Tots and Me... Growing Up Together

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Littles Learning Link Up: October 24, 2017- Keepsake Hand and Fingerprint Autumn Trees

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?

We are all excited that co-op has started back up. The children are enjoying their new classes and mommy is enjoying coming up with crafts for the preschool class. A couple of weeks ago I shared the Two-Sided Paper Plate Apples we made. Last week we made a couple of different autumn tree/leaf crafts to go with the book My Leaf Book by Monica Wellington. I am sharing the one this week, and will be sharing the other next week.

In our homeschool we have continued our study of Ancient Egypt and have also been learning of other ancient civilizations that developed as people groups spread out after the Flood of Noah's day, and after the time of the Tower of Babel. We have been reading about Abraham and Sarah during our Bible reading time. Our science lessons for the last few weeks revolved around pyramids.

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

Two weeks ago I posted my reviews for CTCMath and Brinkman Adventures Season 4. I only have two more reviews for the Crew this year. In November I will be sharing my reviews of The Pencil Grip's Thin Stix Creativity Pack and The Magic Stories. I can't believe our Crew year is already coming to a close for 2017. Speaking of which, if you are a homeschooler who also actively blogs, the Crew just recently opened up applications for the 2018 Crew year. Stop by the Homeschool Review Crew blog to check it out.

Moving on to this week's craft:

In the preschool co-op class we made Keepsake Hand and Fingerprint Autumn Trees. A few years ago we make Fall Hand Trees where we used the children's hand and wrist as the tree. I then had the children tear up paper for the leaves. This time I decided to use the children's fingerprints as the leaves.

I read "My Leaf Book" by Monica Wellington to the children. This is a book I reviewed a couple of years ago and just loved.

This craft was quite simple. Which is perfect for a group that includes 3 and 4 year olds, plus a one year old. I worked with the children two at a time, instead of in a big group.

Here is what you will need:

Brown construction paper for the trees

More fall colored construction paper for the frames

White card stock

Acrylic paints in red, orange, yellow, and brown

Green crayon/marker/pencil for the grass. We used the Thin Stix we have for review.

Glue stick

Pencil

Scissors

Egg carton to hold the paint

The first thing I did was call the children over one at a time so I could trace their hands on the brown paper. Then I cut them out. Older children could cut the trees out by themselves.

Then the children glued their paper hands onto the white card stock.

They used the green Thin Stix to paint grass onto the bottom of the paper. What I love about these things is that they dry so fast and cover the paper so much faster than other art media would. If we used regular paint we would have had to wait for that paint to dry before I could have the children do their fingerprints. As the Thin Stix dry within 90 seconds, we were able to do the fingerprint leaves immediately without fear of the children getting green paint on their arms.

I put a little bit of each color paint in separate compartments of the egg carton. Then I taught the children to point their index finger and use one color at a time. After they were done with a color I wiped their finger with a wet paper towel and they chose the next color. They continued in this fashion until they were happy with the leaf coverage on the tree, plus whatever they had falling off and on the ground.

We set them aside to dry.

I then called the children over one at a time to choose their background frame. I decided it was better to do this last, so there were no stray paint marks on the frame.

Lovely keepsakes of the children's hands and fingerprints. These can be done each year to see how much a child has grown.

Some things I would like to share with you:

More Fall Leaf Crafts:

Those autumn leaves have been falling down all around. If you are looking for some ideas that focus on fall leaves, I invite you to check out my Fall Leaves All Around Round Up:

Pumpkins are popping up all around. Though we don't celebrate Halloween, I do love pumpkins. A couple of years ago I posted my Pumpkin Fun Round Up.

As much as I hate thinking about this, Thanksgiving is just around the corner (scary isn't it?). Here is my Thanksgiving Round Up chock-full of Thanksgiving craft, snack, and learning activity ideas.

Now onto:

Littles Learning Link Up Features

On my last Littles Learning Link Up post, there were 17 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:

Katelynne from The Disguised Supermom shared Veterinarian! A Community Helper Preschool/Kindergarten Series.

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

Betty from Let's Get Real shared MANNERS: A FREE PDF of our Manners Study.

Dani from Live Love Learn Gracefully shared September in Review: A Homeschool Journey.

Nikki from Life & Lovely Chaos shared The Power of Play: Educating Young Children

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

Friday, October 20, 2017

Fun Fiction Friday - October 20, 2017

Fun Fiction Friday
October 20th, 2017

Welcome back to Fun Fiction Friday.

In my Fun Fiction Friday I share the books the older girls and I are reading, and a short review of a Young Adult or Juvenile book I have finished, if applicable. I will also ask the girls to tell me something they would like to share about at least one of the books they are currently reading.

I finished Generation One by Pittacus Lore earlier this week.

However, I didn't pick up that Land of Stories book. Instead I started reading The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau. It is quite intriguing, and seems like it could be one I can really get into. It is another dystopian book, the first in a trilogy. I loved that one of the endorsements said that, "The Testing is a chilling and devious dystopian thriller that all fans of The Hunger Games will simply devour." Yep, that caught my attention!

I still have these Novella compilations from the I Am Number Four series out from the library. I need to get to them.

Moving on...

Yes, we are still reading All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor and The Tanglewoods' Secret by Patricia St. John. All-of-a-Kind Family is a book that was listed in our My Father's World Creation to the Greeks Teacher Manual. We are learning about the Jewish feasts this year and this book includes several chapters in which the family celebrates the Jewish feasts. It is set in the early 1900's in NYC. The Tanglewoods Secret is another scheduled read aloud in our curriculum, however, it is not really connected to the lessons we are reading. So far the children and I are enjoying both of these books.

