Evan-Moor Daily Writing & Geography

I have been very impressed with all of the review products that I received from Timberdoodle thus far. So, it is no surprise that I jumped at the opportunity to review some of the Evan-Moor titles…even in the midst of making a big move to another state! Well, I was NOT disappointed! In fact, I believe that I have found a GREAT supplement to current studies! I chose to review Daily 6-Trait Writing Grade 2 and Daily Geography Practice Grade 2.

Daily 6-Trait Writing Grade 2 includes 125 trait-based lessons. The weekly lessons include teacher lesson plans, four reproducible student pages, and a writing prompt. This can be used and adapted to any program! Take a peek at some of the the first 24 pages of the book!

I choose the Daily 6-Trait Writing with my 7 year old daughter in mind. I thought this would be a great supplemental activity to help her with her writing skills. I/we love that it is just a little daily dose of practice each day! I really appreciate the daily teacher lesson plans…one less thing that I have to prepare b/c it is ALL laid out for you…gotta love that!

There is a worksheet assignment each day for Monday through Thursday with a writing prompt on Friday. The activities throughout the week prepare the child for the writing assignment at the end of the week.

Overall, I was very impressed with the Evan-Moor Daily 6-Trait Writing Grade 2. I love that it has helped my daughter to better focus her thoughts so that her writing is more cohesive. In fact, I have added it to her workbox/workbags every day since we started it and we plan to continue using it daily!

Daily Geography Practice Grade 2 includes 36 weekly lessons along with 36 transparencies to use with each week. Each of the weekly lessons includes the following:

• teacher resource page
• geography vocabulary
• reproducible map
• two geography questions per day
• challenge question
• answer key

You can also view sample pages of the Daily Geography.

I choose the Daily Geography Practice with my three oldest kids (ages 7, 5, and 5) in mind. I thought this would be something fun for us to do together! First, we look at the map and I read through the text introducing the map.

We discuss the vocabulary and the kids use the Geography Glossary (included in the book) to look up the new vocabulary words.

Each day we go through the two questions related to the map. While photocopying is permitted for single-classroom use, I didn’t want to have to make copies of everything for all three kids. So, we take turns going over the questions orally.

When I first received the book, I didn’t think I would have much use for the transparencies. However, they have really become one of the focal points of our daily dose of geography! Each day we use the transparency of the map rather than the printed copy of it in the book. Just put a piece of printer paper behind it and the kids take turns using dry erase markers to color the transparency for the challenge assignments. In my opinion, this saves on making copies for all three kids. Plus, I will be able to re-use the book once my 3 year olds are older!

Again, I was impressed! I am loving Evan-Moor! I love that the kids are taught to read all kinds of maps: state maps, road maps, street maps, a map key, map grids, weather maps, etc. In the photo above, we were using a land and water map of Arizona and we learned a bit about the Grand Canyon!

My only complaint is not really my own, but that of my kids. They didn’t like that they ONLY got to do two questions each day. How is that for a complaint?!? If it were up to them, they would probably go through an entire week’s worth in just one day!  We are now the newest Evan-Moor fans!!!

Thank you Timberdoodle for introducing us to yet another awesome new resource! Needless to say, I/we love our Evan-Moor books!

If adding more thinking skills is in your homeschool plan, be sure to check out all of the curriculum, games, and puzzles Timberdoodle has to offer! Plus, be sure to take a peek at the Doodle Dollars program where you can earn 5% back when you shop Timberdoodle online!

Disclosure: As a member of Timberdoodle's Blogger Review Team, the Evan-Moor products were given to me free of charge. I do not have to return the products and I was not paid for this post. All opinions expressed in this post are my own.

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Brown Bag Bird Nest

When we were learning about birds and nests last year, we decided to made a nest…

…a more realistic one…unlike our yummy edible nests!  In order to make a more realistic nest, we read Even an Ostrich Needs a Nest by Irene Kelly to learn more about what different birds use to build their nests. After reading the book, we went on a little nature walk of sorts to gather supplies for our own bird nests. We  brought our materials inside and got to work…

To do this activity, you will need a brown paper lunch bag in addition to whatever you find in nature (twigs, leaves, dirt, grass…we cut some grass that we grew).

