March 26, 2014

Chats on the Farmhouse Porch #132

Everyday Ruralty

What is your favorite room of your house or apartment?
I love my kitchen. It's everything that I always wanted. Lots of counter space and cupboards. I spend a lot of time in there because I love to cook for my family. Cooking makes me happy so a good kitchen was important and knowing I was going to get to pick my kitchen when we bought our mobile home, I had a blast picking all my "must-haves".

What's your favorite topping for pancakes or waffles?
Oh I adore berries, whipped cream and real maple syrup...I prefer waffles and french toast.

Do you like dried fruit?
Yes! I have always loved it! When I was young I adored banana chips. Now I like to eat just about any fruit dried!

Please finish this statement. "As soon as we have good spring weather, I'm going to_______."

March 19, 2014

Preschool: Checking in with Baby Britches

I thought it was time to check in and share with you the things that Baby Britches has been working on over the last few months. I can honestly say that I have NOT been consistent with his schooling nor deliberate. I had planned to methodically go through the ABC's with one each week to focus on...but honestly, it was a lot of work to get it all printed out and ready to go...AND he actually got rather bored with it. So we have been schooling side by side with Little Britches...he observes all online programs whether science, math, foreign language, or music and just absorbs what he sees and hears. 

We have worked through an ABC workbook (the kind you find at the $ store) with ease...he gets bored with those too. We do a lot of reading aloud...but mostly we just do this and that.

So I wanted to share our "this and that" preschool adventure that we've been enjoying thus far...

We are mostly focused on a few areas---ABC's, Color Identification, and Number Identification

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ABC's



One of the new things that we have done with ABC's is to use the ABC spoon match up game I made. I bought white spoons and clear spoons. I wrote the capital letters on the back of the white spoons and the lowercase letters on the back of the clear spoons. I made sure to write them so that when you stacked the spoons together, both the capital and lowercase of each letter is side by side. It's a frugal way to create a matching game and he REALLY enjoyed doing it. We play this game once a week and he needs little to no help.
One of the few online sites that I let the boys visit is Starfall.com. Baby Britches enjoys doing the ABC's. He can navigate the page on his own and it teaches him not just the letters, but the sounds that each letter makes, words that begin with the sounds/letters and he does matching puzzles, letter sort puzzles and more! It's one of his most favorite things to do on the computer.
We are working on letter formation too. Worksheets like this one are ideal; however, I thought this would take him awhile...nope. He whipped through them like they were the easiest thing ever. Needless to say I had him trace it in multiple colors. I can't remember where this worksheet comes from...I think it's part of the Raising Rockstars Preschool Letter G unit by 1+1+1=1.

This is a GREAT puzzle that I bought for $2 at Wal*Mart. I found it in their little educational resource section. They are thicker pieces that don't bend which is ideal for a lot of handling. I always spread the letters out for him and he picks one to search for....

,,,and then matches them together saying the letter and the name of the items on each piece. He does this VERY well, though needs a bit of help just to make sure n and u are right-side-up or if a puzzle is being "tricky" as he likes to tell me.

Baby Britches has also started using a Trace n Learn program on my new Kindle Fire. It's the one that a lot of my friends are using with THEIR preschooler. He loves doing it and I hear him saying the little tips I give him. "Start at top and go down. Then make curve."

Color Identification

One of the other areas that we are working on as part of our schooling this year is color identification. Here are some of the ways that we are working on that.
I have a set of little squishy pokey balls in 5 colors. I give him some plastic cups to use with them and he creates his own fun. We ask questions like "Where is the orange one?" or I give him directions like "put the orange, red and blue balls in the same cup."

These are from the Zoomin Moving Alphabet by Royal Baloo. Each one has a color word on it. I read the color word and he finds the crayon and colors it in. This is one of the ones he gets bored with, so we only do it every now and then.