Tabitha is still reading Prince Caspian.

Amelia finished Voyage with the Vikings and surprised me by picking up The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell. I had taken it out for Tabitha. Amelia seems to be enjoying it though, so she gets to read it before her sister. She is still trying to make her way through Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Don't forget to check out my reviews of the Secret of the Hidden Scrolls books (books 1 and 2) by M.J. Thomas and Imagine . . . The Great Flood by Matt Koceich.

Fun Fiction Friday

Book Review

Generation One by Pittacus Lore is the first book in a new series that takes place after the I am Number Four series came to a close. It is called: Lorien Legacies Reborn.

If you have NOT finished reading the I am Number Four series, I would recommend not reading any further. (Talking to you hubby.)

If you have read that series, you will know that the Garde unleashed the power of Lorien throughout earth and humans are now getting Legacies, or powers. This series follows several different human teenagers who developed legacies, some during the war against the Mogodorians, some afterward. There is an Academy set up where they can be trained, where we see some of the characters from the original series, including Nine (now Professor Nine) and Sam's father Malcolm Goode. There is a brief appearance by John (Number Four), but other than that, this first book focuses on the teens who find themselves brought to the Academy.

There are those who don't trust the new Garde, both in the government and normal people around the world. There are rules to follow, including attending the Academy. However, there are also those who are using the Garde for what appears to be more sinister purposes (the Foundation). At the Academy we are reintroduced to some of the human Garde who answered John's call at the end of the original series, Caleb, Ran, and Nigel. We are also introduced to Kopano, Taylor, and Isabela. All of these young people will become important in this new series it appears. And the Foundation is after at least one of them.

It takes awhile for all the characters to get together, as we first have to learn the individual stories of Kopano and Taylor before they make it to the Academy. Then there is a lot of time at the Academy where they get to know each other and learn more about their legacies. At the same time, we see the Foundation people kidnapping other human Garde, and we have no clue why. And thrown into this mix are the Harvesters who think the human Garde are from the devil and need to be eradicated.

There is a lot going on in this first book of the new series. I have to say, I am not in love with it the way I was with the original series. It is good. But it is not the same. One of the best changes is that it is not written in first person but in third person, making it a bit easier to follow. But I am missing the original characters and still trying to figure out exactly what is going on with this Foundation. With the original series we knew right away that the Mogodorians were out to kill the Garde and their Cepans. We knew they wanted to take over earth. At the close of the first book of this new series, we are still waiting to find out exactly what the Foundation is up to, along with Earth Garde. Those with legacies on Lorien were always good guys (except for Setrakus Ra of course), but now we have Garde, some who are good and others seem to be bad and are using their legacies for nefarious purposes.

I'm looking forward to seeing where these books go, and hoping I start to like it more, like I did the original. Would I recommend it? Yes. But be aware, if you were a fan of the original series, there is definitely a different feel. And again, I do have to warn, there is some use of "bad/curse words" in the book, same as with the others. So, if you steer clear of that, you will probably not like the series.

I'm sharing over at:

Thursday, October 19, 2017

Throwback Thursday Blog-Style #174: October 19, 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 October 19th, 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 is my Throwback Thursday post:

Originally posted October 20, 2015
Littles Learning Link Up: Pumpkin Fun Round Up

Here is this week's randomly selected

Featured Throwback Thursday:

Jen from A Helping Hand Homeschool shared The Importance of Truly Teaching.

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!

An InLinkz Link-up

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Wordless Wednesday: October 18, 2017 (w/linky) : Skating

We went skating with our homeschool group last Friday.

Aren't these nifty? I've never seen them before. So helpful for little ones to gain confidence!!

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

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Littles Learning Link Up: October 17, 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 and the preschoolers in my co-op class (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.

Last week was our first week long break this school year. We have lessons for 5-6 weeks and then take a full week off. When I was looking at my schedule the weekend before last week, I couldn't believe it was already time to take a week off. We could have gone another week, but then we would have only had 4 weeks of school before having to take off for Thanksgiving.

We had a nice relaxing week. I was able to work on my two reviews without having to worry about "neglecting" school. We also didn't have co-op last week, as there was something going on at the camp where we meet. So, I don't have a craft to share.

I would however like to share the fun pictures the children and I made while playing this fun card game I acquired several years ago called Pick and Draw. I may have to share more about this game later on in its own post. The children were trying to find a way to keep quiet and busy while I was working on my last review, and they pulled the game off the shelf. They were having such fun, we played again that evening so I could play too.

Here's the two I made:

Amelia's:

Harold's:

When I find Tabitha's and Hannah's I will add them to the post.

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

Last week I posted my reviews for CTCMath and Brinkman Adventures Season 4. I only have two more reviews for the Crew this year. In November I will be sharing my reviews of The Pencil Grip's Thin Stix Creativity Pack and The Magic Stories. I can't believe our Crew year is already coming to a close for 2017. Speaking of which, if you are a homeschooler who also actively blogs, the Crew just recently opened up applications for the 2018 Crew year. Stop by the Homeschool Review Crew blog to check it out.

Some things I would like to share with you:

Those autumn leaves are falling down. If you are looking for some ideas that focus on fall leaves, I invite you to check out my Fall Leaves All Around Round Up:

And pumpkins are popping up all around. Though we don't celebrate Halloween, I do love pumpkins. A couple of years ago I posted my Pumpkin Fun Round Up.

Finally, as it is Fire Safety Month, don't forget to check out my Focusing on Fire Safety Round Up

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 post.

This week's randomly selected post is: