Acorn Sensory Bin

I love sensory bins for toddlers. I think they are a great way to keep little ones busy while also being beneficial for them for a number of different ways. Lately, I haven't made a sensory bin. I have so many ideas but they require me to go to the store and buy the things I need. While outside the other day I was inspired to collect acorns for the kids and decided later that the actions would make a great sensory activity for my 2yr old.

 

 What You Need

• Acorns
• soapy water
• tin foil
• baking sheet
• container for the acorns

 

How To Prep Acorns

 I grabbed a basket and started to collect the acorns from the ground. I made sure to also collect the tops of them since most of the acorns didn't have their tops anymore. My 6yr old joined me outside and helped to collect acorns.

After I had a good amount I headed inside to prep them. I preheated my oven to 200*F and filled up the sink with warm soapy water. I added the acorns into the water and gave them a little wash and rinsed them afterward. I then got out a baking sheet and lined it with tin foil before putting the acorns on it. After I had all the acorns on the baking sheet I spread them as much as I could making sure I only had 1 layer. I then placed the baking sheet into the oven for 3 hours. I did this in the evening and when they finished baking I turned the oven off and left the acorns in the oven overnight to cool.

Time To Play

I put the acorns in a big bowl and added in some leaves. I also gave my toddler some measuring cups she could use to play with. This kept her busy for about 2 hours. She had so much fun and my other kids would also stop and play with the acorns alongside her. Later on, I did hot glue the caps on to the acorns because I plan to use these for a craft. This is totally optional.

I hope you enjoyed this easy and very natural sensory activity. If you get the chance to make this I'd love to see pictures. You can tag
me on Instagram or Facebook @joyfulwifelife
Thanks for reading!

Morning Chore Madness

In the mornings after breakfast, the kids and I run around the house getting some chores done. I have the older 3 kids help in this so that things get done a little faster. We sweep, load the dishwasher, tidy up the living room, get a load of laundry in, and wipe down counters. During this madness yesterday I lost track of the baby (2yr old) and Haddy (6yr old) Typically Haddy doesn't help with morning chores because I find it easier for her not to. Anyway, I was searching through the house trying to find those two and I ended up finding them in my bathroom. Haddy had Raegan in her lap and she was brushing her hair. Haddy told me she wanted to help out so she decided to get Raegan's hair brushed out for me. She is such a sweet girl.

Missing The Picture

In the rush to get chores completed I'm missing out in other important things like allowing my 6yr old to help out. She desperately wants to be a helper and often finds her own little ways of helping. Sometimes she makes her bed and wants me to come look, she has even attempted to make my bed. I love her so much and don't have the heart to fix the bed after she made it. In my chaos of morning chores and trying to stick to a 9am sharp school start time, I am snuffing out Haddy's willingness to help out.

What Now

 We have a large family with 5 kids. It's essential to my survival that my kids help out with chores. I usually start them off at 9yrs old in doing chores when I should really be starting them so much sooner. The sense of accomplishment Haddy felt when helping out yesterday was so evident on her face when she smiled up at me to proudly tell me she was helping out with the baby. This really made me rethink everything. There really isn't any reason why I shouldn't be letting her help out. Haddy prides herself on being a big sister, she has ever since she found out she was going to be one. So, instead of worrying about a schedule I want to keep I now plan to include Haddy in the morning chore madness. Her new job is to brush out Raegan's hair and she couldn't possibly be more excited to do so.

What About You

At what age do your kids start doing chores and what do they do? I plan to add some evening chores for Haddy and even Raegan. Raegan loves to help get the laundry out of the dryer.

How I Teach About 9/11

Do You Remember

Chances are you remember the exact moment when you heard about 9/11. I was in middle school and I remember being so confused about the event wondering why it happened and who was doing it. I wasn't necessarily afraid for myself but I was afraid for those who lived in New York.

Here we are years later and I am no longer that middle school-aged girl. I'm a mother of 5 and I still take a moment on 9/11 to remember the event. As a mother, I believe it is important that we teach our children about those events no matter how scary it is. It's our responsibility to teach our children about these events that have affected our nation right to the core. We need to be teaching about this wether or not you are a homeschooler. I'm sure schools teach about 9/11 but it will mean so much more to your kids if they learn this from you.

How I Teach About 9/11

My kids are all different ages from 2yrs old to 15yrs old. Of course my 2yr old has no idea what I am talking about but my other 4 kids do. This year they are 6, 10, 13, and 15. Last year was the first time I sat with the 4 kids and showed them the videos of the Today Show. That is what I watched all those years ago and I want my kids to see what we all saw.

After we watch the video clips on YouTube I take time to explain what happened. I tell them about the hijackers, the buildings collapsing, and all the people who lose their lives including the children. I take time to listen to what my kids have to say and answer their questions. We take a moment to be silent in remembrance of all the lives lost.

Once we have finished with that I start to tell them about the heroes. I tell them about the firefighters, the police officers, and the volunteers who all worked together to help save lives. I explain to my kids how some of those brave people lost their own lives trying to help save others.

I wrap it all up with a quote by Fred Rogers, When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

Reality

Teaching our kids about these emotional topics is never easy. No parent wants their kid to feel afraid or sad. These events have to be taught and they need to be taught by parents not just the school. The reality of it all is that there are horrible things that happened in the world and our kids need to be exposed to those things. I'm not saying you need to show your child videos of people jumping out of the windows, but we do at the very least need to discuss topics like this and keep it age-appropriate. I would love to hear how you teach your kids about 9/11 below in the comments. Thanks for reading.

All About Reading 1

Teaching a child to read used to terrify me. I don't have any formal training in how to do this and I have never taught a child to read from scratch. When I started to homeschool my son already had the basic knowledge on how to read. My daughter, Haddy, has never gone to public school. Teaching her to read is all being done by me. Thankfully I found a curriculum that had everything done for me and all I needed to do was open and go.

All About Reading 1

All about reading is what I'm using to teach my child to read. I am thrilled to be sharing this with you and tell you how much we have been enjoying it. The curriculum tells you everything you need to know and includes tips along the way. After the first few lessons, you will get the basic flow of how this curriculum works. You can easily split lessons up if you or your child needs to. This curriculum caters to all learning styles such as visual, verbal, and physical.

Materials Included

Here are all the things you can expect to get when purchasing the full All About Reading 1 kit.

• Teacher Manual 
• Student activity book in full color
• Three hardcover readers in full color
• Reading review box with dividers
• Letter tiles and magnets
• Tote bag

Other kits are available if you don't need everything mentioned above. To find out the other options you can view the website here. 

 Assembly

 When you first get the curriculum you will need to do some prep work. The curriculum comes with flashcards and letter tiles. You need to place a magnet on the backs of the tile and punch out the flashcards that have perforated edges. This didn't take me long to do and it was a fun little activity I did with my 15yr old. After all the prep work is done there isn't much else to prep when doing the lessons. All you need to do is grab your materials and you are set.

My Thoughts

This curriculum is working perfectly for my 6yr old. I am thrilled with the quality of everything because I will be using this set for my toddler one day when she is old enough. This set can easily be passed down for years if you have multiple children who will be using it. All About Reading is one of those classic materials that tend to be a favorite amongst many homeschoolers. It's no wonder why, this curriculum makes teaching a child easy and makes learning to read fun for the child. I can't recommend this curriculum enough. If you interested in this curriculum you can find it by clicking here. This particular level is also found in the full curriculum kit by Timberdoodle for Kindergarten. I hope you found this review to be helpful and I would love to hear your thoughts on this curriculum. Leave me a comment below.