We use the Guidecraft Feel and Find set to match colors and shapes. He can do this very quickly now but it's still good for him to do it regularly.
Little Britches needed to use these clear disks for math, but they were all mixed up in the bag. I started sorting them myself when it hit me that it would be a great thing for Baby Britches to do. So I got him all the little containers and once I explained what I wanted, he went to town! He loved sorting these and sat doing it for about 25 minutes. When he got them all done, he put the lids on and stacked them up for me to take a picture. It was a win-win for us all! 

Number Identification

I don't really have any photos of what we are doing to work on this right now, but we have some puzzles, a trace n learn app for numbers AND Baby Britches is using CTC Math as part of the review that I'm doing. I wasn't going to originally include him in it, but decided to give him a try on the Kindergarten level. Since we started using it he can now easily count 1 to 10 without any mistakes AND correctly identify all the numbers in written form. Right now we are working on identifying the number words...

Miscellaneous

Baby Britches loves puzzles of any kind...I give him these simple letter puzzles to work on from his little letter bags I made him. They are part of the Zoomin Moving Alphabet.

Snip Snip! Some days I let him practice with his scissors cutting up scraps. It makes a mess, but as it keeps him occupied for 15+ minutes straight, it's well worth it!

Last but none the least...I have started giving him stickers at the completion of an activity. We are collecting them on these little papers and he gets to show them to daddy each week and tell him about the activities he did to earn the stickers. He enjoys picking his stickers very much.

As I mentioned at the start, he's also observing/participating with Little Britches on other subjects like English (he can nearly chant the whole preposition list with us), Science (he participates in the experiments we do each week), Music (he gets to do KinderBach) and foreign language (he observes and repeats the Spanish words he hears).

I don't feel bad anymore about straying from the plan I had for him. He's learning so much with this eclectic style we are using that I think we will just keep on with it. We will soon be adding Art back in as we were chosen to review the preschool book by ARTistic Pursuits which I am VERY excited about. He's going to love it.

I think I'm going to try him out on the Blue Manor Education curriculum that I reviewed last year when he was still in speech therapy. I think he'll do VERY well on it and it will give a bit more in the areas I want to focus on.

Well I hope you enjoyed this little catch-up post on what we are doing in preschool right now. I've been trying to think ahead to this fall and I think that we will be using the Before Five-in-a-Row program. I think he will enjoy making the lapbooks--no I KNOW he will enjoy it. And I won't have to do so much printing. We can continue our usual read-aloud times, but this time make it match with a learning opportunity. 

I just want to encourage those of you who AREN'T doing any real formal studies with your preschoolers. I know that sometimes talking with other homeschooling moms or reading homeschooling blogs can make you discouraged that you aren't doing "enough". I totally go through that same guilt. But just remember that ANYTHING you do as part of a preschool education, is above and beyond what is "expected". So whether you are structured and focused using a program or if you are more eclectic like me, YOU ARE DOING GREAT! 

If you do preschool with your child...are you more of a eclectic style that is "unscheduled" or do you prefer to have it all lined out for you?
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March 18, 2014

Chats on the Farmhouse Porch #131

Everyday Ruralty
What are your favorite condiments?
Mayonnaise and Ketchup. And I'm a mayo snob. I can't stand Miracle Whip (shiver). I will only eat Helmanns or Kraft. I have tried making it myself but it never works out for me. And I'm weird. I put mayo on my hotdogs. For some reason this grosses my husband's family out. LOL! I'm not as picky about my Ketchup...but I really like the Organic brand we have now. It's really flavorful.

What are you reading?
I JUST finished (as in during lunch) book #4 of The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins (same author of Hunger Games). I really like Young Adult Lit and this series is well done...now on to book #5--the conclusion of the series.

What was the last dessert you had?
I had a pastry that I bought at Costco. It was delicious. I'm not really a dessert person. I have to be in the mood for it. But I was in the mood and it was tasty.

Wendell would like to know if you would build him a snowman. (If you don't have snow, just pretend. He's not detail oriented.)
No snowmen, Wendell. I am anti-snow at this point. If I built a snowman, I'd probably knock it's head off.

