Wednesday, September 9, 2020
Fall Reading Logs
Saturday, September 5, 2020
autumn themed sensory rice
Now that I’m homeschooling all four kiddos at different levels I’m going back to my preschool days of teaching and pulling out all the sensory activities. Regardless of age all our kids love sensory play. Not only is it fun, but it also helps to break up their structured learning throughout the morning and it always keeps them busy.
Today we made a few different batches of colored rice for our sensory table to use this fall. We mixed up green, orange and yellow for a fall leaf theme and we also mixed up purple, orange, green, pink and black for halloween. The kids have always enjoyed scooping and pouring rice, but it’s great for burying letters, numbers, flash cards, animals, pumpkins etc and trying to find them. Making colored rice is simple and there are a few different ways to do make it. I opted for all food safe ingredients just in case a few grains make it into Etta’s mouth! So here you go...instructions can be found at the bottom 😉
pdf version right HERE!
Thursday, July 9, 2020
printable chore charts
over the last few months our chore routine has become inconsistent. maybe this has happened in your home too. we’re not going anywhere, we’re not seeing anyone, the priority is still there, but it’s slid on the list of things to do. especially since we were out of town for several weeks and now we’re full blown into the summer months.
it actually dawned on me to revise our chore charts for summer, but the thought slipped away and then i saw someone on IG share a free printable and of course i lost that too. so i recreated what i saw and if anyone you know who created this original design please let me know so i can credit them. anyways...we are not super strict on chores and don’t want to make it something the kids dread, but understand that we are all part of this family and we all contribute and help each other. this chart is simple to act as a checklist as they can look and know what age appropriate chores can be done each day. we’re also notorious for the ‘oh i forgot to do (blank)’...you know how distractions can easily get the best of us.
so in an effort to find some kind of order again amongst the crazy i’ve added these charts below for you to print yourselves in case you need a little order in your life like me. happy friday!
Monday, July 6, 2020
Chocolate Hazelnut Frozen Fudge Bars
Okay, so if you love fudge bars then you need to stop what you’re doing and mix these simple homemade fudge bars up right now! We love all the fun and festive frozen treats in the summer and I was eager to try and make our own fudge bars where I could control the ingredients and just try something different. I didn’t think fudge bars would be too difficult and my original thought was to just freeze chocolate milk, but I didn’t want it to be icy milk. Does that make sense?
After looking at a few different recipes I chose to mix up two of our favorites chocolatey ingredients: fairlife chocolate milk and chocolate hazelnut spread. Mindblowing! Why has it taken us this long to put these two together?!?! First off if you haven’t had the Fairlife chocolate milk I really think you’re missing out. It’s absolutely delicious and to pair it with the hazelnut spread is just dynamite.
Chocolate Hazelnut Frozen Fudge Bars
*makes 6 frozen bars*
1-1/2 cups chocolate milk
1/2 cup chocolate hazelnut spread
In a bowl whisk together chocolate hazelnut spread and chocolate milk until combine. Pour into popsicle mold. Freeze overnight. Remove and enjoy.
This post is not at all sponsored, just me sharing something we love and use.
Thursday, June 18, 2020
Guest Room Makeover for $500
In early March we had plans to host our friends and our guest room really needed some love. We hadn’t done anything to this space since building our home six years ago. It was a blank slate, a very boring, plain, blank slate and it was perfect for a little makeover.
We wanted to try to use things we already had on hand and keep this makeover on a minimum budget of $500. We felt it was doable based on what we had and what we wanted to do. We already had the bed, linens, curtains and leftover paint in the garage. We built our design around those things and then went straight to work.
Our home is a craftsman style and our interior has some modern farmhouse touches so we decided to add some texture and dimension to the walls by adding board and batten using 1x3 boards. This was fairly simple for us since we installed this same thing in both our entryway and dining room a few years ago.
Instead of purchasing two full size bedside tables, we built two and attached them to the wall using a stair tread and two corbels for each side. We also swapped out the light for a ceiling fan to help keep guests comfortable and lastly, added some adorable wooden pegs near the door.
For decor we shopped the house again and pulled the vintage floral print I found from a local antique shop a couple tears ago. I love having a diffuser for our guests as well especially if they’re not familiar with essential oils because this gives them an opportunity to try them. I think it’s also important to have extra blankets and throws just in case it’s a little chilly.
Hopefully we can host friends or family in this space soon, but until then it’s being used a nice little quiet getaway for us!
Here’s the room before we started...
//source list//
table lamp / target
bed / joss & main
bedding / pottery barn
board & batten paint color / BM Super White
wall color / SW Still Water
Monday, May 18, 2020
Summer Reading
Summer break is here and we can hardly believe it, mostly because the last couple of months have been anything but normal. We finished our school year by driving from North Carolina to Nebraska and we’re spending a few weeks with family. We were all in need of a break and change of scenery and this was just the ticket. The kids have been loving all the time with grandparents and just being somewhere new.
