Littles Learning Link Up: July 23, 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. 

We've been back to school for our summer session for the past two weeks, though we definitely haven't been getting as much work done as I would have liked. We have been focusing on our review products more than getting our My Father's World Rome to the Reformation year complete. Well, that is everyone except Tabitha. Tabitha has started working more independently, sometimes waking up at 6am to get her work started. She even talked about getting a week's worth of reading done in a day so she could get finished, and I promptly told her no. That would be too much, and she wouldn't be retaining the material. 

So, even though we haven't been moving forward in our history readings, we have been reviewing. We received the Time Line figures from Home School in the Woods to review. Before we put them on a timeline, I thought it would be fun to play memory matching games. 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. 

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.

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

In August you will find reviews for Memoria Press, Home School in the Woods, Library & Educational Services, and the study guide for Britfield & the Lost Crown (I just posted my review of the book yesterday).

In September I will be sharing my review of Easy Grammar Plus from Easy Grammar Systems.

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

Butterfly Round Up

Now onto:

Littles Learning Link Up Features

On my last Littles Learning Link Up post, there were 6 wonderful posts linked up. I will be sharing a randomly selected post, plus the most 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 randomly selected post is:

Kristen from A Mom's Quest to Teach shared Busy/Quiet Boxes - Felt Ribbon and Snake

This week's most clicked on posts are:

Kelli from 3 Boys and a Dog shared Summer Crafts for Kids.

Brandy from The Barefoot Mom shared Plant Science: Activities and Resources.

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

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Fun Adventure with Britfield and the Lost Crown {A Review and Giveaway}

Tabitha and I had the opportunity to read the first book in a new series from C.R. Stewart. In total there will be five books in this middle school age series. The first book is titled Britfield & The Lost Crown.

This award-winning story takes place in England, starting out in the horrible Weatherly Orphanage in Yorkshire. Here the children are used as slave labor making baskets to be sold. Money that is meant to be for the care of the orphans is used by the owners and the children have very meager belongings and food and care. They are watched by cruel, strict caretakers who treat them very badly, and who punish misdeeds severely.

Our story focuses on two children who succeed (with the help of their fellow orphans) in escaping the orphanage and find themselves on the run from the persistent Detective Gowerstone and one of the cruel caretakers. Tom discovered that his parents may still be alive and sets out to find out what he can about them, and his friend Sarah comes along with him. They discover a hot air balloon that is already prepared for flight and take off into the sky to get away from the crafty detective and the rest of the officers. The chase goes from the air, to the ground, back to the air again, and back to the ground, until finally our scared and harried characters end up taking a train trip to discover some shocking information.

The children's trip allows the reader to discover such places as Oxford University, Windsor Castle, and St. Paul's Cathedral in London. They make allies along the way, are betrayed by someone they were led to believe they could trust, and discover that everyone is not who they appear to be.

As I read through the story, there were many opportunities to learn about English history, culture, and geography. There are many different places that can be researched to learn more about them. There is quite a lot of action, though there were definitely some times when the actions and consequences weren't quite believable. Though, I admit, some things that happen are more understandable when you get to the end of the book and discover some intriguing information about a certain character. Definitely unexpected information.

My daughter and I enjoyed the book very much, and are both a bit upset that we have to wait so long for the second book in the series. Definitely something to look forward to as we will get to see what happens to Tom and Sarah on the next leg of their adventure.

How would you like to receive your very own signed copy of Britfield & The Lost Crown?
Check out the giveaway below.

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 July 22nd through August 4th

Good Luck

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received a signed copy of Britfield & The Lost Crown 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.

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

We had the opportunity to use a fun product from the Crafty Classroom these past several weeks. As a little break from our normal social studies routine, the younger children and I have been focusing on learning a bit about the states with the USA Activity Bundle Pack. This PDF download contains three different top-selling activity packs which help focus on the different states of America.

We received an email with links to the three ebooks. It was very simple to download to my computer. In order to use these ebooks, you will need a printer with both color and black & white ink, paper (we used regular computer paper and cardstock), pencils, and crayons or colored pencils. You may need glue depending upon how you choose to put together your material. I also used prong pocket folders. Additionally you need to be able to find details about the different states and the state birds.

Let's take a look at each of the components of the ebook bundle.