Tell me something fun or interesting.
I just got home from an incredible weekend with 276 of my Sisters in Christ. We had a delightful enrichment weekend where we spent time analyzing the Fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) and how we can "grow" our fruit in abundance and quality in our lives.

Have a lovely week! Now that everyone in my house is healthy again I am hoping to be more consistent with my blogging! It's hard to find time to do it when you are stretched in so many directions!
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March 14, 2014

Mango Languages (a curriculum review)

Hola! Como estas? Estoy bien! If you don't know any Spanish let me simply say "Hello! How are you? I am fine." I have always wanted to speak Spanish. I took German in school because everyone else was taking Spanish. But now I have a greater use for Spanish! My husband and I both knew that we wanted Little Britches to start using a foreign language curriculum soon to begin learning Spanish. As soon as the opportunity to review Mango Languages came up, I wanted to give it a try.


What is Mango Languages?

Mango Languages Review

Mango Languages is an online foreign language curriculum. Some people might be familiar with their name, as they got their start by offering language courses through library systems and have been running this successfully for seven years. They are pleased to be incorporating a new program geared to...the homeschoolers! 

Mango Languages is now offering the Mango Homeschool Edition. The Mango Homeschool Edition grants you access to over 60 different languages from the "usual suspects" of German, French, Spanish and Latin...to the more exotic of Hebrew, Greek, Portuguese, Croatian, Bengali, Irish and more! Did I mention you could learn to speak Pirate?! LOL! Seriously, I think that if there is a language you want to learn, I'm sure you will find it at Mango Languages!

The price structure for the Mango Homeschool Edition is as follows:
1 subscription is $18/month or $125/year total  
2 subscriptions is $28/month or $175 /year total                      
3 subscriptions is $38/month or $225/year total                     
4 subscriptions is $48/month or $275/year total                 
5 subscriptions is $58/month or $325/year total

A subscription is one "user". Anything over 6 subscriptions is a special group rate which Mango Languages can provide you with more details on.

Here are some of the things that the website offers:

*Over 60 different languages
*Progress Assessments

*Built-in journals, discussions and wikis
*Collaborative learning spaces
*eNote messaging
/chat rooms

*Access to embedded/downloadable content
*Support from other community members
*Calendars to schedule meetings or study groups

Over the next several months, Mango Languages will be introducing other exciting features like:

*Enhanced Tracking and Progress Monitoring - including seat time (for students and parents)
*Goals and Personal Lesson Plans (both stand-alone and tied into Mango courses)

*Resume and Portfolio Builder

For this review, I received a year long subscription for Little Britches and myself. We were allowed to pick any of the languages that we desired. I chose Spanish (Latin America) for Little Britches. I also went with Spanish (Latin America) for myself, with German as a secondary language.

How Do You Get It Set Up?


As soon as we received our login emails, I made a point of watching the "how to" videos provided by Mango Languages. These short videos helped explain how to navigate the site and were very useful to reference later. I continued to our account where I set our accounts up for each language. To pick a language you need to visit the "The Commons". When you click on this link, it takes you to the Mango Language Course Directory. 
Mango Languages Review

Here in this directory, you get to view the complete list of languages that are at your disposal. Each language has a few icons that go with it. The first one is a flag. This flag matches the country where this language is spoken. The second icon is a lock, showing you that the space is private and not public. The third icon shows your membership with that language. It will be green if it's a language you are signed up for. Some of the languages also have ratings.

If I desired to learn more about any of the languages, I simply clicked the language name. This took me to a more detailed description of the language.
Mango Languages Review
I learned that each language was called a "Passport". Once you clicked on the language description it gives you details about what your language will involved. This includes a little summary that shares how many people in the world currently speak that particular language and the countries that it is spoken in. At the bottom of the screen under the list of what the passport includes, it will tell you how many "journeys" are available. I have come to learn that journey's are like "levels". You move to the next journey once the first one has been completed. Some languages have just one journey (like Latin and Hebrew), other languages have several...Spanish (Latin America) offers three and German offers four. It is here you might also see a tab that says "files". Some of the languages offer extra material in the form of printouts to assist you with the language. This could be printable flashcards, grammar helps, or anything else useful for beginners.