Directions: Scrunch and roll down the bag so that it is “nest-like.” Strategically add all of your nest materials into the bag. As an option, you could glue your materials into/onto the bag. Here are our nests!

We later added a few chocolate eggs into the nests…every nest needs eggs, right?!? However, my daughter decided that she wanted to add some plastic eggs to her nest…and that she needed to warm the the baby bluebird inside the eggs with a flashlight!

Looking for another nest/bird activity? Be sure to check out our yummy, edible nest with m&m’s for eggs!

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ART CLASS: Homeschool Art Curriculum {Giveaway}

After reviewing The Gift of Love, I jumped at the opportunity to review ART CLASS from See The Light. I KNEW my kids and I would love it and we did!!!

ART CLASS from See The Light is a complete art curriculum designed with Christian homeschoolers in mind. Not only does Master Artist Pat Knepley teach with step-by-step instructions and progressive skill building in this entire school year’s worth of art lessons, but she also infuses art history and Biblical principles.

The complete 9-disk ART CLASS DVD curriculum includes 36 lessons (each approximately 15-20 minutes long) along with some bonus material! Valued at $99.99 for the complete set or $14.99 per individual disk, this is a real jewel for homeschoolers!  Check out the list of lessons included in this amazing collection:

How’s that for a complete art curriculum with art history and Biblical truths woven throughout! Want to see a sample lesson? Head over to sign up for your free trial!

Our Thoughts: We received the first volume of ART CLASS which covered some of the basics of drawing. While my kids LOVED the drawing lessons, what I most appreciate is how Master Artist Pat Knepley relates the art topics to a Biblical principles. For example, you are to draw what you see and not what you know. Yes, we know that the table has four legs, but if we don’t see four legs, we don’t draw four legs…we draw what we see. She contrasted that with our walk of faith with Christ where we must walk by faith and not by sight! 

I also appreciate her positive, “Yes You Can Draw” approach to drawing. This was especially great for one of my 5 year olds who was struggling with his own preconceived thoughts of his own ability to draw! Check out my “I don’t think I can draw very well” son following along and actually drawing his shoe!

I would have to agree with Pat…Yes you can draw! I think he did quite well, if I must say so myself! Take a closer look below:

Here is my 7 year olds shoe drawing:

I was honestly impressed with how much my kids picked up from this first ART CLASS DVD! I know they would LOVE using the rest of the curriculum! Even my 3 year olds got in on the action and wanted to draw!! Check out one my boys watching Pat on the DVD and waiting to draw his apples!

Overall, we love ART CLASS and think it would be a wonderful addition to our homeschool! With the Biblical truths and art history infusion along with quality step by step instruction, I think ART CLASS is a great art curriculum for homeschoolers! I love that I was able to use it with all of my kids, who range in both age and skill level! From my 3 year olds to my 7 year old, they all enjoyed the art lessons!

Be sure to head over to the See The Light website to check out a few of the ART CLASS page where you can download three free lesson plans. ART CLASS can be purchased from Amazon or from the See The Light Store. Now, onto the giveaway!!

~ Giveaway is closed! ~

Giveaway Info:

Would like to win a copy of Volume 1 of the ART CLASS DVD curriculum? There are a few ways to enter to win.

The first and mandatory entry is to visit the See The Light Store and leave me a comment letting me know what product you would be most interested in trying. 

Optional Entry: (leave a separate comment for each entry after completing the mandatory entry above)

• Subscribe to Mama Jenn via email (or let me that know that you already do)

The giveaway ends at midnight EST on Saturday, April 2, 2011 and a winner will be randomly chosen using Random.org. Please be sure to leave a way for me to contact you in case you win! Remember to leave a separate comment for each entry! The giveaway is open to US Residents ONLY!

Want it NOW? If you can’t wait to win, ART CLASS can be purchased from Amazon or from the See The Light Store.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

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Growing Grass

Growing grass…nothing too special about that, right? Well, when you use a baking tray and fill it with miniature animals, all of a sudden growing grass becomes VERY exciting and LOTS of fun!

Before it got cold last year, that is exactly what we did! All you need is:

• a baking pan (or some sort of shallow container)
• rocks (for drainage)
• soil
• grass seed
• spray bottle filled with water

Directions: Add the rocks to the bottom of the pan or container. Cover the rocks and fill the container with soil. Sprinkle lots of grass seed over the dirt and then cover the seed with a thin layer of soil.

