day (sometimes we forget or get too busy). He has been told, if he can write his name perfectly on Monday, he does NOT need to write it every day of the week. Yesterday's was the neatest he has done, and he didn't make any mistakes with capitalization or forming his letters wrong, or skipping any.

Let's take a look at that review schedule real quick:

On Sunday I posted my review of the Christmas Around the World study from Awe Filled Homemaker. It is a wonderful way to learn about the traditions of 21 countries around the world this Advent season. 

As for new review products, I just received Bonjour! Let's Learn French. That will be a review that will post on The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's website. Other than that, we have no current reviews. .

A couple of things I would like to share with you:

Wow! Thanksgiving is over, and December is just a few days away. That means Christmas is almost here. If you are looking for some ideas to keep your family focused on Jesus this Advent season, I invite you to check out the following posts:

Celebrating the Birth of Christ Through Literature - 10 Christmas Books that Focus on the True Meaning of Christmas, Plus a Round Up

Keeping Christ in Christmas Round Up

Next week I will be sharing my Angel Fun Round Up!

If you have any posts you would like included in this round up, please leave a comment below, or contact me by email, via the information in my About Me page.

Don't miss these giveaways:

Christmas Around the World Study (PDF download)

Giveaway is open to US citizens.

Ends November 28, 2017 

(Yes it ends tonight at midnight!)

The Magic Stories (set of 6 PDF downloadable readers)

Giveaway is open to US citizens.

Ends December 2, 2017

ESV Illuminated Bible

Giveaway is open to US citizens.

Ends December 2, 2017

Now onto:

Littles Learning Link Up Features

On my last Littles Learning Link Up post, there were 7 wonderful posts linked up. I will be picking one randomly selected post to share, plus the top clicked-on posts.  

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 randomly selected post is:

Kelli from Three Boys and a Dog shared Thanksgiving Toys for Toddlers.

And here are this week's top clicked on posts.

Lisa from Syncopated Mama shared How to Hold an Epic Group Cultural Day for Your Kids.

Thaleia from Something 2 Offer shared Free Advent Journal Pages.

Erin from The Usual Mayhem shared Winter Hideaway Wednesday! A Hibernation Unit.

Crystal from Crystal & Co. shared How to Use Our Thanksgiving Preschool Printable Pack.

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.

An InLinkz Link-up

Christmas Around the World Study Review and Giveaway

When I was growing up, the end of the Thanksgiving day parade was always the ushering in of the Christmas season. Christmas decorations adorned the streets and the storefronts. Holiday programing began to air on television and radio. It was time to write and send out Christmas cards. As I got older I learned that there is a name for this time of year. It is called Advent, the time of year when we await the coming of Jesus. I love to find new ideas to make special memories during this time of year, and we have some lovely traditions. This year, we are adding in some "Christmas Around the World" learning with the help of the Christmas Around the World curriculum from Awe Filled Homeschooler. I was sent a free, PDF copy for review, and the children and I have studied some of the countries that are included in this study, though we are leaving the remainder of it for Advent.

Along with this 75-page study, there is also a Passport that can be printed out and used to "stamp" the different countries you are visiting. This passport is currently free as a part of the purchase of the Christmas Around the World study. 

During the course of this study, you and your children will be learning about Christmas traditions in 21 countries, in addition to what Advent is, plus a look at St. Nicholas, and ending with learning about the birth of Christ. 

Each day there is a lesson that explains the different traditions of a country. You will look briefly at traditions involving such things as gift giving, decorations, meals, religious services, and other countries' versions of Santa Claus or gift bringers if applicable. Then there is a page with questions to answer. Lines are provided for the child to write their answers. Additionally, there is a coloring/activity sheet that goes with each country. 

As long as you start this study on the first of December, you will be able to get through all of the lessons before Christmas day. If you wanted to wait until the first Sunday of Advent to start the study, you could easily skip some lessons, or double up if you are so inclined. The lessons themselves are quite brief, and it doesn't take that long for the children to answer the questions. Younger children could tell you their answers for you to write down. And the activity pages are simple coloring and/or drawing projects that help reinforce one aspect of the lesson that was learned.

How did we use this study?

We started this study by reading the first lesson about Advent, though I didn't have the children fill in their question/answer sheet. We will do that on December 1st. As for the coloring sheet for that lesson is filled with 24 presents, I am assuming it is to be used as a sort of countdown chart, so we will start that then as well. 

I then decided we would study the traditions of countries we have already learned about in our Exploring Countries and Cultures curriculum last year. It was nice to "journey" to these countries we already knew something about. I figured I would leave the new countries until actual Advent. 

Some of the countries we looked at were Canada, Germany, France, Australia, and Mexico. We would gather around the computer as I read the lesson (in an attempt to save ink). Then I asked the children the questions and we went to the table so the children could do the activity and fill in the question/answer sheet. They colored a Santa Claus, colored shoes and filled them with treats, decorated a Yule log, and drew kangaroos for Santa's sleigh in Australia, among other things. 

Here they are, busy at work.

The questions help the children focus on what was learned along with what their favorite part of each country's celebration was. Granted, they are only going off what we read, but I ask them to tell me what sounds like it would be the most fun to participate in. As for the activity page, I appreciate that they are simple and don't require additional materials. 

We have really enjoyed learning little tidbits about how children in other countries will be celebrating Christmas this year. Last year we learned about quite a few different countries, learning about their cultures, and how people are both the same and different all over the world. This study is an extension of that. For children who have not had any previous lessons on other countries around the world, this study is a wonderful way to whet the appetite, and get children interested in them. Though the lessons are short and simple, you could always add additional information and activities. Personally, as we are adding this study onto our already busy days, these are just the right length. 

We can't wait to learn about the other countries' traditions next month. 

I have been given the chance to offer my readers a chance to enter to win their own PDF copy of the Christmas Around the World study. Check out the details below.

Time for that giveaway!

As December is almost here, this is going to be short-lived giveaway, as I want to make sure you can start this study on December 1st.

All you need to do is enter in the Rafflecopter form below. 

There are only 2 simple mandatory entries, with the remainder of the entries being optional. 

Remember, you do not have to do the extra entries, but they will increase your odds of winning. 

This giveaway is open to US residents 18 and over. 

The giveaway runs November 26th through November 28th.

Thanks for stopping by, and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received the Christmas Around the World study in exchange for my honest review. No further compensation was given. This did not in any way influence my review. I only recommend products I use personally and feel will be a good products for my readers.