Some languages offer a demo. This is great if you are undecided about a language and want some examples before making your decision.

To pick a language, you simply click "join this space" on this page and it takes you through a few confirmations (that you REALLY DO want to join this space) and you are good to go!

Once you have joined, your language gets listed in the left sidebar on your account homepage under "Manage Memberships", making for easy access whenever you log-in. To get started, you click on your language membership and then you will see where you can log-in to your language.

You will need to have the following to use Mango Languages:
*microphone, whether plug in or part of your computer
*javascript
*updated version of Adobe Flash Player

When you log in, the program will check for these things before opening up the language.

Mango Languages is not dependent on a particular operating system and should work well on whatever you are using it on. There is nothing to download as long as you have the three things I mentioned working.

How Did We Use Mango Languages?


I first want to share that our review version of Mango Homeschool Edition is a beta version...this means that it is still changing and that I didn't have complete access to some of the things that will be part of the program once it's complete. Some of the languages aren't as detailed (yet) and there are a lot of things that are going to be tweaked over the upcoming weeks and months. I am sharing with you what we DID use and if there is something that I know will be available I will make mention of it as needed.

I scheduled our language lessons as a four day a week subject. Each lesson typically took 30-40 minutes depending on the speed that Little Britches was able to progress.

Each language is set up with journeys. Each journey is set up with chapters and each chapter has a set of lessons. Each chapter's lesson begins by sharing you what the conversational goals and grammar goals are.
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I found these goals very helpful as I evaluated our progress.

Now as you click to start your lesson, the first thing you see is a dialogue. This dialogue gives you an example of what you will be able to say and understand by the end of the lesson. It is first listed in English so you can see what is being said, then it is translated and verbally spoken in the language of study.

From here the lessons begin. There is a narrator who introduces the words that are being taught. There is also a second voice which demonstrates the language. Once the speaker is finished, you are then asked to say it yourself. There is always a "replay" button if you missed it. You can also hover over each of the words to see a pronunciation guide. Finally there is also a microphone icon. If you click on this, you have the chance to say the passage into the microphone and then compare it to the speaker's voice. Little Britches really liked doing this to see how he compared.

This process continues with each portion of the lesson. There is new information, and then that information is reviewed several times. The new information is then added to previously learned information so that you continue to work on words and phrases learned earlier in the lesson. When the narrator is asking you to say something you have worked on, you will NOT see a microphone. Instead there is a stop clock at the top of the screen. You have 10 seconds before the speaker says it for you; but, you have the option of "adding more time" or just "show the answer". This is useful when you think you know the answer but just need more time to think.

Scattered throughout the lessons there are grammar lessons to help you learn things like genders if your language has them.

Once the lesson is done, you get a badge on your chapter list and it will move you to the next lesson and the process repeats. When you log-in, you will be taken to the last lesson you worked on. This is very handy. When the chapter is complete, there is an assessment on the chapter which will give you a score. It is NOT verbal but rather allows you to demonstrate your knowledge by building sentences or choosing proper endings for words.

Because each chapter has 4-5 lessons  you could easily do one chapter every 1-2 weeks. This works great if you have a student who is understanding what it being learned...however, this is not the way it worked for us.

Because I had a feeling that Little Britches was going to need guidance on this, I did each lesson the night before I was going to introduce it. This not only taught me the information, but allowed me to have a heads-up on tricky pronunciations or grammar that would need additional explanation. I logged Little Britches in each day and then he was able to click through the lesson. He learned very quickly how to work the microphone, how to check pronunciations, and how to add more time to his lesson if needed. I tried to stay nearby (usually doing something in the kitchen) so I could hear his lesson. If I felt he needed to repeat anything I'd have him repeat it to me before continuing on.

We ended up only completing one chapter over the weeks we did the review. It took a LOT of review of the lessons for him to remember what he'd learned. Once I picked up on this I would have him double up reviews--and this became our schedule:
Monday: Lesson 1
Tuesday: Lesson 1 again
Wednesday: Lesson 2
Thursday: Lesson 2 again

The next week looked like this
Monday: Lesson 1 review
Tuesday: Lesson 2 review
Wednesday: Lesson 3
Thursday: Lesson 3 review

At this point, I made us some flashcards with the words and phrases we'd learned thus far. One side had the words/phrases in Spanish, the other side the translation.

I asked him to say it in Spanish and then tell me what it translated into. This did help a lot in his retention and I changed our schedule to add them in.

The following week:
Monday: Flashcards
Tuesday: Lesson 3 review
Wednesday: Lesson 4
Thursday: Lesson 4 review

There were only 4 lessons in our first chapter...at this point I didn't feel like the retention was there at all, so for the rest of the weeks in our review I had him re-watch the lessons and continue to review the flashcards. I also worked the phrases and sentences that were learned into our daily conversation. I allowed the final assessment test after a week of review and he received an 80% on it which I considered to be a passing grade...especially since I had received the same score! LOL!

We have now moved into Chapter 2 at the writing of this review and we have followed the same routine that I set up for Chapter 1.

What Are My Thoughts?


I'm a mixed bag on the Mango Homeschool Edition program. After using it as an adult student and as a young student, I have come to these conclusions:

#1 This is a GREAT program for ME! I enjoyed every lesson and quickly picked up what was taught. I felt that it moved at a great speed (for me) and that it was useful immediately with what was being taught. I enjoyed my first chapter of Spanish so much that I signed up for the German too. If you remember from the beginning of this post, I have German language background. I took it for 2 years in high school and then a year in college.

Something else that I liked about Mango Languages is that each of the languages (except pirate!) offers a placement quiz. You can take the quiz and it will continue to ask you questions in the language you are assessing yourself until you are answering more incorrect than correct. It will then give you a placement for the language. The creators of Mango Languages suggest that it's not 100% accurate, but a best guess based on your demonstration of your knowledge. Remember that there is no verbal testing. I felt that my placement for German was fairly accurate. (if I remember right, it placed me at about a Journey 2 Lesson 12 or so). This is very useful for someone who just wants to bring a "rusty" language up to speed.

I plan on continuing using Mango Languages over the upcoming year to continue my Spanish studies and work on my German. Who knows? I might tackle something else too!

That's something else I love. You don't have to stick with one language. You can try as many as you like!

#2 I like that most of the languages have files to go with them so you can print off course guides. These contain every single thing that is taught including the narration. This is great to reference--especially if you don't have a tablet or other easily portable device. Simply print off the guide and you can take it with you and practice!

#3 This is NOT a good match for Little Britches. I feel that this curriculum is geared towards a 13+ age. There are no pictures. No videos. It's adults speaking. It's all reading and just repeating words. There is no interaction with native speakers. There are no worksheets for further review. And there are no games. Frankly, he found it boring. He also felt that it went too fast. The person who was speaking the language always spoke quickly. There was no way to slow it down. He also had no way to evaluate whether his pronunciation was correct unless I told him so.

Part of the program includes the narrator at times saying "Isn't this easy?" and I found Little Britches regularly telling her "No!" LOL!

#4 I was surprised to find that Baby Britches was learning from it. The repetition of hearing the lessons really seemed to work for him, even though he wasn't the one learning it! He always sat next to Little Britches though. Eventually he had learned enough that I caught him saying answers when Little Britches hesitated! Though his pronunciation wasn't always the best! LOL! I loved hearing him say "Ben knows Nachos!" for "Buenos Noches" and "Pasta Lego!" instead of "Hasta Luego!" (giggle)

#5 The quizzes need to be available for printing and there needs to be more printable resources in general for each language. At this time you can only take the quiz and get a score. You cannot see what you missed, nor can you print the quiz out. I really wanted this as I was sure I had aced the test and wanted to see what questions I had answered incorrectly. The creators of Mango Languages have shared that they are working on this to make those options possible and that this issue is a priority for them, because of the demand. This is also true with the printable resources. Not all of the languages offered things like flashcards and there is no writing instruction to the languages. It is strictly learning to speak it. I believe that this really needs to be added as part of the program.

