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printables

Learning Contractions in Language Arts

by Ashley Mullen Leave a Comment

Language arts is quickly becoming one of my favorite subjects to teach my kids. There are so many ways to make learning fun. Not to mention that we picked a darn good curriculum to use this year. One of the things we have been having fun with is learning contractions.

Learning Contractions in Language Arts

Learning Contractions in Language Arts

This post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.

How are Learning Contractions in Language Arts – Our Homeschool

In our homeschool I used the puzzles to introduce contractions. I made one of the puzzles to start. We talked about how we talk. About how contractions are used more in informal writing and speech. And then we put all the puzzles together, together.

My kids like to get these out for random playing and learning and I do not stop them, they have a bit of an unschooling, always learning personalities. These have been proving useful for helping with spelling in language arts as well, they are getting practice reading the words as well.

Learning Contractions in Language Arts - contractions language arts

Contraction Clip Cards

These contraction clip cards are a fun and interactive way to practice reading and breaking down contractions. They are great for early readers, using the smaller words first, such as I, we, will, etc. Starting small and building confidence as you go along.

Read the sentence, break down the underlined contraction marking their choice of the words with a paper clip or clothes pin. I put small mark on the back of each card marking which is the correct answer before laminating, this makes them self correcting. You can see an example of how I do it here.

Follow this link or the picture to find them on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Contraction Puzzles

Are you looking for a hands on activity to boost contraction recognition with your students? These making practice fun. A hands-on game to practice with.

This set includes 66 contraction puzzles in black and white – two different styles of puzzles one being easier to cut out!

These puzzles are great for classroom centers, for siblings to practice together, and for kids to work on quietly while mom work with other siblings, on her business or around the house.

Follow this link or the picture to find them on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Learning Contractions in Language Arts

Filed Under: Homeschool, Homeschool Helps Tagged With: language arts, printables

Tips to Get Back to School Started Off Right

by Ashley Mullen Leave a Comment

Maybe school has started back already for you, or you do school all year long, either way, here are some great tips to get back into the grove, or to stay in the groove and not get burnt out. To get the year off to the best start possible. Here are more than 25 ideas or recipes to get you started.

Back to School Tips and tricks

Tips to Get Back to School Started Off Right

This post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.

Here are recipes, gift ideas, and fun to get school started on a great new school year. Back to school often starts out great but all the newness often fades quickly and we are all fighting to keep going. Here are some easy ways to maybe help you and your kids out throughout the school year.

First Day Pictures

I can remember my mom taking pictures for the first day of school while I was in elementary school. There weren’t any fancy papers or chalkboards stating what grade I was in because those have only really just become popular with Pinterest.

Each year I make back to school a little special by having a theme set in place. With that I decorate a little in our dinning room with a banner and a few other little things. Last year we did a Harry Potter theme.

Breakfast, Lunch, and Snacks

Moms and dads have gotten busier and busier. Between their own jobs, keeping the house, and running kids to a million extra-curricular activities it seems like everyone is always on the go.

We love make ahead meals in our house. From egg cups that I make on Sunday for a week of breakfasts, or pizza muffins for a fun lunch, making things ahead of time is real time saver in the long run.

Back to School Tips and Tricks

Let's get back to school with some fun this year.

Blueberry Muffins

These blueberry muffins are perfect for breakfast or for a snack.

Blueberry Vanilla Muffins

Mini Pancake Cups

Make pancakes that your kids can easily grab and eat.

Simple Gluten Free lunch ideas for back to school lunchboxes

Photo Credit: highlightsalongtheway.com

School lunches can be a bit of a challenge anyway, add a food sensitivity to the mix and now it is even more complicated!

The Starving Chef Blog

Photo Credit: thestarvingchefblog.com

Well after this week's challenge, I can pretty confidently say my lunches and dinners are covered for the week. Now that I have the actual boxes, I might start doing this weekly!

