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2014-15 First Day of School Photos

August 18, 2014 by Selena Robinson 17 Comments

The new homeschool year is underway! Our back to school tradition is to take first day of homeschool photos each year, so we’re sharing our first day of homeschool photos for 2014-15. 🙂

To make the first day of school a little more memorable, I found some adorable Back to School Signs at Enchanted Homeschooling Mom and printed them out. There’s space to share the kids’ names, favorite books, ages, and what they want to be when they grow up.

Tigger: 4th Grade

Age: 9

Favorite Book: Nikki and Deja

What She Wants to be When She Grows Up: Musician

Pooh: 1st Grade

Age: 6

Favorite Book: Germs, Germs, Germs

What He Wants to be When He Grows Up: Police Officer

First Day of Homeschool Pictures 2014-15: Look! We're Learning!

Roo: Kindergarten

Age: 5

Favorite Book: The Big Bug Search or what he calls the “Insect Book”

What He Wants to be When He Grows Up: “Bethel Builder” (He means he wants to help build the world headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Warwick, NY.)

Piglet: Tot School (seen here holding her favorite bear and signing “Mama” in ASL)

Age: 20 months

Favorite Book: Anything she can tear

What She Wants to be When She Grows Up: We suspect she thinks she’s already grown. 😉

And those are our student pictures for this year! We’re looking forward to sharing our experiences as we learn and grow together in 2014-15. 🙂

This post is linking up with the “2014 Not Back to School Blog Hop” from iHomeschool Network! Stop by to see the first day of school pictures from our fellow bloggers!

Land Of Nod: Design for Kids and People That Used to be Kids

Free Printable Flashcards: Colors

August 15, 2014 by Selena Robinson 4 Comments

We’re back with another set of free printable flashcards!

Last week, we featured free shape flashcards and this week we’re on to colors with a set of free printable color flashcards!

These flashcards are a bit smaller than traditional cards, which makes them perfect for toddlers and preschoolers.

If you enjoy using these, don’t forget to check out our other preschool flashcards, including our Sign Language Alphabet cards and our Snowflake Counting Flashcards!

And if you’re introducing your kids to Spanish, our Spanish Color Flashcards are perfecto!

Free Printable Flashcards: Colors - Look! We're Learning!

What’s In the Free Printable Flashcards: Colors Pack?

To use these flashcards, you’ll need the following: (This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

In the pack, you’ll find printable colors flashcards for the following colors:

Red
Blue
Yellow
Green
Purple
Orange
Black
White
Pink
Brown
Beige
and Gray

The first set includes both color swatches and words, so you can use them to teach the colors.

The second set only features the color swatches, which makes them a good tool for a miniature pop quiz!

If your kids are anything like mine, your flashcards can start to look at bit “weathered” after a few lessons, so you might want to laminate them to make them more durable.

Printable Color Flashcards - Look! We're Learning!

Scroll down to get your free printable color flashcards!

More Resources for Learning Colors

If you’d like even more resources for teaching colors to your toddler or preschooler, check out these great suggestions!

Color Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Books for Teaching Colors

Grab more awesome flashcards for little learners below!

Help early learners practice recognizing shapes with these printable shape identification flashcards!

Help early learners to recognize letters and letter sounds with these Alphabet Animal Flashcards!

Use printable Spanish flashcards such as these printable Spanish color flashcards to learn basic words and phrases in espanol!

To get your set of printable color flashcards, click the image or the link below to have them sent directly to your inbox!

You’ll also get our weekly newsletter – coming this Sunday!

Click here to get your printable resource

>>> Printable Color Flashcards for Kids <<<

Our ADHD Homeschool Room Layout

August 13, 2014 by Selena Robinson 4 Comments

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We’re still in the back to school groove around here, so we thought we’d share some of the changes we made to our homeschooling space. We still hold classes around our dining room table, but we did make a few changes to our walls to create a better ADHD homeschool room.

I love the idea of a “school-y” type room, complete with educational posters, wall charts, a flower clock, and manuscript handwriting charts around the top of the walls. (Remember those in elementary school?) However, that is NOT what’s best for my kids.

Keep Reading…

Easy DIY Taste Safe Slime Recipe

August 12, 2014 by Selena Robinson 4 Comments

Slime is all the rage for kids these days. But when you’re trying to arrange for sensory play with young kids, it’s nearly always best to have a recipe that won’t hurt them if they try to eat it.

Because, as we all know, kids love to taste playdough, floam, flubber, and nearly anything else they can find. (Spoiler: Playdough does NOT taste good. Trust me on that.)

So we decided to try an easy DIY taste safe slime recipe that only requires two ingredients and it was a blast! Read on to see how we made this simple orange slime!

By the way, if your kids also want to…ahem..taste playdough, they can totally eat our bright blue edible playdough! Plus, it’s dairy free! Give it a try soon!

Easy DIY Taste Safe Slime Recipe

To make this slime, we decided to use a taste safe slime recipe from Blog Me Mom. For this, you only need psyllium fiber powder (like Metamucil) and water. That’s it.

We added the nonpareil sprinkles just to see if the different colors would change the slime a bit. If you use a clear psyllium fiber powder, you may want to add some food coloring. But we used the orange flavor, so we already had a color.

After you mix the psyllium fiber powder and water together in the right quantities (check the Blog Me Mom recipe for exact amounts), you boil it for five minutes while stirring.

When it starts looking like this, you’re getting close.

When it starts stretching like this as you stir, you’re there!

After the slime cooled down, I plunked it on the table.

Note: It took a good 20 minutes for this mixture to cool down so that the kids could touch it safely. I ended up spreading it on a cookie sheet to get it to room temperature faster. We sprinkled the nonpareils over the top and mixed them in. The sprinkles turned the bright orange slime a burnt green-orange color. Definitely a good “ewww” color for slime.

Then it was time to explore!

The kids were hesitant to touch it at first, but once they found out they could taste it, they were definitely interested.

Interestingly, Pooh (who usually isn’t interested in sensory play at all), loved the slime! He played with it for about 15 minutes straight, which is a record for him. Naturally, he had to taste it. On the other hand, Tigger (who is the biggest sensory seeker in the house), hated it. Go figure.

This was such a good activity! It took about 30 minutes from start to finish and it was a cinch to clean up. Always a win!

Want to try more sensory activities?

See even more sensory activities kids will love on my Sensory Play Pinterest board!

Our Homeschool Workbox Organization

August 11, 2014 by Selena Robinson 18 Comments

Last year, we ventured into the world of homeschool workboxes. This year, we’re focusing on improving our homeschool workbox organization, so that our school day can get off to a decent start every morning. 🙂

I love workboxes! They’re like little fun boxes that make school work seem more interesting. My kids love using the workboxes. We do our workbox assignments during quiet time, which I’ll talk about in a future post, and that seems to make them feel more “grown-up”, especially since Piglet naps during that time.

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Making Shark Art with Chalk Pastels

August 7, 2014 by Selena Robinson 4 Comments

Hey everyone! One of my goals for the new school year is to include more art activities with the kids.

In our homeschool curriculum post for 2014-15, I mentioned one of the art curriculum products we’re using this year, so I’m sharing our experience with it today!

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Our Unit Study Topics for 2014-15

August 6, 2014 by Selena Robinson 6 Comments

I’m contributing over at Year Round Homeschooling today with a post about Unit Studies – what they are and how to make one yourself. So I thought I’d share our family’s unit study topics for the 2014-15 school year!

When we’re planning our homeschool year, we try to ask the children about the things they personally want to learn about. As you can imagine, we get all kinds of responses. 🙂

This time, though, we’re going to use their suggestions as the basis for our unit studies, which we’ll also be sharing with you during the year!

Keep Reading…

Sensory Processing Disorder Parenting: Showing Empathy

August 5, 2014 by Selena Robinson 6 Comments

Last week, I shared the beginning stages of our journey toward an official sensory processing disorder diagnosis. Today I’m passing along four sensory processing disorder parenting tips that are helping me relate to my children.

Empathy is an important part of positive parenting. When we identify with our kids’ feelings, we can adjust our parenting approach to help them sort through their emotions and follow our directions.

Even though I don’t necessarily have SPD (that I know of), I have found that I do have a few sensory issues. So, I’ve been trying to tap into those feelings to empathize with my children.

Sensory Processing Disorder Parenting Tips for Showing Empathy

This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.

Think about how you feel when you’re overwhelmed. What sensory moments set you off or irritate you? For me, it’s lots of loud noise. When all of the kids are talking at once, I literally feel like my brain is short-circuiting. So I know that sensory overload is damaging.

Magnify your own feelings by 10 to get a sense of your child’s emotions. Even though I get irritated when my senses are overwhelmed, I can (usually) stay in control because I know what I’m doing next or because I know I have an action plan. My kids, though, don’t have that option. Naturally, their own response is not going to be as measured as mine. So why would I expect them to behave the way I do?

Accept that your children have the right to feel. This seems like a no-brainer, but it’s something we often overlook as parents. Our children are entitled to their feelings. They really are. Their feelings don’t have to make sense or meet some kind of standard for normality. We shouldn’t ever criticize or belittle what they feel, even if we don’t understand why they are reacting to something so strongly. Since kids with SPD tend to have stronger emotional responses, we need to be prepared to help them manage those feelings, not deny them.

Acknowledge your kids’ feelings before giving instructions or discipline. To help our children show obedience, we need to deal with their feelings first. Personally, I know that if I’m angry or sad, I find it very hard to follow instructions (even if they’re good for me!). My feelings are so strong that they basically block out my good sense. My kids are the same way. If they’re consumed with their feelings or sensory responses, they’re not going to be able to follow my instructions. I have to acknowledge their feelings and help them work through them before I can expect them to cooperate with direction.

The Ultimate Guide to Brain Breaks eBook

Other Parenting with Empathy Resources:

Have you tried parenting with empathy? Does showing empathy make it easier for you to handle sensory processing disorder parenting struggles? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

9 Night Before Back to School Organization Tips

August 5, 2014 by Selena Robinson 36 Comments

We’re continuing with our back to school theme this week by sharing some great back to school organization tips you can use the night before! Plus, we’re participating in a fabulous linkup!

Nothing is worse than waking up in a panic to get your kids ready for school. We’re homeschoolers, but I still find that if I go through a checklist the night before class starts, our school day runs much, much smoother.

So – here are nine “night-before” back to school organization tips for your family, whether your kids are in homeschool, public school, or daycare!

1. Make a menu plan.

Menu planning is a real lifesaver during the school year. When you have a prepared menu, you’ll have an easier time getting dinner on the table in time. Check out these great menu planning posts:

10 Theme Nights to Make Menu Planning Easier – Real Life at Home

Seven Steps to Make a Menu Plan – Faithfully Nourished

2. Prepare the kids’ lunches in advance.

Want to save time in the morning? Make the kids’ lunches the night before! Even better, get them involved by having them choose their lunches or make them! If you’re tired of the traditional PB&J, try these great posts for back to school lunch ideas:

Simple School Lunch Ideas Your Kids Will Love – My Life and Kids

Over 50 Back to School Lunchbox Recipes – 3 Boys and a Dog

3. Set out the kids’ clothes for the next day.

Have your children set out their clothing for the next day before they go to bed at night. This is a great time to check on the looming laundry pile too! 🙂 Kelli from 3 Boys and a Dog shares some great tips for back to school clothes shopping:

Shopping for Back to School – 3 Boys and a Dog

4. Use a command center to keep track of assignments and events.

The first week of school or homeschool is pretty calm (typically), but as the year goes on, the amount of assignments and projects that are due can quickly get out of hand. Keeping a one-stop command center in your home is an excellent way to keep everything under control. Check out these posts for using command centers in the home:

DIY School Organization Center – The Chirping Moms

10 Back to School Command Centers – My Life and Kids

5. Plan lessons in advance and keep them organized.

Homeschooling moms have the additional responsibility of planning homeschooling lessons each week. Personally, I am awesome at making lesson plans. I’m not so good at following them everyday. So this year, I’m making a real effort at keeping my lesson plans organized so that I can find what I need quickly. For more about organizing lesson plans, visit this great post:

Organizing Lesson Plans – Adventures in Mommydom

6. Choose your read-alouds for the next day.

Developing a good reading habit with kids at an early age pretty much guarantees that they’ll love learning for life. But, trying to pull together a read-aloud list at the last second is a recipe for disaster. I prefer to have a list to work from so I have time to read the books myself and think about how to include them in our lessons. Here’s a great post about choosing books for kids:

Chapter Books for Kids – A Mom with a Lesson Plan

7. Use a dedicated space for keeping crafts and supplies.

If you’re homeschooling, you’ll need a separate space to keep your teaching materials. Rifling through a pile of books is extremely frustrating. (I have done this many times.) Save yourself time by keeping all of your materials in one dedicated space! Check out these posts for homeschool organization tips:

Tips for Organizing and Storing Craft and School Supplies – Motherhood on a Dime

School and Craft Supply Organization – I Can Teach My Child

8. Put your school items back before going to bed.

Okay, this is one I’m reeaallly bad at. Really bad. After the school day is over, put everything back where it was! This is a great time to get the kids involved as well. Make it a game of “How Fast Can We Put Everything Away?” 🙂 For a few suggestions about how to keep your school room organized, stop by this post:

Our School Room – School Time Snippets

9. Establish a bedtime routine and stick to it!

A good bedtime routine may actually be the most important part of back to school organizing. If your kids are in public school, they may have to get up especially early in order to catch the bus or make the first bell. Even if you’re homeschooling, you may want to start class at the same time each day. So – having a set bedtime is critical to getting your day started on the right foot. Check out this post to learn how to establish a bedtime routine with your kids:

15 Tips for a Better Bedtime – A Mom with a Lesson Plan

This post is part of the “Back to School” Linky Party hosted by The Educators’ Spin on It and featuring members of the Kid Blogger Network! Click on over to read the Back to School posts from our fellow bloggers!

Our 2014-15 Homeschool Curriculum Choices

August 4, 2014 by Selena Robinson 13 Comments

We’re starting our new school year next week! Woohoo! So it’s time to take a look at our homeschool curriculum choices for the upcoming year.

We’re going to have a fourth grader, a first grader, and a kindergartener this year, so I’m extra excited about what we’ll learn as a family. Piglet, who will be two in December, will be along with us for a couple of months, but I think we’ll start her tot school program by the end of the year.

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