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Archives for June 2016

July 2016 Planning Pages – Free Printable

July 16 planning pagesFor our family, June meant swim season kicked into full gear, our oldest started her first real job (WHERE IS THE TIME GOING, PEOPLE??), the girls had a week-long service camp they attended, and the days started to get hotter – so I spent some lovely time reading at the pool while the kids practiced a plethora of flips off the diving board. Ah…summer!

But how can it be we are already halfway through the year?? This past month, my entire ‘brain’ – if you will – was wrapped up in the pages of my planner. To help you get your days and weeks a little more organized, I have July 2016 Personal Planner Pages for you all to use, and I truly hope they are a help to you in the upcoming weeks. 

A Peek Inside My Planner

If you’d like to take a look at how I’ve set up my yearly planner, I’ve explained it more in this post here, as well as given links to my favorite binder and colorful tabs (because pretty makes life fun too, right?).

Yearly Planner example from Homeschool Creations-5

This year I’ve done a little something different and pulled my planner out of the binder and had it spiral bound at Staples. Loving it so far!!

July 2016 Personal Planner Pages

You can download the July 2016 Personal Planner Pages by clicking the green download button below. There are 12 pages included as a part of the download: the month at a glance and then weekly planning pages as well, with a page that goes a bit into May as well. Each month I’ll be offering a free download for that month’s planning pages, so you can check back and download them as they become available.

Download button

 

Purchase the Yearly Planner

Yearly Planner from Homeschool Creations - daily, monthly, and yearly pages to get you organized

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If you like the layout and want to start planning out the rest of your year now (and next year too), purchase the full Yearly Planner for $4.99. The calendar includes month-at-a-glance pages and dated weekly pages through December 2017.

Don’t miss my student planner and weekly homeschool planner – available as well!

Don’t Miss The Daily To-Do List

Daily to do list free printable

 

My Daily To-Do List is pretty basic, but hopefully it will work for you too. There is an area to make a list of things to accomplish, household goals, appointment, meals for the day, and even a space to record exercise and water intake. Each page in the document is identical so you can print them off, cut the page in half, and have two lists. If you print them front to back, you’ll have four to-do lists and save a little paper.

Hope you all have a wonderful month!! I’d love to hear your plans!

 

Beach Scavenger Hunt and Phone Number Bracelet – Preschool and Kindergarten Community

Preschool and Kindergarten Community weekly linkup

Ready for another week of linking up and sharing ideas? I am so glad that you are stopping by today (really, I am!) and can’t wait to see what you all have to share this week. Be sure to stop by our PreK & K Pinterest board to see a collection of the different posts we are pinning – including yours!

Don’t forget to link up a post or two of yours and share what you’ve been working on with your kids! Here are a few fun ideas from last week’s linkup.

Jellyfish Craft

Jellyfish-craft-for-kids

Ready for an under the sea adventure? Make this jellyfish craft from Uno Zwei Tutu and your home will be well on your crafty fun!

Beach Scavenger Hunt

BLANKPrintable-Beach-Scavenger-Hunt-By-Year-Round-Homeschooling

Planning a trip to the beach? This printable scavenger hunt list from Year Round Homeschooling has some fun items to search for while you comb the sand together. 

FREE ABC Playdough Mats

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If your kids love playdough, you’ll want to download and print these FREE ABC Playdough Mats of both uppercase and lowercase letters. Such a great fine motor and letter recognition activity.

4th of July Activities

4th of July activities for kids

Looking for a few (or 25) activities to do in the upcoming month leading up to the 4th of July? You’ll find 25 4th of July crafts, printables, and more in this post – lots to keep you busy and your house all decked out!

Phone Number Bracelet

Phone-Number-Bracelet-Focus-on-Child-Safety-in-a-Cute-and-Sweet-Way

If your child needs to learn his phone number, this phone number bracelet from Living Montessori Now is a creative (and cute) way to teach the number and get a little fine motor practice in as well. 

That’s it for this week!! Thanks so much for checking in with us and sharing below.