Back-to School-Lunches: 5 Expert Tips Your Kids Will Love

Photo Credit: theresasreviews.com

From strategies for packing lunches to the types of food to pack, featured in today’s parenting guide are the best tips from an expert baby food maker for getting your kids to eat healthy, well balanced meals during their back-to-school school lunches.

Pizza Muffins - Kids Lunch Time Favorite

These are easy to make and perfect for lunch time whether your child is going to public school or staying at home to homeschool. These are a great make ahead meal idea.

DIY Chalkboard Classroom Decor

Photo Credit: www.ellemariehome.com

I transformed it into this cute DIY Chalkboard Classroom Decor in just a couple of easy steps.

Painted Pencil Garland

Photo Credit: dukesandduchesses.com

Despite the fact that I’m seeing pencils in everything, the inspiration for this painted pencil garland actually came from a friend.

DIY Ruler Table Runner

Photo Credit: www.annsentitledlife.com

Make your own Ruler Table Runner! A fun decor craft for homeschoolers, back to school, teachers, and more!

Free Printable First Day and Last Day of School Bunting

Photo Credit: simplemadepretty.com

The Bunting is designed to include Extra Numbers for the next few years.

End of the Year and Back to School Teacher Survival Kit DIY

Photo Credit: confessionsofanover-workedmom.com

I decided that this year I would put together a few Back to School Teacher Survival Kits.

Back to School Teacher Gift Idea

Photo Credit: www.thecountrychiccottage.net

I have a back to school teacher gift idea that you all will love.

First Day of School Pictures Printables

Photo Credit: missiontosave.com

First Day of School Pics don’t have to be boring or awkward anymore!

Harry Potter Printable Lunchbox Jokes and Notes for Kids!

Photo Credit: thequietgrove.com

Getting in the back to school mood I decided to make some fun Harry Potter Lunchbox Jokes and Notes for kids. These lunchbox printables are the perfect way to add a little magic and laughter to your children’s day while letting them know that you care.

5 FREE Back to School Printable Sign Sets

Photo Credit: thequietgrove.com

Many parents to take back to school pictures where their kids hold up printable signs stating what grade they will be going into that year.

How to Set Back to School Goals

Photo Credit: www.freebiefindingmom.com

As you prepare your little one to head back to school, your to-do list redoubtably is about a mile long. It can be daunting.

5 Genius Back to School Hacks

Photo Credit: simplemadepretty.com

Routines and a plan are all you need to survive the transition back to school this fall. I don’t know where our family would be if we didn’t have routines.

How to Help Your Preschooler Transition to Kindergarten

Photo Credit: theprofessionalmomproject.com

The end of summer always comes too quickly… Fall can come as quite a surprise when your children are getting ready to make the transition to Kindergarten and full time school for the first time.

Food themed Printable Lunchbox Jokes and Notes for Kids!

Photo Credit: thequietgrove.com

I have been in a total back to school mode lately. While I homeschool, many of my friend’s kids go to Public, Private, and Charter school. A tradition of many of these friends is to put fun like jokes, and inspirational notes in their kid’s lunches.

School Themed Printable Lunchbox Jokes and Notes for Kids!

Photo Credit: thequietgrove.com

We love the idea of lunchbox treats and printables. They are such a simple way to brighten your child’s day and help them know you are thinking of them even though they are away at school.

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Filed Under: Homeschool Tagged With: back to school, classroom decor, gifts, lunch ideas, pictures, printables

How Your Garden Grows – Berenstain Bears Grow-It!

by Ashley Mullen Leave a Comment

It’s that time of year where we are planning our garden, watching how our garden grows, or maybe you’re already enjoying some of your gardens spoils. My kids love watching everything change as the season goes on and are full of questions about all of it. Try as I may, I don’t always have the answers right away but I do find them whether I find them online quickly or books for them to explore and find the answers themselves.

Two of the grade three science curriculum (for a lot of Canada) outcomes are exploring soils, and plant growth and changes. My oldest will be in the third grade next year, but I’m not going to miss the Spring/Summer opportunity to teach as our garden grows. And to teach it to my three year old and soon to be first grader too.

