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I have been using All About Reading level 1 with my daughter London for the past year and a half. She is now almost 7, and we’re so glad we finished a couple of weeks ago. Yay! It was an amazing accomplishment us both!
When we first started in August of 2020, age wise, she was on the younger side, as she wasn’t halfway to 6 and honestly wasn’t quite ready. In addition, we discovered she needed glasses, so that played a role in the difficulty we were having with a reading in general. It became clear she wasn’t quite ready well before the pandemic, but I tried to push through. When the pandemic shut everything down, we stopped, like much of the rest of the country. We enjoyed our spring and summer break.
We started back into the reading program where we had stopped. It was much more enjoyable and easier on her (and me)! We just started on level 2 a couple days ago!
In this post I’ll share my review and sneak peek… You can also watch a whole flip-through of the curriculum, learn how we used it, hear my review, as well as see London finish her last lesson on my YouTube channel.
All About Reading Pros…
- You work at your own pace. Having this option was very important as London’s pace demanded it.
- AAR is very multi-sensory. This curriculum incorporates hands-on learning with the activities and the letter titles, as well as listening, seeing and doing.
- All About Reading is built on solid reading methods, using the Orton-Gillingham approach, which is known as the most effective way for struggling readers to learn to read.
- It gives straight-forward instructions for the parent, with a step-by-step guide, images and even a gentle script, in case you need help.
- I love the readers, They correspond with the lesson and the illustrations are engaging and cute.
- The curriculum scaffolds learning as lessons are built on each other. This method enhances learning by seeing hearing, and trying, then practice, repeating and review until eventually young readers master the concepts.
All About Reading Cons…
- AAR is a little pricey, however, it is worth every penny. All the research, work, beautifully organized visually appealing materials, as well as its functionality make it worth it! There are groups on Facebook where you can join others who are using the reading program. Also, a bonus it can be used over and over with multiple students!!!
- This is a one-on-one curriculum. Your student cannot complete lessons independently. You will need to work with them through the entire lesson. This can be hard if you have a semi-larger family like mine and have other responsibilities to do with other kids…But it can be done, we did it!
Overall, I love the All About Reading program! The comprehensive program sets an amazing foundation to learn to read and builds on what you’ve learned. As someone who came from the “whole language” approach back in the late 80’s and 90’s and struggled with reading (and spelling), I find this program a breath of fresh air learning the literacy skills needed as kids grow.
Here are a few tips for making things easier:
- Prepare lessons ahead of time that way there are no excuses! LOL! I liked to at least prepare 5 lessons at a time, if not much, much more! I put each lesson into page protectors from the Dollar Tree and then placed them into a 3-ring-binder.
- During a lesson that has a reading portion for the reader, if it’s too much for your student, take turns… you read a page and then he/she reads one and so on.
- Do not use the workbook as a consumable, especially if you have other children who will be using the same curriculum or you plan on selling it. Put everything back in an organized fashion after you complete each lesson.
- Download the app! There’s a free phonogram version but also a $19.99 letter tiles app. It makes things easier to have the letter tiles in one place and they don’t get lost. (And it’s just like if you had a white board with the letter titles.)
I hope this review was helpful! I highly recommend AAR as I have seen my daughter’s growing confidence as she learned to grasp reading. It was also a great program to help me learn to teach reading. You can check it out here! When purchasing the curriculum through them, they have an amazing “go ahead and use it” one year guarantee. If you are not satisfied, you can get a refund.
What makes teaching to read joyful for you and your student?
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It’s Christmastime and that means getting into the holly jolly spirit. And that means holiday decorations, gift giving, singing all the Christmas carols, watching all the movies and of course Santa Claus!
Writing letters to Santa is a long time tradition for many boys and girls. I have come up with a few templates that range from fill in the blank to write your very own letter with options in-between.
<<You can find the printable options below>>
I am also currently teaching a Letter to Santa class on Outschool. Outschool is an online platform made for kids ages 3-18 to take classes pretty much about any topic that’s for fun to academic. In my class, I use these templates but I am also using them with my kiddos. If you’re interested in trying a class, you can get a $20 credit (pretty much your first class for free) and here is a link to this class if you’re interested.
As far as sending your child’s letter to Santa.. if you want them to receive a response from Santa (that you’ve written or typed up) follow these instructions. If you’d like to submit a letter online, you can receive a personalized photo from Santa here. If you do not care to get anything back, feel free to just write: Santa Claus North Pole on the envelope.
Did you write a letter to Santa when you were a child?
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I think part of my job as a mom and a homeschooling teacher is to help my kids learn to be accountable with their school work and responsibilities. I am not really one for the unschooling. In life there are things that must get done, even if you don’t want to do it. But this is not a post about not agreeing with “unschooling”.. I do like this post if you want to read more about it.