 

Follow the PreK and Kindergarten Community Pinterest Board

Preschool Pinterest Board

Each week I am  pinning many of your links onto the Preschool and Kindergarten Community Pinterest Board. I’m a visual person, so having pictures to help me remember posts is super helpful. Be sure to jump over and follow the board – and find some fun ideas at the same time!

Were You Featured in the Preschool & Kindergarten Community?

If you were featured in one of the weekly posts, feel free to grab the button coding below and display it on your site!

 

Homeschool Preschool

 

 

Link Up with the Preschool and Kindergarten Community!

Homeschool Preschool: Preschool and Kindergarten Community linkup at Homeschool CreationsShare what you are doing with your kids! Please link your exact blog post to the Mr. Linky below and link back here too! Grab a button for your post and be sure to take a minute to visit the person who linked up before you.



5 Reasons We Recommend Heirloom Audio Dramas

We are so excited to have Heirloom Audio as a sponsor of Homeschool Creations. Be sure to read through for some special savings just for readers of our site! Reasons we love and recommend Heirloom Audio dramas - a review from Homeschool Creations

Confession. Audio books and drama weren’t always high on my list of homeschool priorities. There was a time early on in our homeschool journey (until the last 3 years or so), that I considered it something akin to cheating if we listened to an audio book instead of reading the book. Then our family was introduced to Heirloom Audio and our perspective completely changed. We have grown to love a good audio book, and so far nothing can compare to the audio dramas from Heirloom Audio. I’d love to share five reasons we recommend that your family drop everything and pick up one (or more) of their audiobooks. 

5 Reasons to LOVE Heirloom Audio Dramas

Have a few minutes? (Hang in until the end of this post too, since I have a great coupon code for you to use when ordering! Email subscribers can view the video clip using this link.) 

1. The entire family will enjoy them. The productions from Heirloom Audio are something the entire family will enjoy – from younger children (ages 7 through adults), they are something to listen to and get caught up in, no matter what your age. 

2. They are incredibly well-produced. Unlike boring narrators and ho-hum story plots, Heirloom Audio productions will pull you in from the first few moments of listening with their full cast (a different actor for each character), music score, and stories that follow G.A. Henty books. From the actor voices of Kirk Cameron to Helen George (Call the Midwife), the directors have worked hard to provide a quality cast and drama you will want to listen to over and over again. 

3. Car trips become enjoyable and quiet. While this may seem like a silly reason, if you have loud kids and/or a lot of them, you’ll fully understand the wonderful thing that happens when children become enraptured in an audio drama. Squabbling stops and quiet reigns as everyone focuses on something they love!

4. History comes ALIVE (and you’ll learn a lot!). Aside from quality production, the audio drama Swords clash. Music soars. And listeners are drawn into the historical period and feel a part of the scenes. Each drama will teach your family little nuggets of history in a memorable way. These are perfect for auditory learners!

5. Each audio drama includes a full teacher’s guide. Expand your listening adventure with the discussion questions, activities, Bible study, and more that come along with each of the different adventures from Heirloom Audio. There is enough included to use the guide as a curriculum guide and talk with your children on how the lessons learned apply to their lives today – and the best part is, they’ve done all the hard work for you. 

 Latest Audio Drama from Heirloom Audio

Heirloom Audio Beric the Briton-6-2

As I mentioned in the video, there are five audio dramas available from Heirloom Audio, including their most recent addition, Beric the Briton

  • Under Drake’s Flag
  • In Freedom’s Cause
  • With Lee in Virginia
  • The Dragon and the Raven
  • Beric the Briton

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Our kids were ALL thrilled to see a new adventure arrive from Heirloom Audio (there may have been a literal squeal from McKenna when she saw it sitting on the counter). The only problem for our family is finding a time that everyone in the house can listen together. There is MUCH discussion on how the audio book may not, under any circumstances, move one iota of a second because a family member may miss crucial information. Thank.you.very.much. That family member may at times even be a parent. 

Personally, Beric the Briton has been my favorite of all the CDs we’ve listened to so far (granted, I’ve loved all of them). Beric takes place during the spread of the Roman Empire into Britannia and follows Beric and his friend as they are put in service to Nero and still long for the freedom of their own country.