Plant Life Cycle
How Your Garden Grows

How Your Garden Grows – Berenstain Bears Grow-It!

*This post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.*

While this is suppose to be for science (when I send in my paperwork next year) there are all these opportunities to work on math, art, and language arts as well. I have some science experiments you can do at home, as well as some printables for you and your kids to work on. For preschoolers to third graders.

The Berenstain Bears book Grow-It! is a great book that answers a lot of questions about growing plants in general and why they are important.

Soil Test

You can buy soil test kits for a few dollars or you can do a complete DIY soil test kit. We did both. You can read about it here, Soil Testing – Garden Science.

View this post on Instagram

We did some soil testing today in the wind. #science #homeeducation #happylearning #wildandfreechildren

A post shared by Ashley (@forgetfulmomma) on May 27, 2017 at 1:20pm PDT

Journal How Your Garden Grows

Planting a garden, and watching and waiting while your garden grows will give your children lots of opportunities to journal about it. Choose to either journal daily, every other day or as we will be doing, weekly. It’s up to you and your schedule/routine.

Worksheets

Labeling the parts of seeds, the cycle the go through and more! Perfect for different ages and includes journal pages.

How Your Garden Grows

Another great book that you might want to check out is the Nature Anatomy, I recently picked it up from our library, and within minutes I knew I had to buy it. The information and illustrations are amazing. I have it in my wish list on Amazon to buy when I do some back to school shopping this summer.

For other book and unit study ideas follow this link to some great ones.

How Your Garden Grows - Berenstain Bears Grow-It!

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Greenhouse Gardening with Kids

Greenhouse Gardening with Kids

Filed Under: Homeschool, Natural Homeschooling Tagged With: Berenstain Bears, educational, Garden, Grow it, home education, Homeschool, printables, seeds, unit studies

Christmas Around the World

by Ashley Mullen Leave a Comment

This year we are doing something different, no forced learning, but fun Christmas themed learning as we “visit” other countries and learn how they celebrate Christmas, or if they celebrate something different for the holiday season. We are doing Christmas Around the World.

Christmas Around the World

Christmas Around the World

*This post may contain affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.*

As we try to fit so much learning into the school year, December is often a month of either relaxed schooling or forced schooling. As the month brings the colder weather, snow and kids want to be outside playing, or they are excited for family visits and, for the jolly one himself to visit, Santa.

This year we are doing something different, no forced learning, but fun Christmas themed learning as we “visit” other countries and learn how they celebrate Christmas, or if they celebrate something different for the holiday season. We are doing Christmas Around the World.

I have created these for use by grade kindergarten through grade 2. Use for your age group can be adjusted by added more reading and perhaps writing practice.

I have created a min book for each of the countries we’re visiting, a passport for them to add information such as the country visited flag ornaments for your children to color, cut out and add to your tree. We will be adding a paper tree to a wall for the holidays and purpose of Christmas around the World.

Canada – Germany – China – Switzerland – Sweden – Mexico – Russia – Italy – Australia – Switzerland

Books to Read

Around the World books:

Christmas Around the World – for young children
Christmas Around the World  –  Usborne young reading – we skipped a little bit of this book, skipped around the religious parts.
Christmas Around the World Crafts

Books about Christmas in different counties:

Christmas in Russia
Christmas in Switzerland
Christmas in Australia

Christmas in Mexico
Christmas in Sweden
Christmas in China

I’ll be adding more information as well go along. But to get you started here are our mini books, color-able ornaments, and passports.

christmas-around-the-worldprintable

Filed Under: Holiday, Homeschool, Natural Homeschooling Tagged With: Christmas, Christmas around the World, holiday, Homeschool, printable, printables, social studies

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A Little About Me

I'm Ashley, a Canadian secular homeschool mom of 3, living in Nova Scotia.

I share our adventures in homeschooling and parenting.

You can usually find us at the library surrounded by books.
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