I FINALLY joined Pinterest!

I have been wanting to join Pinterest for quite some time now and I finally took the time to join today.  I am so excited about organizing all the awesome activities that I find online ... I only wish I had time to create them all.  I spend so much time searching the internet and couldn't manage to keep track of the ideas in an organized manner.  I can already say that I LOVE Pinterest and this may be just what I need to get this part of my life organized.  If you haven't joined or heard about it - check it out soon!  I have so many little post-its around my desk with website information.  Hopefully, this will be the way for me to organize everything that interests me in one spot.  Time to throw away all these distracting and cluttering notes! Hey, that means I can also delete several bookmark folders on my Mac too.  I just started pinning but please follow me and check back often.  Thank you to Carisa at 1+1+1=1 for introducing Pinterest to me.   

Montessori Print Shop Birthday Bash Celebration Fourth Giveaway

Helle everyone!  As I have mentioned in previous posts this week, Montessori Print Shop is celebrating their 8th birthday by having a huge giveaway celebration.  The prizes are a must for ANY classroom or homeschool environment (ha ... at least that is my opinion).
     I have been waiting for this giveaway to be posted ALL week.  It is by far the best one in my opinion.  Montessori Print Shop is giving away their Pink Blue Green Language Series Bundle and the DELUXE CD ROM COLLECTION.  You can read about this giveaway and see links to the other three giveaways here. I would LOVE to have access to their materials any time I needed them.  It would be very convenient to own the CD ROM and I know that we would definitely use the materials.  Alyssa and I use Montessori Print Shop materials to supplement her current curriculum. We BOTH absolutely LOVE the materials!  Please stop by their store to see what they offer - they may just have the perfect item you have been looking for to supplement a lesson.  If you want advanced notice of sales, giveaways, and coupon codes be sure to sign up for their newsletter.  They also have a blog and FREE resources.  The Frog Nomenclature Cards and Book are really neat and will be used during Alyssa frog unit. I adore their nomenclature sets and love to use them during Science lessons. I only wish I owned them all. LOL!
     Oh wow! I just noticed they have O'Keeffe Art Cards.  Alyssa and I just completed an art lesson in our Artistic Pursuits curriculum and the picture study was one of Georgia O'Keeffe's artworks.  I have to go print that set off now.  She will be thrilled to use them and see other works of art by the artist.  Gotta go! Good luck!
Thank you,
Tracey    

Montessori Print Shop Birthday Bash Celebration Third Giveaway

Montessori Print Shop is celebrating their 8th Birthday Bash and they are giving away some amazing resources.  I use several of their items with Alyssa and she can't get enough of them.  The third giveaway is for the popular Montessori At Home e-book and it includes the Montessori At Home Materials Bundle from Montessori Print Shop.  I would love to get my hands on this book and the materials to compliment it.  The book is full of great teaching ideas and activities.  Have you seen what Montessori Print Shop has created to go along with the book?  If not, you should hop on over to check out all the materials.  They are also including their awesome World Maps Bundle and the Land and Water Forms Bundle.  This set is extremely useful for geography studies. Click here to see the third part of their giveaway celebration.  Here is a direct link to their store items.  Enjoy browsing and thinking about how their materials could supplement your curriculum or in some cases actually be your curriculum for particular subjects.      
Thank you for reading, 
Tracey

Cast Difficulties and Slow Down ... Thankful for a Boca Beth Surprise

     Hi everyone - I have been meaning to post but we have been very busy with school and trying to get this house back in order after the holidays.  Just a little side note to let you know what we have been up to lately.  We were preparing for Alyssa's birthday party in November so that kept me busy for over a month beforehand ... well for people who know me ... it was actually longer than a month because I plan so far ahead.  Let's just say that I have already started planning for two birthday themes for her NEXT birthday.  This year we threw her a Wizard of Oz 4th birthday party.  I wish I had the time to blog about it and post pictures.  I LOVED planning for it and gathering ideas for every possible detail I could think of related to the story.  My favorite parts to plan were the games and goody bags.  Even though several things didn't turn out quite as planned ... the children still had loads of fun (as far as we know).  Unfortunately, Alyssa was in a cast for her birthday party.  What happened you say???    

