20 Best Tips

Every Mom Has Hard Days – FREE Video Series

The kids are behind where your school plans say they should be. Housework is completely overwhelming you. Dinner? Let’s just say it might not be balanced again. And attitudes are running rampant – from both the mom-end and the kids. 

We ALL have days like this. Trust me – the tears flow on my end and there are moments when I hide in the bathroom for a few moments to pray and gather my wits together. But I feel like a failure more often than I care to admit. 

It’s so easy to let the “I’m not a good mother/wife…” rant cycle through my head over and over. Maybe you feel the hashtag #momfail should be added on to your entire day. 

(Can I encourage you in this area???)

As much as we feel we fail our families and ourselves over an over again, it really isn’t true. I know that it is so very hard in today’s Pinterest-heavy culture to get caught up in what we are not, rather than focusing on the truth of who we are as moms and women in Christ

That’s why I am SO excited to share a brand new and FREE video series from two moms in the trenches – with 8 kids and almost 20 years of mothering experience. Together they’ve put together an encouraging three video series for moms called “The Truth About #MomFail Culture: 10 Things You Need to Hear on the Hard Days”.

These moms understand how tough days can be! While they won’t solve all the problems you may have, they CAN offer a fresh perspective and encouragement from another mom who really gets it.

Each video is short – around 10 minutes, and you can watch it on any sort of device and whenever you’ve got a few spare minutes. To watch the free video series, just click this link and enter your name and email to sign up. You’ll get access to the first video today, and then one per day after that.

And meanwhile, if you need some encouragement right now, please feel free to leave a comment and I’ll pray for you today! You don’t have to say why – just say, “Please pray!” Hang in there, momma. You are NOT alone and I’m giving you a hug from here.

 

Polar Bear Pack – Limited Time Freebie!

Polar Bear Reading and Spelling Pack

Just in time for some winter fun, All About Learning Press is offering a limited time freebie for reading and spelling practice – the Polar Bear Pack! This full-color pack contains 30 printable pages of delightful reading and spelling activities that are positively popping with polar bears. Included in the pack you will find:

  • Polar Bear ABCs – practice letter knowledge, handwriting, and letter sounds with some help from these cheerful polar bears! Perfect for preschoolers!
  • Rhyming Polar Bears – Match up the pairs of rhyming polar bears and build important reading skills.
  • Polar Bear Word Searches – Word search puzzles are a great way to practice reading and spelling skills, as well as a great way for children to have fun with words. Great for all ages!
  • Arctic Animal Fun Facts – Polar bears live in the far north, but many other birds and animals live in the Arctic region as well. Explore sixteen different Arctic inhabitants in this fun fact booklet.
  • Polar Bear Breakfast – A fun polar bear breakfast treat to enjoy on a wintry morning.
  • Polar Bear Library List – A list of books you need to check out at your local library!

All of the activities included in the Polar Bear Pack correlate with All About Reading and All About Spelling and will give you a fun peek into the quality of their products. If you aren’t using either of those programs, don’t worry – they will easily go along with any curriculum you are using and will be a fun addition.

free polar bear printable pack

Grab the FREE Polar Bear Pack HERE!

      See Why We LOVE All About Learning Press!

    Curious about All About Reading and All About Spelling? Our family has been using both programs for years and we highly recommend them. Get a peek into some of their different programs and how they’ve worked with our children in the following posts:

    Animal Babies Matching Activity – Free Printable

    Names-of-Baby-Animals-500x500-3

     

    To celebrate Mother’s Day, All About Learning Press has a special downloadable reading activity: Baby Animal Names Matching!  This simple learning activity includes a few animals that you won’t see in a typical matching game, including a raccoon and a kangaroo. Just match the animal babies with their mommas!

    Additional FREE Reading and Spelling Activities

    If you’re looking for a few other reading and spelling activities to use with your children, be sure to check out these fun games too. They are ones that we’ve used with our kids over the years and love!

    Be a Lumberjack syllable game

    Be a Lumberjack – works on dividing multisyllable words

     three letter blend game

    Word Flippers – works on common three letter blends (str, spl, scr, and spr)

     

    ee blend words

    Wake Up the Sheep – works on reading words with the ‘ee’ blend

     

    feed the anteater game

    Feed the Anteater – a fun game for kids to make the anteater ‘eat’ the word ants

     

    Win a Level of All About Spelling!

    image

    Be sure to enter to win a full level of spelling from All About Spelling too! Each month, there is a wonderful giveaway and this month is no different! Our family has loved this hands-on spelling program and we have used it for years now. It was the first curriculum that really clicked with us and we haven’t looked back. Read our review of All About Spelling here.