“This tale of the Roman invasion of ancient Britannia remains one of G.A. Henty’s most popular novels of all time. Join Beric and his best friend Bodouc as they live the adventure of a lifetime – captured by the Romans, trained as gladiators, and placed in the service of Emperor Nero himself! When the story of a mysterious “Christus” begins to circulate the Roman Empire, Beric and Bodouc are forced to confront their pagan past. Will the two young prisoners be able to overcome their thirst for revenge and discover the source of true forgiveness?”

Adapted from the book, Beric The Briton, by G.A. Henty

One of the things most interesting to me in this story was the battle formations and the differences between the Romans and the Britons. Beric studied and learned from their battles, understanding that his tribe needed to change their methods in order to see different results. The kids and I talked about how battles have evolved over the years – different weapons, materials, and strategies – and it was a great jumping off point for more discussion!

Introduce Your Family to Heirloom Audio

Heirloom Audio Stories

Each CD set is normally $29.97 and available for individual purchase, but different specials are available including this special offer for my readers. If you are at ALL interested in these audio adventures, you’ll want to CLICK HERE  and view the special (includes eight total audio books – 2 of each, one to keep and one to share, at $10 each CD set). Note: Be sure to put “2” in the quantity field when you checkout to receive the discounted price.

 

Has your family listened to any of the Heirloom Audio adventures before? I’d love to hear your thoughts as well and what you most enjoy! 

 

We received Beric the Briton at no cost from Heirloom Audio to review. All opinions expressed in this post are our honest thoughts and feelings.

Gluten Free Salmon Cake Recipe

gluten free salmon cake recipe

Maybe fish isn’t your thing. I get that – our kids weren’t huge fans of it either. But in the last year or so, salmon has become one of my favorite dishes because my body tends to be happier the more protein it ingests, and I happily oblige. When I wanted to make salmon cakes using a recipe a friend had given me, I realized one of the key ingredients (bread crumbs) would cause a problem with my gluten-free friends. Rather than buying gluten-free bread crumbs, I decided to play around with teh recipe – and the results were delicious, especially since the added ingredient included more protein! 

Now granted, the above picture may not be the most appetizing or appealing, but really – I have no time to make it look pretty, because a) it would get cold and b) it smells good and our family wants to eat them. So frying pan picture it is! 

 

Gluten Free Salmon Cakes
Yields 8
a high-protein salmon-cake recipe (that even our kids love)
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Print
Prep Time
20 min
Total Time
30 min
Prep Time
20 min
Total Time
30 min
For Salmon Cakes
  1. 2 6oz. cans pink salmon
  2. 3 Tbsp. mayonaise
  3. 1 egg (or 2 egg whites)
  4. 1/2 red onion, finely diced
  5. 2 tsp Old Bay seasoning
  6. 1 tsp dill
  7. 1 tsp pepper
  8. 2 tsp minced garlic
  9. 1/2 cup cooked quinoa (or 2 slices of bread made into crumbs)
  10. 1/3 cup parmesan cheese
For Frying
  1. Olive oil
Instructions
  1. Drain salmon and place in a mixing bowl. Add in all remaining ingredients and mix together.
  2. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat.
  3. Once well mixed, form salmon mixture into 4" wide patties with hands and place in frying pan. Fry over medium-high heat for approximately 4 minutes per side or until desires crispness.
  4. Serve with tartar sauce or enjoy plain. Makes approximately 8-10 salmon cakes.
Homeschool Creations https://www.homeschoolcreations.net/

 We’ve also tried the above recipe with lump meat crab and had wonderful results as well, but typically I make up a batch and store them in the fridge to grab for a lunch at the pool or a quick snack during the week. 

Enjoy!

Writing Words in the Sand and Gummy Worm Popsicles – Preschool and Kindergarten Community

Preschool and Kindergarten Community weekly linkup

Ready for another week of linking up and sharing ideas? I am so glad that you are stopping by today (really, I am!) and can’t wait to see what you all have to share this week. Be sure to stop by our PreK & K Pinterest board to see a collection of the different posts we are pinning – including yours!

Don’t forget to link up a post (or two) of yours and share what you’ve been working on with your kids! Here are a few fun ideas from last week’s linkup.

Learning to Tell Time

Rock-Clock-3

If you are working on telling time with your kids, check out this fun time activity from The Jenny EvolutionIt has a whole lot of hands-on to go along with learning time and will be something your kids will remember well! 

Gummy Worm Popsicle Treat

Gummy-Worm-Popsicles-on-ice

Our kids would LOVE this gummy worm popsicle treat on a hot day! While gummy worms aren’t my favorite thing, these popsicles from Growing Up Gable would be so much fun to make with the kids this summer. 

ABC Letter Mazes

Letter mazes for letters f through j - free printable from Homeschool Creations

This free F to J alphabet maze and coloring pack includes letter mazes for the letters F through J and additional coloring space for words that begin with the corresponding letter sound.

Words in the Sand

Words-in-the-Sand-Learning-and-Sensory-Activity

You don’t have to sit on the beach to write in the sand – you can do it at home with your kids. Writing in sand is a great sensory and tactile learning idea for kids (use a paintbrush or pencil too). Check out this fun idea from The Sensory Spectrum and try it soon!

 

That’s it for this week!! Thanks so much for checking in with us and sharing below.

 

Follow the PreK and Kindergarten Community Pinterest Board

Preschool Pinterest Board

Each week I am  pinning many of your links onto the Preschool and Kindergarten Community Pinterest Board. I’m a visual person, so having pictures to help me remember posts is super helpful. Be sure to jump over and follow the board – and find some fun ideas at the same time!

Were You Featured in the Preschool & Kindergarten Community?

If you were featured in one of the weekly posts, feel free to grab the button coding below and display it on your site!
Homeschool Preschool

 

Link Up with the Preschool and Kindergarten Community!

Homeschool Preschool: Preschool and Kindergarten Community linkup at Homeschool CreationsShare what you are doing with your kids! Please link your exact blog post to the Mr. Linky below and link back here too! Grab a button for your post and be sure to take a minute to visit the person who linked up before you.



The Nitty Gritty Stuff

At some point in the summer it has to be done. For me, the last week and a half have been jam packed full with planning for the upcoming year. Sometime the nitty gritty stuff we have to do has perks and downsides. 

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Each year our local homeschool convention is held at the beginning of June. My hubby attended with me this year (typically he comes along every other year), so we looked at curriculum together, sat in on sessions, and it was a great time to purchase up the last bit of curriculum we needed for the upcoming year. It was also a lovely break for the two of us to get away, laugh, and enjoy some quiet without the kiddos. 

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Picking up a chemistry book for our oldest was on the frightening side – not because I’m scared of the subject, but all of the emotions that come along with realizing that she is in the final stretch – well, those are a little overwhelming. Hang in there moms with littles – it goes by SO quickly!

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Before getting there though, it was a mad dash of pulling together curriculum to sell (can you tell where I was sitting in the pile above??), highlighting any new pieces needing an up-close look, jotting down the best prices, and having our overall scope for the year in place so I wasn’t scrambling at the end. For me, that meant sitting down with a friend to put an overview for our group co-op on paper, mapping out a literature program for one class, and also figuring out history for our boys. Phew!

(And silly me jammed that all into the three days before convention). 

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What I (in)conveniently forgot was almost immediately after we returned home from convention, our oldest two set off for a week of service camp in our community – where I also volunteered to help (don’t worry, that van load of snacks isn’t a typical grocery haul for us!). To top it off, swim season is now in full force (did I mention my hubby and I are both VERY active members of the swim team board?). At the moment this all sounds much like complaining – and really, truly, not my heart. Life is full at the moment, and a great kind of very full. 

If you’ve been a long time blog reader, you’ll know that I am typically very intentional about having white space in my calendar, and the place I love to be most is home. Needless to say, the last two weeks have been stretching. A good stretch, but busy and I don’t typically like each other much because that leads to overwhelmed – which is never a fun place to be. 

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So tonight, I sit in my happy place of coloring in our schedule for next year, putting in orders for the last two pieces of curriculum, and then curling up with a book to rest for a little bit. 

How are YOU doing?