It’s been fun to kick off our summer with so much family around, but to keep the kids on some sort of a schedule while we’re here and even through summer I’m keeping reading high priority. We actually changed things up this past year with our required reading at home. Instead of giving our kids allowance for doing chores we decided to shift it to reading. Why? Mostly because we feel that household chores should be part of our family unit and instead we’re giving the kids an allowance for reading! This has encouraged them to read and we hope it leads them to a love for reading. I’ve heard of families doing this several different ways either paying by number of pages, chapters or by completed book. I love this so much because it really can be tailored to any reader, family and income. Based on our readers we base the allowance by every 50 pages and round to the nearest 50. Here’s an example....Let’s say every 50 pages earns $1. For a child who’s currently reading 100-150 pages books gets her an average of $2 to $3 per book.
We also have a few stipulations; the kids have to be able to read the majority of the book on their own cover to cover and they have to give us a simple report on the book to help build on comprehensive.
The best thing about this change has been if the kids are trying to save up for something they’re usually spending more time reading than anything else. So far this whole idea has been a win!
Since we’re now on summer break I created simple reading logs for the kids. These are fun to keep track of books read and gives some fun topics that may be outside of their radar, but are still centered around summer themes. For older kids I included a basic log to write each book title and pages read. Once it’s filled, we will print another one and keep on reading. I’m really hoping our local libraries will open soon, but if not we can always dig through our own books or reach out to friends and do a book swap!
To print our fun Summertime Reading Logs scroll to the bottom for the PDF link or just save each picture.
Happy Reading!
Click below to grab our reading logs.
Tuesday, April 7, 2020
Simple Potato Stamping
Seeking some spring inspired art fun? Potato stamping isn’t just an oldie, but it’s a goody and one that can be thoroughly enjoyed by all ages. If you have older kids have them help carve different designs and pictures into the potatoes using kitchen utensils, forks or a toothpick. The trick to good potato stamps is letting the potatoes dry out before using so they’re not too wet.
Materials Needed:
Potatoes
Sharp Knife
Tool to carve such as a toothpick, fork, or measuring spoon.
Paper towel
Paints
Paintbrush (optional)
Paper
Start by slicing potatoes in half and pat dry. If potatoes are really large, you may want to cut into thirds so smaller hand can hold them.
Next, use different kitchen utensils to carve shapes and pattern design into each potato slice. We used a tiny measuring spoon to create polka dots, a seafood pick to draw a bunny, rainbow and even zigzags. Once you have carved your design, lay each potato slice face down on a paper towel to let them dry for a few minutes while you get the paint ready.
To begin stamping dip each potato slice into desired color. If paint is a little thick you may want to blot it slightly or you can do what my kids did, they painted their potato surface. This was perfect for adding more than one color to each stamp. Then press potato down firmly on paper and lift. You now have a fun a unique design left behind.
Sunday, March 15, 2020
Educational Resources
Need ideas for keep your kids busy these next few weeks? We totally have your back!
If you caught my stories (@rachbraden) this morning remember to embrace these next few weeks with your kiddos as we navigate through this crazy time. Don’t forget to breathe, give yourself a lot of grace and have fun! Today I talked to my teachers and fellow homeschooling friends and collected tons of resources for you to use with your families. I’ll be sharing more on social media as they become available and known, so be sure to follow me so you can be informed!
Some of these websites are always free, some usually come with a fee, but the company has waived it for our special circumstances. Keep in mind a lot of these offer an array of educational lessons and activities for a wide age range. Also, don’t forget kids learn so much through PLAY! It may seem like they’re just playing with blocks or the kitchen but they are applying different concepts all the time!
These two links below have OODLES of ideas for you!
3 Weeks of Maker Stations
150+ Enrichment Activities for Children While Parents are Working Remotely
YouTube Channels
Cosmic Kids Yoga
National Geographic Kids
Art for Kids Hub
Homeschool Pop
Smile & Learn
Learning Resources
Crayola
The Mailbox
Learn in Color
Dallas Mom Collective
Storyline Online
Learning A-Z
Mystery Science
Switcheroo Zoo
Teachers Pay Teachers
StarFall
EPIC
Into The Book
Suessville
ABC YA
Fun Brain
PBS Kids
Highlights
If you’re looking to build you library at home I highly suggest checking out Usborne Books. We have several and they have outstanding books for learning.
If you don’t know an Usborne Book Lady check out my friend Lindsey
Lastly, check out my Amazon Idea Lists for homeschooling, art supplies, games and sensory fun!
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