     As you can see in the pictures below, Alyssa's arm was at first in a sling.  Right before her party ... during the last five minutes of gymnastics class ... she hurt her wrist badly.  The coach said that she fell into the ball pit and might have twisted it the wrong way.  Alyssa says that when a little girl tried to help her out of the pit ... she heard her wrist pop.  There is always the possibility that she hurt it on an activity before the ball pit.  We were watching from the loft above but we noticed that she was favoring her arm.  She started crying a lot and the crying got LOUDER and LOUDER so we immediately took her to the hospital for x-rays.  A cast was put on her arm after several days wearing a sling.  The first day she told me, "Mommy, I'm done with this thing." Then, she tried to take it off.  It was a very trying time for us all and it made school time a bit more difficult than usual.  She lost some confidence because she was unable to do things the same way as before the cast so we SLOWED school down quite a bit during this time.  There were days that school was not done especially in the beginning.  Then, of course Thanksgiving, Christmas and other holidays distracted us from our curriculum.  We were still doing school but it was more Christ-centered and seasonal activities.
     I plan on getting back into the blogging world very soon.  I am starting the year off with several product and curriculum reviews.  I am currently attempting to start up a blog carnival.  I REALLY want to get it up and going so I would appreciate any help (see previous post).  I have a lot to learn before it can actually launch.  I am super excited and I hope that I am able to figure things out.    
     One thing I wanted to do awhile back was say thank you to Boca Beth and Itsy Bitsy Learners.  Alyssa and I were VERY thankful back in November when our Boca Beth package arrived.  What GREAT timing! Alyssa kept herself busy with the package during her cast time.  We won a giveaway at Itsy Bisty Learners and our family was blessed with a Boca Beth backpack learning set.  Alyssa opened the items and started playing with them immediately.  The package included a Boca Beth puppet, pink maraca, "I Love Animals" DVD, My First Songs CD, and an activity book.  Alyssa asked me to put in the DVD as I was baking and freezing Thanksgiving and Christmas goodies.  Luckily, I had my camera close by and snapped a few pictures of her opening the package and watching the DVD.  We sang the songs on the CD several times the night it arrived and many times for days after its arrival. I am so glad that it arrived when it did.  Here are a few pictures of her - she was in a sling at this point.  The purple cast followed shortly after these photos were taken.
     Please take the time to check out the Boca Beth website and blog.  She has FREE bilingual resources and you can sign up for her newsletter which is full of tips for teaching Spanish. I receive it and we enjoy reading and trying the ideas presented in the newsletter titled, "Boca Beth Buzz."  Her website offers FREE shipping ALL the time!    

Hope to hear from you soon!
Tracey

Montessori Print Shop Giveaway #2 This Week

     Hello fellow bloggers!  I just wanted to let you know that Montessori Print Shop posted the 2nd part of their 8th Birthday Bash Giveaway. The set includes a Geometry Bundle and Animals Bundle #2.  
     The geometry bundle which would get used extensively in our house during math lessons looks pretty awesome!  I especially adore their 3-part cards for the geometric shapes.  Alyssa and I have been talking about the characteristics or features of shapes and this set has several very beneficial activities and materials to supplement any Math curriculum.  
     I am happy to say that they are also including Animals Bundle #2 to the giveaway.  The set includes 2 sets of neat dinosaur cards which I would LOVE to use during our upcoming dinosaur unit.  They also have several activity sets that are used for sorting or classifying.  The real life images used are very clear.  
     Both of these bundles are GREAT supplements for Math and Science.  I would absolutely LOVE to get my hands on ALL of their materials.  I am definitely a huge fan of their products.  If you haven't already done so ... hop on over to their website.  This part of the giveaway started on January 20th and ends January 27th.  Don't forget to check out their products in their store.
P.S. I think that the 3rd part of the giveaway will be posted tomorrow!!!  
Good Luck,
Tracey

Happy 8th Birthday Montessori Print Shop!!!!

As many of you know, I absolutely LOVE the materials at Montessori Print Shop.  Well ... they are celebrating their 8th birthday with a birthday bash giveaway.  I am hesitant to share because honestly I would like to win.  You can read about their birthday celebration and giveaways here.  They are giving away 8 prizes (2 prizes each day) and the fun has already started so head on over to check it out! I only wish I was lucky enough to win birthday gift #1.  It is a Deluxe CD Rom Collection with ALL 1, 077 files on two discs.  I can't tell you how many times I have signed up to win this collection.  They have way too many wonderful files to list here so if you have never been to their store before prepare to be amazed!  Here is the link to the first giveaway which includes the four Primary Montessori Teaching Manuals and the Zoology Nomenclature Card Bundle.  Good luck to you all!!!!
Tracey

Blog Carnival Information Requested

I am VERY interested in creating a blog carnival but do not know how to go about doing so.  I am also interested in learning how to create a free blog carnival logo or a blog button since my funds are limited.  If you have any helpful information or knowledge on these topics, please contact me as soon as possible at tlmswt2000(at)msn(dot)com.  I am hoping to launch a new blog carnival soon! 
Thankfully yours, 
Tracey