We used the U.S.A State-By-State Activity Notebook as our main focus. This 60-page ebook contains one activity page for each state in our country. With these pages the children were to find the state on a small USA map in the top corner. Then they could color the state's flag and label a small state map with rivers, lakes, mountains, and the capital. They also got to fill in several bits of information: state abbreviation, state number, nickname, state flower, and state bird. There are also pictures of the flower and bird for students to color. At the bottom of the page there are some lines for jotting down a fact or two about the state. We used a book recommended by the author to discover these facts. It is titled, The United States of America: A State-by-State Guide by Millie Miller and Cyndi Nelson. Thankfully our library system had this book. In fact, I took two copies out of the library so both children could have their own book to work from. This ebook concludes with two games to help children review the states: USA Bingo and Roll Across America. We have not tried playing the games yet as the children need to be familiar with the outline shapes of each state, and we haven't learned enough of the states for them to do so.

In addition to seeing the state outline on the activity page, the children can familiarize themselves with the shape of the state by using the mazes in the 52-page U.S.A State-by-State 50 Mazes! ebook. The maze for each state is shaped like the state. I would say the maze path itself is of decent difficulty level. Harold, who is in 2nd grade was able to complete the mazes, so they weren't too hard. But they posed a decent level of challenge even for mommy. Lots of twists and turns and dead ends.

We rounded out our knowledge of each state by using the 30-page U.S.A State Birds Realistic Art Cards ebook. This book has fewer pages than the other two as some of the states share the same bird. Each bird sheet has three components. There is an informational section with the fully colored bird pictured, which includes several lines for writing information about the bird. Then there is a black and white line drawing that the child is to color, following the accurate depiction on the left-hand side. This square section is labeled with the name of the bird and the states that have adopted the bird as their state bird. Then, at the bottom of the page there are small cards to be used as a matching game. One card has the color version of the bird and the other names the bird along with the state(s) it is found in.

So, how did we use these ebooks?

I decided we would work through the states in the order they joined the Union. I chose this order because we will be learning about the states next year with our core curriculum, and we learn about the states in this order. I tended to let the children take two days to work on each state. One day for the maze and the notebook information, and then another day for the bird page. 

We started each day's study with a review of the previous states. I want the children to at least remember what order the states came in, their names, and their capitals. Then I read the information about the state out of the recommended book, The United States of America: A State-by-State Guide. Then I wrote out the information the children specifically needed to make it easier for them to copy it onto their page. I did ask them to help me decide what that information was to make sure they were listening to me read. Finally, they got to choose which additional piece of state trivia they wanted to write about. 

They took the book to the table and used it to ensure they colored the state flower and bird correctly, labeled the map correctly, and recorded a bit of trivia accurately.

On the first day they were also required to work on the maze. I actually printed out four copies of each maze so Tabitha and Amelia could work on it too.

I decided to use the prong pocket folders to store their work. I love these folders because we can use the pockets to keep the papers from getting lost while they are working on them, and then I just use my 3-hole punch to punch holes in the pages and put them together like a book. 

They usually used the second day to work on the bird art page and to finish up the state activity page if they ran out of time on the previous day. There was also a book suggested to use for this component titled, United Tweets of America by Hudson Talbott. We could not find this book in our library system, so I have been using a website called State Symbols USA. 

I had the children glue the information section of their bird pages on the back of the corresponding activity page. Then I hung the picture they colored on the wall. 

(Yes, as is typical in our house, one has come up missing. It will be added to the wall once it is found.)

As I have two children who are working on this bundle, I ended up with two sets of the memory cards. So, I cut one set completely apart, while leaving the other set with the state pair uncut. That way, while we are still learning which bird is which, we have a reference. Once we have them memorized, I plan on cutting them apart as well and having both sets included in the memory matching game.

We are really enjoying using this bundle to learn more about the United States of America. I love that all I have to do is print it out and go. I also appreciate that it doesn't use a lot of color as the majority is in black and white. The mazes have been fun for all of us and I love how they help us to learn the shapes of the states. The informational activity pages are neatly arranged and fit the information just right. I love that there were book suggestions to go with this study. The The United States of America: A State-by-State Guide book has been quite informative. I do wish I had been able to find United Tweets of America, though I'm glad I found such an informative website to use in place of it (it even has videos of the birds). I am debating buying a copy of the recommended book. We'll see.

I did just want to mention a suggestion that I feel would improve the U.S.A State-by-State 50 Mazes! ebook. We came across one maze that no one in our house could find a path to get from beginning to end. As far as we can tell, New Jersey's maze doesn't have a workable path. So, I was thinking, if there was an answer key in the back of the book, we could check to make sure we can find our way if we are stuck. 

I can't wait to continue learning about the states during our next school year, because I will be pulling this pack out so we can use it alongside our core curriculum. 

I figured we would enjoy using this bundle and I was correct. We have used other material from the Crafty Classroom in the past. Harold absolutely LOVED working on his reading skills with the Learn to R.E.A.D Curriculum Notebook a couple of years ago. I invite you to read my review to see more details regarding that curriculum.

You can find The Crafty Classroom on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Don't forget to click on the banner below to check out the reviews of my fellow Crew Mates. Not only will you find reviews for this USA Activity Bundle Pack but you will also find reviews of the R.E.A.D Curriculum Notebook K, R.E.A.D Curriculum Notebook Gr. 1, Interactive Math Curriculum Notebook K, Alphabet Letter of the Week Curriculum Notebook, Bible Letter of the Week Curriculum Notebook, Sight Word of the Week Program, Pattern Block Activity Bundle, and Fables & Tales.

Wordless Wednesday: July 17, 2019 (w/linky) - Fun at the Pool

Our church had our church picnic this past Sunday at the camp where, one, we have co-op and two, the children go to summer camp. After we were done eating, we headed over to the pool so the kids could have some fun. No, I do not get in.

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.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

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

Though both my husband and I feel music is important for the children to study, this subject is one that we have sort of neglected this school year. It has been very hard to fit it into our busy schedule. However, when we learned about the Music & Creativity - Foundation Course from Simply Music several weeks ago, I figured we could fit it into our more relaxed summer schedule. And here is some really cool information, this foundational level is completely free, no strings attached, so you can go and sign up right now. But, don't rush off yet! I would love for you to read a bit more about it and what we thought of it. Then you can head on over and sign up.

So, what exactly is this online piano course all about? 

Neil Moore is the founder of this play-based approach of learning to play the piano. He has been developing this program for the past 27 years, and it has gone on to become multi-national, spanning 100 countries. Mr. Moore himself is originally from Australia (and can I just say, we love listening to his accent as he teaches the video-based lessons). According to Mr. Moore, their claim is that "children, teens, adults and seniors will be playing great-sounding blues, classical, contemporary and accompaniment pieces - immediately - from their very earliest lessons." Students are able to do this through this method as it immerses them in the music from the very beginning. I have to say, I've heard of immersion when it comes to foreign language programs, but this is the first time I had heard it used for music training.

Now, you may be asking how students are immersed into the music right away. Well, prior to Lesson #1, there is a Quick Start lesson where the student is invited to join in with some improvisation on the song "Eliza." You can try this if you wish or just skip ahead by clicking the button at the bottom of the lesson to mark it complete. Then, after viewing some introductory, informational lessons, the student is again immersed into a new song with Lesson #3: Dreams Come True. After watching the online video lessons of Mr. Moore teaching the two different "sentences," the student is encouraged to play first the right, then the left hand parts before playing both hands together and learning the "Tail Piece" to end the song. The student plays along with Mr. Moore alone, and then with the instrumental accompaniment, finally playing with the full song performed with a vocalist. In all there are six sections to this lesson.

Students are encouraged to work at their own pace, not moving ahead until they are ready. They are supposed to remind themselves out loud what they are supposed to be doing with their fingers.They are also told to feel the rhythm of the music and to see the patterns that are played with the diagrams he teaches with. For example, he draws the following a step at a time on his iPad:

I realize this might look confusing. I know it was to us when we first saw it. We were like, how is this music? In order to understand the diagrams in the downloadable Reference Book, you have to actually watch the videos and listen to how he is explaining the way your fingers will be moving in the song. 

Let me try to explain. 

In the above picture, there is a 3 over an arrow pointing left. We had already been taught where to place our fingers and how to play fingers 5, 4, 3, and 2 (pinky, ring, middle, and index). In order to actually play the song, we were instructed to play first the third finger and then play those fingers going down the keyboard. He called that "Sentence One." Next we were taught to play four fingers going up, 1, 2, 3, and 4 (thumb, index, middle, and ring) before ending with the second finger. This is illustrated by the arrow pointing right with the number 2 under it. This is called "Sentence Two."

Then we were taught the fingers that needed to play on the left hand. Finally he brought it all together. The bottom two lines (1, 1, 2, 2 and 1, 1, 2, dot with curved arrows) tell us to play sentence 1 twice, sentence 2 twice, sentence 1 two more times, then sentence 2 before finishing with the one note below and one note above where our fingers are at the end.

And this is what it looks like all brought together.

So far, Tabitha, daddy, and I are the only ones who have successfully played the song with Mr. Moore playing it:

The other children are at various stages of getting their fingers to work together to play the different sentences.

That said, even Tabitha and I are struggling with playing along with the instrumental version with the vocalist included, as she sings some parts using a different rhythm or tune than what Mr. Moore does.