This post is about helping your student to independently be in-charge of their life, at least teaching them how anyways. So I created my own homeschool planner a couple years ago and we’ve used these planners with an eclectic approach, a literature based approach with Sonlight and even a university style homeschooling.
I thought about what subjects we’d be covering, what their chores and other responsibilities are and even fun things. I looked all over the internet and pinterest for ideas. I began compiling different free printables to be added to their planners.
After doing all of that I began creating the weekly pages which make up the bulk if this planner.
For the calendar months, for the 2019-2020 school year, I used these FREE printables found on teacherspayteachers.com. You can search around on the web to get other monthly printables for free too, and there are some below as well.
There are 2 options to put this together… at least these are the 2 I can think of:
Option 1: Print out at home and DIY
In years past, I followed these steps:
- Once I got everything printed, I put it all in order. I did take a LONG time, especially making sure I printed on both sides of the paper as much as possible.
- Next I looked at my year at a glance page that I had marked the numbers of weeks of school we would be doing and then added it to their planners, that way I knew how many weeks were in each month. (we do 36 weeks or 180 days)
- Then I made the front cover. I’ve done this by: purchasing a few scrapbook pages from hobby lobby and some chalkboard paper and chalk markers. I’ve also created a page on canva.com and lastly made my own, below to share. Once the whole planner was made, I took the pages to OfficeMax where I had them put on a front and back and then had it bound.
- Lastly I added sticker tabs to the months.
Option 2: Complete process online and do online ordering
This year I used 2 sites to get this done all online and mailed to me!
- Combined my front cover, printables/coloring pages, calendar pages, planner pages, etc using ilovepdf.com. You can turn a word document into a PDF there and also, split, merge, add to and organize PDF’s and many more things.
- I looked at my year at a glance page that I had marked the numbers of weeks of school we would be doing and then added it to their planners, that way I knew how many weeks were in each month. (we do 36 weeks or 180 days) And I counted the weeks to add in the printables/coloring pages and calendar months until I had our 36 weeks done.
- I added pages to the beginning and end of the planner. Once I made sure the planner opened correctly (with an assignment page and a responsibilities when it was opened) I uploaded the pdf. It was 111 pages long and I chose to print in color.
- Feel free to check out the corresponding youtube video to see a walk though of how I set it up here and where I got it printed here!
My kids were SOOOO excited to see these throughout the years, now Lincoln uses the one the public school provides but Julia likes receiving her new one each and every year. Not only does it make my life easier, it helps her to take charge of her life andher schedule.
Feel free to use these homeschool planner pages I have created for our students and take advantage of the free printables found below. Or even go find some that your student likes!
feel free to check here
**Click link below for your FREE planner pages**
Printable WITHOUT emojis:
- Student Planner- Green or Student Planner-Pink (editable, made on a Mac so may not work on other computers
- Student Planner-Green PDF or Student Planner-Pink PDF
Printable WITH emojis:
- Student Planner- Green PDF or Student Planner-Pink PDF (editable, made on a Mac so may not work on other computers
- Student Planner-Green or Student Planner-Pink
**For the planner cover pages, click below to print**
- pink cover
- pink cover blank
- gray cover
- gray cover blank
- green cover
- green cover blank
- teal cover
- teal cover blank
Free printables I used in the past and this planner:
- first day of school questionnaire
- bible verse coloring pages
- Starwars pages
- Starwars reading log
- princess reading log
- owl coloring page
- blank faces drawing page
- Disney coloring pages
- Easter coloring pages
- a few from this site, including the year at a glance, coloring pages, bible knowledge, piano log and christmas story
- some pages for beginning/ending of school
- some pages from a calendar notebook
- some pages from this back to school fun pack
- *calendar pages that were offered free before, they may be offered again anytime!
I hope this helps you on your journey! Happy Homeschooling!
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School’s out and that means lattes at the pool, quietly reading your book and the house stays perfectly clean right?? RIGHT! We all wish!
Since our routines are a bit different now, I find my kids thrive on having a checklist. This checklist has all kinds of things to do in order to get screen-time. If I didn’t have this type of checklist, we’d all be tempted to just be couch potatoes and have a REALLY lazy summer. And while those times are ok once-in-a-while, this helps so we don’t get too lazy.
I’ve created summer screen-time checklist for big kids (those who can read) and littles (non-readers). Once our kids complete their checklists, I initial it and they’re free to have some screen time! We have allotted a certain amount for our kids. You can set the limit for your kids.
You can find these printables here:
If you’d like to know how to edit this to add in your child’s name, feel free to watch this video. I use picmonkey and love how easy it makes to add editing to any thing or even to create my own.
What’s your favorite thing about summer?
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Going on a vacation is a wonderful experience!
So many memories to be made, magic to be captured, but packing… that can be stressful! #Amiright??
I have made it a little easier for you… a packing list for mamas in general. And a packing list for (older) kids if you’re the kind of mama who likes them to help out.
Below you will find out where to download these packing lists!
But first, I wanted to tell you a bit about my new adventure!
“Don’t just fly, Soar!”
Dumbo
I absolutely love traveling with my family, whether it’s a quick camping weekend or a week at the beach… it’s my happy place to take a REST from everyday life and get away as a family… and sometimes even just mommy and daddy!
I love planning our trips and I also LOVE Disney! So… with my love for travel and Disney, I’ve paired that with my love of being a stay-at-home-mom. This endeavor helps me help others plan their magical trips while still being at home with my children. (This is a vlog of an amazing Washington DC trip!)
As a travel specialist with Gateway Travel I am here for you, anytime whether it’s next month or in a couple years… to help plan your magical trip to Disney, Universal, a trip to the beach, across the world, a leisurely cruise, a trip to the mountains or anywhere!
So back to the Magical Mama Packing List… you can get theses freebies by joining the Magical Mama community on facebook!
Just join the group, answer the questions and get approved AND There you will find the freebie in the files section of the group!
Have a MAGICAL Day!
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]]>The post Year of Dates || 12 Months of Pre-planned dates with your Husband appeared first on Day2Day Joys.
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I’ve been seeing the infamous ‘Year of Dates’ idea floating around social media and pinterest for years now but anytime I thought “I should do that” it was right before a holiday or anniversary with not enough time to actually get it done, so I moved on and decided not to do it.
Last year was a really hard year for us, I lost a baby. And a lot of things went on the backburner, including date nights. So towards the Fall, I thought, I NEED to do that ‘Year of Dates’ idea! Marriage IS important! Marriage IS something to invest in. We HAVE to make time for it!
“A good marriage isn’t something you find; it’s something you make.” –Gary L. Thomas
Marriage over the years doesn’t come as easily as when you first met and were romancing each other every chance you got… if you’ve been married any amount of time, you know this to be true. Life happens, maybe you have kids, y’all have activities, school and extra-curriculars. There’s bills to be paid, responsibilities around the house and more than I could ever list that comes up in all of our lives. Date nights become last on our priorities and then it’s another month or year with little to no time together flourishing as a couple.
With all that in mind, I knew I wanted to make dating my husband more of a priority than I had in 2018. I LOVE this man! So I decided it would be best to pull out the ‘Year of Dates” idea and create a special book for my husband. I gave this to him for Christmas and I am SOOO excited to have these all planned out and (mostly) paid for so there is NO excuse. (all I have to do is find a babysitter!!)
So here is how I made this book (aka a scrapbook) for my husband. I purchased most of the items from hobby lobby. They were having a 50% off sale on the brand the paper studio so I purchased the 6×6 book, extra pages, stickers, month stickers and some bright colored card stock, markers and chalk markers. I searched pinterest for ideas and then came up with my own ideas.
Helpful links:
- Loads of local dates on Groupon
- Dinner + a movie gift card
- Enneagram test
- 6×6 scrapbook at hobby lobby or on amazon
- Months Stickers at hobby lobby or on amazon
- Cardstock 6×6 bright colors at hobby lobby
- Marriage pinterest board
- chalk markers
This would be a special gift for Valentine’s Day, an anniversary, birthday, Christmas or JUST BECAUSE! Feel free to make any of these ideas your own and if you decide to make one of these, share it with me on social media!
Here’s the corresponding youtube video:
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I’ve done several different things, including a Madlib, top 10 things of the year, and more but my favorites these past few years are “Year in Review” letters.
Here are a couple from the past years:
I keep our letters in a special Christmas book my mom got us before we had children. I love looking back each year and reading the letters.
This year’s “Year in Review” layout is a but more simple than I have done in the past but I love it! I have compiled a couple of options to use for the next few years including 2018, 2019 and 2020!
How to use this printable?
There are a couple of ways to use this printable. You can print it out and write on it or once you download it, go to PicMonkey, upload it and use their free editing tools. You can use each of the spaces to meet your needs and what you want to discuss in each section. Then print it out and share it with your loved ones. Here’s a great tutorial on how to use PicMonkey’s editing tools.
**note: for PicMonkey you need to download the image below. Right click and then click save image as. Let me know if you have any problems in comments below. The fastest way to get ahold of me is messaging me over on IG! FOR PDF’s click link below and download.
Year in review- GREEN & RED
2018 2019 2020
2018 Year in Review 2019 Year in Review 2020 Year in Review
Year in review- AQUA & RED
2018 2019 2020
2018 Year in Review 2019 Year in Review 2020 Year in Review
What is your favorite family tradition? Do you write Christmas letters?
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]]>The post Trusting God, Checking the Mail and reminders of God’s goodness appeared first on Day2Day Joys.