#6 There is no way to verify if you are saying something properly. Though the microphone does record your words for you to compare to the speaker, there is nothing to tell you whether it actually is correct or not. Languages like German and Spanish have a tricky accent and rolls of the tongue and I feel there needs to be a better way to teach that.

#7 At this time, I didn't find anything else provided by Mango Languages as part of the Mango Homeschool Edition to be useful to either me or Little Britches in our learning. There is a community available with a forum for chatting or asking questions. The creators have advised that this portion of the program is still under construction and an ultimate goal is that a student will be able to have greater interaction with others learning the same language and with native speakers. This would be nice to have, but I still don't know if we would have used it.

#8 I would love to see Mango Languages become more kid-friendly. It would require more work by the creators, but I think it would be very beneficial, especially considering this program is promoted to be for ages 6 to adult. I know that my son would have enjoyed it more if it had been more visually pleasing, and at the least had videos or games.

What Is My Overall Recommendation of Mango Languages?


If you have an older student (age 10+) or are an adult looking to review a rusty language or something new, than I think this is a great program and recommend it wholeheartedly!

If you are looking for a language program for a young student, I recommend it with reservations. I think it will depend on your student. If they work well with programs geared to a variety of ages, without illustrations and games, then Mango Languages might work for you! If your child does better with a program geared to a young learner with printables, interactive games, and videos...then I think you might need to find something else...or just do the 30 day free trial to see how it goes.

Our family will continue to use this program over the year--but I will be making changes for Little Britches as the way the program is now isn't working for him. I'm going to have to find and/or create something else to help him with better retention of what he is learning.
*****
You've read my review...but make sure you also check out what some of my fellow crew members had to say about Mango Languages after they used in their homes!
Click to read Crew Reviews
Crew Disclaimer
Make sure you visit my Curriculum and Product Reviews tab at the top of my blog so you can stay caught up with all my reviews!
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March 12, 2014

Chats on the Farmhouse Porch #130

Everyday Ruralty

If you are in the US, does the time change mess you up?
For like two days. Them I'm back on schedule again. And I find that going forward screws me up more than going backward. Honestly I say we should just chuck daylight savings time....

Do you usually drink a beverage with you meals?
Yes. Milk, water, juice, tea...the usual suspects.

How often do you iron clothes?
Once a week and only when necessary.

When was the last time you took an enjoyable walk?
Hmm. The last time we had our big snow--a couple weeks ago? It was fun to tromp through it and take photos of pretty things we saw.

Tell me whatever you'd like to share with us.
I am ready for spring. Warmth from the sun. New life everywhere. Gardening. Flowers. I'm so ready for it!


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March 5, 2014

Chats on the Farmhouse Porch #129

Everyday Ruralty

Do you like avocados?
I am not a fan. I know they are super healthy for you, but I just don't like them in any way shape or form! But I do feed them to my boys when the boys are little and they always love them...until they get bigger. Now they don't like them at all! LOL!

Have you ever gone on a roller coaster?
Yes. I love them. Well I USED to love them. Now it's amazing how gravity changes your body as you get older. Now they make me all woozy...so I ride them in moderation. But I used to ride the biggest and the baddest of them.

Do you do cross stitch, needlepoint, crewel work, or needle punch?
I can sew by hand...but I don't. I'm rather too impatient.

Do you cook with gas or electric?
Yes! I started off our marriage cooking with gas on our stove. We now use electric. But I regularly use gas when I use the grill all spring and summer. I love the high heat it provides.