Now, you might notice in all this I didn't mention anything about learning to read music. For some, this can be quite beneficial, as they can feel the music and just play along. For others, this could be a detriment. Honestly, my husband and I are quite concerned about the fact that students aren't taught to read music. Yes, it is wonderful to be able to play these songs. We understand that the whole concept of the program is based on creating a long-term relationship with music. But, we don't understand how a student can advance without the basic knowledge of the notes and correct musical terminology. I told my husband it reminds me of learning to read using the sight word method (which I have quite a few issues with) because a student is able to read or play what they are taught, but they can't advance without the basic knowledge of phonics or, as in the case of this Simply Music course, notes.

Our other concern is that sometimes Mr. Moore's instructions are a bit confusing, especially at first. I know Amelia was quite frustrated trying to follow along with the instructions. However, I admit, she has gotten past that initial frustration and is progressing through the first song.

Don't get me wrong, I think it is great that people can start playing songs right away with this method. And maybe that is what some people need, especially if they are struggling with reading music. I would love to see further into the program to see how Mr. Moore handles the teaching of reading music, as he has stated that it is "in the early stages of learning with Simply Music [that] music-reading is delayed." Unfortunately, the only way to see future lessons is to complete the lessons before them and mark them as complete. Anyhow,  I have every intention of having our family make our way through the program. After completing the Foundation course, I will see if we will want to invest in the Foundation Enhancement, which costs $35. There are also Development and Special Courses (Accompaniment, Composition & Improvisation, Arrangements, plus Blues & Improvisation) which are listed as "coming soon." I'm curious to see what those will entail.

So, if you would appreciate being able to play the piano from the very start, if you have struggled with reading music, if you would just like to see what this program is all about, you may be wondering what you will need and what is provided. Well, obviously the most important thing is to have a piano or a keyboard with at least 48 keys. You will also need a computer or device with internet access. You will definitely want a good connection with a good speed so you don't have to wait for the videos to buffer while you are trying to follow along. You will also want a printer if you plan to print out the material in the Reference Guide, plus there is a Practice Pad you can print out and tape together for you and/or your student to practice their fingering on while listening to the soundtracks.

The Foundation Course contains 20 lessons. These lessons are of various lengths. Some are merely informational, others teach the different songs (some of which are written by Mr. Moore).

Here is the list of lessons available:

• Quickstart
• Lesson 1: The Basics
• Lesson 2: Learning Strategy - Learn Slowly, Small Doses & Control the Events
• Lesson 3: "Dreams Come True"
• Lesson 4: "Improvising "Eliza"
• Lesson 5: Learning Strategy - What to Play/How to Play
• Lesson 6: "Christowel"
• Lesson 7: Learning Strategy - Using the Pedal
• Lesson 8: "Black is Blue"
• Lesson 9: Accompaniment - "Dreams Come True"
• Lesson 10: "Night Storm"
• Lesson 11: "Deep Valley" & "Dark Valley"
• Lesson 12: "For Augus"
• Lesson 13: "Ode to Joy"
• Lesson 14: Accompaniment - "Amazing Grace"
• Lesson 15: "Jackson Blues"
• Lesson 16: Accompaniment - "Happy Birthday"
• Lesson 17: "Hunter's Blues"
• Lesson 18: Accompaniment - "Honey Dew"
• Lesson 19: "Blue Jay"

Each lesson gives you access to the video lessons, soundtracks and reference materials you will need for that lesson, but you also have access to all the material from the beginning so you can download it to your computer. You will have access to the PDFs of the Practice Pad, Reference Book, and a book written by Neil Moore titled, Music and the Art of Long-Term Relationships. There is also a Facebook Group for support.

Additionally, Mr. Moore has provided a list of materials needed for the "optimal learning experience." I will say, these are items we could not justify getting at this time. You would need:

• a headphone jack
• sustain pedal
• earbuds
• headphones
• and it is recommended for this optimal learning experience to have a touch sensitive keyboard.

In this optimal experience, he talks about having the student wear the earbuds which are plugged into a device playing the soundtracks, and then placing the headphones on top of those. The headphones are plugged into the keyboard so you can hear yourself play along with the soundtrack.

You will definitely want to read Mr. Moore's book. I haven't had the chance to read through it as much as I would like, but my husband, who at first wasn't too thrilled with the program, has read bits and pieces and he now has a better understanding of Mr. Moore's methodology.

Here is what you will find discussed in the book:

Honestly, I am now wishing I had read the book in full prior to starting the program. I think it will help to really understand where Mr. Moore is coming from. 

So, though we haven't been completely thrilled with the Music & Creativity Foundation Course from Simply Music, we have definitely enjoyed being able to work on playing the piano, and we plan to continue through the lessons, now that we understand the program more. 

You can find Simply Music on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube.

Don't forget to click the banner below to see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about the program: