Year End Review: Our Read-Alouds this Year 2016

As a homeschooling momma, read-alouds are a big part of every school day.  At the beginning of this year, I made a couple of lists and scheduled out our read-alouds.  I made a Kindergarten list for Baby Girl and a combined read aloud list for Baby Girl and MMBoy. That proved the most difficult . . . I needed to read to a 6 year old daughter and an 11 year old son. Hmmmm . . .

At the end of last year, we had really fallen for Roald Dahl books.  They were great to read to both of the kids, the chapters were of a reasonable length so momma didn't get tired of reading or of hearing her own voice and many his books have been made into movies.  Now, we all know that the movie is never as good as the book, but it was a fun way to end Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach.  This year, I decided to start out with another Roald Dahl book, The Fantastic Mr. Fox.

From there, I perused reading lists I had printed from amblesideonline.org and Higher Up and Further In (How sad I was when I went to find this link and I found this blog is not longer kept up.  She was one of my favorite blogs to read when I began homeschooling and provided me with many great lists, ideas, schedules, printables, etc.)

Without further ado, here are our lists!

Kindergarten read alouds (Read one book every day for each week):

• The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
• The Story about Ping by Marjorie Flack and Kurt Wiese
• The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper
• Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
• Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
• The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
• One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey
• Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall
• Stone Soup by Marcia Brown
• Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
• The Quilt Story by Tony Johnston
• Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran
• Winter in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Christmas in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
• The Foolish Tortoise by Eric Carle
• A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle
• The Mixed-Up Chameleon by Eric Carle
• The Little Red Hen
• The Gingerbread Man 
• Goldilocks and the Three Bears
• The 3 Billy Goats Gruff
• Chanticleer and the Fox by Geoffrey Chaucer, Barbara Cooney
• I Can't Said the Ant by Polly Cameron
• Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
• Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain by Verna Aardema
• I'm a Little Teapot (I like this one)
• Country Mouse, City Mouse
• The Real Mother Goose by Blanche Fisher Wright
• Poems and Prayers for the Very Young by Martha G. Alexander

Combined read alouds (Read during our Morning Time on Monday & Friday):

• The Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl
• Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
• From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
• Little Women (Book 1) by Louisa May Alcott
• Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
• Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
• The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
• Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss
• Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate Dicamillo
• Animal Farm by George Orwell*
• The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz*

*these books were included because I read them aloud to my senior son and I'm pretty sure the others were listening just as he listened in on many of their stories - It does my momma heart good to know that he still likes to hear me read :)

Failed to read aloud:

• How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
• Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
• Treasure Island

Seriously?!  I am not sure how we never read How the Grinch Stole Christmas?!  I think maybe it was because we were reading Little Women and it was taking waaaaay longer than I expected.  Ha!  We were going to read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn after MMBoy had read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer . . . and that, too, took longer than anticipated. I'll forgive him as he's made up for with some mad reading skills and has completely finished reading the entire Harry Potter series this spring.

As we wrap up this homeschool year, what a great list to look back on!  Not only did we read some great books together, we learned the importance of family, our world and each person on it. We created some fun memories along the way; memories of Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, memories of momma crying through the end of Because of Winn-Dixie (someday they will understand) and memories of snuggling up by the fire and opening up a good book into an adventure.

Rita

dōTERRA Breathe™ Vapor Stick Review and Give Away!

  This past year dōTERRA came out with some great new products. I have previously reviewed the dōTERRA Natural Deodorant, - here. Not only did I review it, I also gave one away!  I have decided this month of May to do another review and give away!  Why you ask?  Well, this month dōTERRA has another great promotion for its Wellness Advocates!

Earn a FREE 5 mL of Cardamom, 15 mL of dōTERRA Breathe®, dōTERRA Breathe Vapor Stick, dōTERRA Breathe Respiratory Drops (Retail Value $91.99) by placing any 200 PV order from May 1st thru May 31st 2016.

These are basically FREE oils!!! And I want to share with you!

I am a big fan of the dōTERRA Breathe™ Essential Oil Blend and dōTERRA Breathe™ Throat Drops, so I was thrilled when dōTERRA came out with the dōTERRA Breathe™ Vapor Stick. What's not to love - all the great benefits of dōTERRA Breathe™ in an easy to apply stick?!

dōTERRA Breathe™ has some specific benefits:

• Maintains feelings of clear airways and easy breathing
• Promotes a restful night’s sleep
• Helps minimize the effects of seasonal threats
• Provides a cooling, soothing effect both topically and aromatically

I have used dōTERRA Breathe™ in the past in our diffusers (both night and day-time), topically diluted on our chests or applied a drop on my hands and inhaled. (There should be some joke there about not inhaling . . . but I've got nothing right now :/ )

While roller balls are a great way to apply diluted EO's, especially on younger children, and I frequently make my own roller balls for easier application, to extend the life of my oils and to create my own EO blends, the Vapor Stick has made application so much easier!  I can let my Baby Girl (she's almost 7) use it herself and her older brothers too.  There is no need to dilute and make a mess of one's hands.  Just open up the stick, give it a little twist up and apply to your back or chest.  I've even applied to my throat and just dabbed under my nose.

Now that you've heard all about dōTERRA  Breathe™ Vapor Stick, it's time to enter - Just leave a comment on this post and I will be picking a random commenter at the end of the month.  Good luck and Happy Oiling!

Rita

Big Picture Story Bible Review- One of the best Bibles for Littles!

  

A couple of Christmas's ago . . . we purchased The Big Picture Story Bible for Baby Girl.  I was looking for a "spiritual" gift for her and wanted something appropriate for a 4 year old - something she would actually be able to use.  I had looked at The Big Picture Story Bible and at The Jesus Storybook Bible.  I liked both of these from browsing through them on Amazon. They both have amazing and colorful pictures - not freaky pictures like some kids bibles. What's up with that?! Seriously, all my kids have received some sort of Bible in their PreK years and they ALL have disturbing pictures, lol.

I liked both of these options because the share the overriding Gospel message and show how God has had a plan since the beginning of time. They don't moralize the Bible stories. Yes, there are stories in the Bible that one can get a moral lesson from.  I want the Gospel message and God's love to capture my child's heart.  My goal was a Bible that shared the goodness and love of God and that we are a part of HIS story, this is not our story.  The Big Picture Story Bible comes highly recommended:

• This article does a great job of explaining how and why we should be teaching God's Word to our children and recommends The Big Picture Story Bible.

• At the homeschool convention I went to in April, John Stonestreet, from Breakpoint, did a talk titled: How We (Mis)handle the Bible. In his talk, he recommended The Big Picture Story Bible and The Jesus Storybook Bible.  

After reading reviews, looking through both of my options on amazon.com, I ended up getting The Big Picture Story Book Bible. Mainly because it also came with a CD!  As a homeschooling mom who frequently does read-a-louds, one thing I appreciate is a CD that does the reading for me. Sometimes I get tired of hearing the sound of my own voice . . .  but back to this Bible.  I love it! And Baby Girl does too!  It is divided into Old and New Testament and each Testament is divided into parts, 11 in the Old, 15 in the New.  There are questions peppered throughout each part that encourage the child to think about the story being told.  There are not only questions, but also reminders of God's love and that He has a plan throughout! And don't we all need that reminder?

If you're looking for a great Bible to get your preschooler started on, I highly recommend this one! Baby Girl is approaching 7 and will still put the CD on, sit down on the couch and listen to the entire book. Love that!

Rita