Tell me something good, pleasant, or uplifting. Please.
We've enjoyed a lovely week with my husband, thanks to the nasty winter weather. He couldn't go into work on Monday and since he was going to have to only work a half day on Wednesday just decided to scrub the week. So we've been enjoying having daddy home for 3 extra days and 2 extra nights.

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March 4, 2014

Celebrating 1 Year with Poppins Book Nook (a giveaway!)

As you know, over the past year I've been participating in a fun monthly themed book and activity share called Poppins Book Nook. Would you believe that it's officially our 1st birthday?! With our birthday comes new co-hosts, new themes for the year and...a GIVEAWAY!
The Poppins Book Nook co-hosts are proud to present to their readers the opportunity to win a fabulous FREE Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 32GB WiFi 4G w/ Charger to one lucky entrant. This way, you can download and read all of your favorite eBooks you have and will collect along your learning adventures. You could be having absolutely fun times doing all the things that this Kindle Fire 32GB WiFi 4G w/ Charger can do, be it learning activities, free reading, or let’s face it, playing that just released new version of that game you know and love so much, whatever that may be.

Poppins Book Nook Giveaway! 

Thank you all for your continued support and for following along with the Poppins Book Nook Book Club! May this bring a spoonful of reading fun into your households for your children. Enjoy this Kindle Fire giveaway!

The winner will be randomly picked by Rafflecopter and will be notified by Enchanted Homeschooling Mom via email. This giveaway is open to all people ages 18 and over with an active USA address for delivery (United States Domestic and APO/FPO/DPO as designated by the USPS) of the prize. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or any other entity unless otherwise specified.

By entering this giveaway you are also acknowledging that you have read and agree to all of the Rafflecopter terms and conditions as well as Enchanted Homeschooling Mom's HERE

Just enter the Rafflecopter below to win:


Meet your co-hosts for 2014 to 2015!

Enchanted Homeschooling Mom ~ 3 Dinosaurs ~ To the Moon and Back ~ Planet Smarty Pants ~ Farm Fresh Adventures ~ Growing in God's Grace ~ Chestnut Grove Academy ~ Faith and Good Works ~ Learning and Growing the Piwi Way ~ The Usual Mayhem~ Preschool Powol Packets ~ Monsters Ed Homeschool Academy ~ Adventures in Mommydom ~ Teach Beside Me ~ Life with Moore Babies ~ Kathy's Cluttered Mind ~ Are We There Yet? ~ Our Crafts N Things ~ Hopkins Homeschool ~ ABC Creative Learning ~ Joy Focused Learning ~ P is for Preschooler ~ Laugh and Learn ~ A Mommy's Adventures ~ Inspiring 2 New Hampshire Children ~ World for Learning ~ The Kennedy Adventures ~ Ever After in the Woods ~ Golden Grasses ~ Our Simple Kinda Life ~ A glimpse of our life ~ Journey to Excellence ~ Happy Little Homemaker ~ Little Homeschool Blessings ~ Simplicity Breeds Happiness ~ Raventhreads ~ Water on the Floor ~ Learning Fundamentals ~ Tots and Me ~ As We Walk Along The Road ~ Stir the Wonder ~ For This Season ~ Where Imagination Grows ~ Lextin Academy ~ The Canadian Homeschooler ~ School Time Snippets ~ Peakle Pie ~ Mom's Heart ~ A Moment in our World ~ Every Bed of Roses ~ Finchnwren ~ At Home Where Life Happens ~ Suncoast Momma ~ The Library Adventure ~ Embracing Destiny ~ Day by Day in our World ~ Our Homeschool Studio ~ A "Peace" of Mind ~ Thou Shall Not Whine ~ SAHM I am ~ eLeMeNo-P Kids ~ Simple Living Mama

And to get your literary juices flowing, here is our list of themes for this year!! We hope that you will join us by sharing YOUR favorite books for each theme and any activities you might to go with them!

If you are interested in checking out my previous Poppins Book Nook posts, you can find them HERE.
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