]]>We were happy and content with our family size… then found out about an unplanned pregnancy. My heart immediately fell in love. I would put my hand on my belly and just think, there’s a miracle that only God could make in there. I made all kinds of plans, emotions and thoughts of how it would be like, another blessing to love.
Then sometimes, something goes wrong. You sit in the bathroom and know it’s over because something is there that shouldn’t. You cry out to God, why? Or you go in for a routine ultrasound, like I did, and the baby’s heartbeat has stopped. in the moment you feel overwhelmed with extreme sadness, anger, and you silently scream out to God, why?
No matter how many weeks you were or how many children you already have, losing a pregnancy is heart wrenching. The raw pain of grief is real. I know it was and still is for me as I’m working my way through this.
I didn’t understand why that was happening. I am still asking why. And maybe I will always be.
My prayer for you if you’re walking though a trial of your own, or you have lost a baby… and for ME as I walk this road, is that we can surrender to the Lord. I know there can be freedom and joy when we surrender to His will. I know this from past times God has been faithful in trials in my life. To give him my burdens and let Him carry them. That’s doesn’t mean just let go of my dreams, it means letting Him hold them.
We often have an illusion of control or that we know what is best, when in fact, only He knows what is best. But what does it mean to TRUST God? I am coming to find that it means to trust Him when things don’t make sense. For me, losing this baby, it doesn’t make sense, even still. Trusting Him, means that I am willing to trust the Lord so deeply, even when it doesn’t make sense to me, that even when He takes away (or things don’t happen the way you thought they would, whatever you’re walking through) and things are so ungraspable, to holdfast to my faith, because I know He is good in all things.
Trusting Him because He is good doesn’t mean it is easy and it certainly doesn’t take the pain away. Just yesterday, I went out and checked the mail. You know those full sized formula samples you get in the mail, not that I would have used it anyhow, but that triggered me… I would have been 35 weeks this week. And all those emotions flooded me once again. We aren’t promised an easy life and that we will never walk through trials. But we are promised that He will work everything out. Everything. If we love Him, He will work out our heartache, our contention, our marriages. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, whoa] have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28
So through this heartache I am learning to trust God. I have times it’s easy and times it’s hard. And I question a lot, will we have another baby, I don’t know. But it is ALWAYS a breath of fresh air to get reminders from God. Just this morning I woke up to my bible app. I don’t always click on the verse but today I did. The word of God speaks to us… it said …. “He himself will restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” Even though at times I feel I am in a season of losing, no matter what we face, He is the ONE who is able to heal, restore and bring joy. He has done it before in my life, HE WILL AGAIN.
Praying this encourages someone today! -Rachel
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Today I’m sharing with you my 10 tips for using sonlight curriculum???
We are thankful to Sonlight for graciously giving us one all-subject package and I’ve been sharing our journey throughout the 2017-2018 school year as a Sonlight Ambassador! 
Here are my 10 tips:
*be sure to watch the video where I’ll go into detail about each one!
- Ask for help!
- Make it Exciting!
- Plan it Out
- Don’t over think it
- Keep a Routine
- Don’t have to sit still
- Skip it!
- Choose the 4-day option
- Teach Responsibly
- Consider your Organization Style
Other things you may want to see over on Youtube:
My 3rd and 4th graders have their own subjects of: Language Arts, Vocabulary, Spelling, Handwriting and Math which can be found in these videos below…
3rd grade curriculum
4th grade curriculum
Sonlight Level D Group Subjects
To check out more info about sonlight you can click here!
*you can receive a $5 discount on your first order of $50 or more… use this referral code: RP20442646.
Things featured in the video:
Older version of student planners (new one with emojis coming soon)
Homeschool Playlist on Youtube
Have any questions, leave them in the comments?
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You may or may not know but I had a misacarriage at the beginning of the year. I have actually had a very hard time healing emotionally as we thought we were done having kids. Then surprise pregnant, fell in love, then had a missed miscarriage (when your body doesn’t realize your baby has died.) And I am still working my way through the healing process. (I shared my story here).
Going through all of that, things weren’t really my favorite… and it was definitely finding the joy in our day to day lives but I know that God is a good God and HE has GOOD plans, no matter what!
With all that said, I am glad to be sharing some of my favorites for this month! You can check out a whole video where I go into detail about each of the 5 items here OR below!
A Few of my Favorite things…
April Edition
- Square felt letter board and letter board from Hobby Lobby
- Redmond Clay facial mud mask
- Acure dry shampoo
- Altar’d State ones I have or Birkenstock style sandals (pretty much the same, different brand over on amazon)
- DIY all-purpose cleaner: mix vinegar, a little water, dish soap, tea tree oil and essential oils of your choice
What are a few of your favorite things? Have you (or do you) use/d any of these same things?
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