Next, water it…and water it some more…and wait for your grass to begin to grow!

The kids had such a BLAST playing with their grass!

In fact, my daughter enjoyed playing with the grass and animals so much that she used some of the blades of grass and some leaves to “sew” blankets for the animals!

Who knew planting some grass could be so much fun?!?!?

For more fun, science activities, check out Science Sunday with Ticia!

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New Color Wheel Printables {including tertiary colors}

If you keep up with my Facebook page, you already had access to my new Color Wheel Activity Page featuring the new color wheel printable with the tertiary colors…for almost a week now. Even though some of you already had access to it, I wanted to be sure to share it with my other blog readers as well!

My latest printable is an extension of the first Color Wheel printable that I made. With this one, you can not only make the secondary colors, but the tertiary colors as well! Visit my Color Wheel Page to download BOTH Color Wheel printables along with directions on how to use them!

***Be sure to follow me on FB so that you can get insider info on my latest “projects” and download new printables before I even announce them here on the blog!

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DIY Felt Board

Want to make your own felt board for your little one(s)? Head over to my Simply Made post on Totally Tots to see how we made ours!  :-)

Click Here to read more --------->

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Write-on Wipe-off Dice {my latest discovery}

While surfing around online, I came across something pretty cool that I wanted to share with you all: Write-on Wipe-off Dice

They are 2” dice with little white boards on each side. Apparently you can write on them with dry or wet erase markers. I was so intrigued with them that I went ahead and purchased a set!

So, you may be wondering why I am mentioning these…since I have the Education Cubes site. Well, I am thinking that these would be great for those times when I need something quick and simple (that isn’t a colorful picture…of course) on a dice. Plus, if I find something that I think may be helpful or of interest to others, I want to share it!

Anyhow, once I am able to try out the Write-on Wipe-off Dice, I will give you a thorough comparison of them and cubes used with my Education Cubes. In the meantime, I am excited for them to arrive!

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Farm Animal Block Mates {A Guidecraft Mom Review}

As part of the Guidecraft Moms Review Team, our review items for this month are the Farm Animal Block Mates along with the 5 Piece Hardwood Unit Block Set.

Used with wooden blocks, Block Mates are plastic pieces featuring a “slip-grip” gasket that allows them to fit snuggly onto the block. Each of the Farm Animal Block Mates sets come with four parts {head, tail, front legs, and back legs} which can be mixed and matched for tons of fun and creativity! The pieces are designed to fit standard unit blocks measuring 5.5’ x 2.75” x 1.375.” {Wooden blocks are not included, but can be purchased separately.}

I was honestly surprised at how much my kids enjoyed these! There are five animals, which was perfect for my five kids. They each grabbed their pieces and began to put their animals together…and the fun began!

They pulled out the rainbow blocks that we reviewed last year and made a stable for all the animals. I heard quite a few oinks, moos, and neighs coming from their stable! :-)

When the animals got tired of being in their stables, they sat down for awhile…

Then some silly fun began…

The farm animal block mates even fit onto the rainbow blocks. So, we made some colorful animals as well!

Next we had some matching fun. First we used pieces from Homeschool Creation’s Animal Sorting File Folder Game. We matched the animal card to the appropriate block mate animal.

We remembered our Leap Frog magnetic farm animal set. The kids took turns making silly animals on the refrigerator and then duplicated the silly animal with the block mates. Don’t you just love our pig-horse!  :-)  What sound do you think it makes?!?!?

Win a set: So, would you like a set of Farm Animal Block Mates? Head on over to Granola Mom for God to win your very own set of Farm Animal Blocks Mates along with a 5pc set of unit blocks.

Buy a set: If you can’t wait to win, you can purchase them from Amazon or directly from Guidecraft. Don’t forget the blocks, which are sold separately. Be sure to check out the other animal Block Mates: Dinosaurs and Safari animals!

I am super excited about the newest Block Mates, which are coming soon: Construction & Community Service vehicles. I know my boys will LOVE these!!!

As a Guidecraft Mom blogger, this product was given to me for review purposes. I do not have to return the product to the vendor and I was not paid for this post. All opinions expressed in this post are my own.

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