What's Coming Up in 2011?

I'm not the most creative in coming up with new ideas, so I will be posting what I normally post, but hope to make a more consistent effort.  I have started a new curriculum with my son that I will be sharing with you.  However, I'm due to have #2 in May, so things might slow down close to then.

Here are my ideas for the new year:

*Bi-weekly lesson plans with Brightly Beaming Resources
*Free and Fun Activities
*Learning Resources
*Parenting Ideas
*Recipes
*Book and Music Reviews
*Spiritual Growth Ideas

Happy New Year 2011

Toddler Talk Thursday: Holiday Traditions

2008

2009

2010

These are our family Christmas photos since Shrade was born.

Next year we get to add baby #2 who will be about 7 months old by then!

We are just starting to create some Christmas traditions.  This year now that Shrade is 2 we are reading a The Baby Bible Christmas Storybook (The Baby Bible Series), singing Christmas carols and playing with this unique Nativity made by a friend of my grandma's.  Next year I hope to add an Advent activity for each day and a paper chain to count down to Christmas which we celebrate as Jesus' birthday.  Also, as far as presents, we are very low key and we only give one present to Shrade.  As he gets older it will change, but he receives a lot from relatives so it's good.  

Another tradition that we started was making MGM cookies to give away.  This year Shrade helped me mix up the colors of the frosting and put sprinkles on the cookies.  He didn't like that it was a messy project.

For the recipe head over to The Knowlton Nest.

To me, these are the best Christmas cookies EVER!

Learning Activity: Carol's Affordable Curriculum

I've been researching around for what I can use to homeschool my little guy.  Shrade just turned 2 and one of my friends uses Carol's Affordable Curriculum with her daycare kids who are about the same age.  So I decided to order for October.  I chose Tiny Tots.  I was amazed at the number of things that were included in the package for less than $10 (shipping price not included).  There is a detailed lesson plan and project for each day of the week (Mon-Fri).


Included in all orders:
*Curriculum guide- lesson plans, menu, calendar, essential skills, certificate
*Story book
*Poster packet
*Large calendar
*Stickers
*All materials needed for projects (no cutting required)

It's a fabulous resource and one I will probably use more in the future.  It's best to start with the new school year in September so you can get the sequence.  They also include a Christian curriculum and a summer curriculum.  I did not choose to do this curriculum this year, but as I said it will be a great resource for me later on.

Building a Spiritual Foundation

I picked this book up when I was teaching Kindergarten and I'm so glad that I kept it because it is an awesome resource for building a spiritual foundation with my children.    This book is part of Focus on the Family.  The book is divided into 4 parts: The single most important task for Christian parents, How to pass on your Spiritual legacy, The content of your Spiritual legacy and Practical questions and resources. 

There is one section I wanted to share with you today.  For ages 0-4 you can lay the foundation with your child.  So I have a 2 year old and these are the important topics that I bring into his daily life in various ways:

*God exists
*God and Jesus love you
*God wants to take care of you
*God created everything
*God created you

How do I do this?  Well, in conversations when we are learning about animals I say, "What a beautiful animal that God created."  And every night I say to my son, "Daddy loves you, Mommy loves you, Jesus loves you most of all."  My son is always very eager to pray and he is even learning how to sing Jesus Loves Me.  There are just so many simple ways to give your children a Spiritual foundation.  Be sure to check out this book so you can give your family a heritage of faith in God.

I love Rising Moon Adventures!!

Olea at Rising Moon Adventures is having a giveaway on her blog!  I recently did a review of her flannel board stories and my son was enamored and so was I.  She is so creative and she has such a wide variety of stories.  Your kids will love learning with Olea's unique flannel board stories!  Check out her giveaway on her blog: Rising Moon Adventures.

Barefoot Books Review and Giveaway!!

Recently, Shrade and I were able to review two books from Barefoot Books.  I first learned about Barefoot Books at the library.  I was immediately drawn into the unique pictures and also the fun songs that came on CD's with some of the books.  I was so thrilled when Liz allowed us to review some books from her Barefoot Books home business.

The first one I chose was I Wish I Were a Pilot by Stella Blackstone.  I knew this book would capture the attention of my little guy.  He is completely in love with transportation vehicles.  This book features several types of vehicles, but focuses mainly on the job title of who runs that vehicle.  There were pilots, cyclists, balloonists, race car drivers and much more.  There is also a page at the end with pictures of all the different ways of transportation.  Of course there were so many ideas for teaching with this book and I love how this book made it easy to introduce these fun ways of moving with diverse machines.

 

The second book we chose was The Secret Seahorse by Stella Blackstone.  My son is also enamored with sea animals and I thought this book would be a fun way to identify them as well as finding the "secret" seahorse that is hiding on each page.  What I found completely captivating in this book were the illustrations which were actually "antique fabrics and felt with sequins, buttons, beads and assorted bric-a-brac."  They are so colorful and really make the rhyming story come alive.  One thing that would be very helpful with a story like this would be to include a "key" to all the sea animals included in the story.  I was unsure about several of them and had to ask my husband.  The paperback version includes this, but not the board book which is what I received.  However, this is such a great book even if you don't know all the names.  At first my son couldn't find the seahorse that was hidden on each page until I pointed it out.  It really blended into the background, but now that he "reads" it, he points out the seahorse on each page and of course he loves the clown fish picture the best!

*These books were provided to me free of charge by Liz from Barefoot Books for purpose of this review. This is my honest opinion of these books and no monetary compensation was received for my opinion.*
 


Buy it: Go to Barefoot Books and find a great selection of books and fun! 

Win it: One Milk N' Honey reader will receive up to $15.99 gift credit for books from Barefoot Books.   Open to US. Giveaway ends Monday November 22.


To enter: Be sure to connect with all the links before filling out the entry form.


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Entry for Barefoot Books

Toddler Talk Thursday: My 4 Favorite pics of Shrade!

Oh, this was such a tough call!  I have so many favorite pictures, but these ones I could look at over and over!  I'm just going to say, I realize that Shrade is not smiling in most of these, but that doesn't mean he never smiles.  I just had to have these ones for this post!

Shrade and Mama!

Well, he never got a dinosaur, thank goodness!

With his favorite person: Daddy!

My friend Tonia captured this look