    May Personal Planner Pages – FREE Printable

    Ready for May? I am excited to share a few more pages from my yearly personal planner with you all. If you want to have a central place to keep track of your goings-on in May, feel free to share and download the May planning pages below.

    Free May personal planner pages



    How I’m Using My Daily Planner

    If you’d like to take a look at how I’ve set up my yearly planner, I’ve explained it more in this post here, as well as given links to my favorite binder and colorful tabs (because pretty makes life fun too, right?).

    Daily Planning Pages printable - free download for February. Also link to the FULL 2015 Daily Planner - get organized this year.

    Download the May Personal Planner Pages

    May Daily Planner

    You can download the May 2016 Personal Planner Pages by clicking here. Each month I’ll be offering a free download for that month’s planning pages, so you can check back and download them as they become available.

    Purchase the  Daily Personal Planner

    Daily Planning Pages printable - free download for February. Also link to the FULL 2015 Daily Planner - get organized this year.

    Add to Cart
     

    If you like the layout and want to start planning out the rest of your year now (and next year too), purchase the full 2015 Daily Planner for $3.99. The calendar runs from January 2015 thru June 2016. It includes 15 month-at-a-glance pages and dated weekly pages through June 2016.

    Enjoy!

     

    Sponsor Thanks

    We really appreciate the following companies. Many of these have been long time sponsors of Homeschool Creations and we are SO thankful for them – be sure to stop by their sites and check them out!

    Teach Them Diligently Conventions are now open for registration! Speakers for 2015 include James Dobson, Barbara Rainey, and many others. Locations include Atlanta, GA; Sandusky, OH; and Dallas, TX. Hope to see you at one of them! (p.s. Nashville was amazing this past month!!!)

    Red Wagon Tutorials offers upper level science help for homeschool families worldwide. They specialize in downloadable, online live-feed, and online recorded science classes as well as digital e-Notebooks and Flash Drive presentations. Learn more about their 2014-2015 programs.

    Home Educators of Virginia 2015 Convention – Need refreshment and encouragement in your homeschool journey? Registration is now open for the 2015 Renew the Joy HEAV convention, held June 11-13, 2015 in Richmond, VA. You won’t want to miss the amazing speaker lineup, extensive vendor hall, and the used curriculum sale. Only $69 for the entire family to attend!

    2015 Homeschool Buyers Guide – sifts through volumes of often-overwhelming homeschool information and breaks down the decision-making process into manageable bites. In about an hour you’ll gain valuable insights that answer your questions, provide direction and help you take the next steps.

    WordUp! The Vocab Show is a zany new show teaching Latin and Greek roots, as well as hundreds of English vocabulary words. Utilizing a new approach to learning, WordUp! seriously expands a student’s grasp of the vocabulary used in literature, science, and standardized tests.

    Reading Eggs  is the perfect program for homeschoolers, providing a comprehensive range of online reading lessons, activities and e-books that teach kids aged 3–13 the core literacy skills needed for lifetime reading success. Take advantage of our FREE 3 week trial and see how your child’s reading improves with Reading Eggs!

    Don’t Miss The Daily To-Do List

    Daily to do list free printable

    My Daily To-Do List is pretty basic, but hopefully it will work for you too. There is an area to make a list of things to accomplish, household goals, appointment, meals for the day, and even a space to record exercise (oh – I crack myself up!) and water intake. Each page in the document is identical so you can print them off, cut the page in half, and have two lists. If you print them front to back, you’ll have four to-do lists and save a little paper.

    April Personal Planner Pages ~ FREE Printable

    I’m so excited to share a few more pages from my yearly personal planner with you all. If you want to have a central place to keep track of your goings-on in April, feel free to share and download the April planning pages below.

    Free April 2015 personal planner pages

    How I’m Using My Daily Planner

    If you’d like to take a look at how I’ve set up my yearly planner, I’ve explained it more in this post here, as well as given links to my favorite binder and colorful tabs (because pretty makes life fun too, right?).

    Daily Planning Pages printable - free download for February. Also link to the FULL 2015 Daily Planner - get organized this year.

    Download the April Personal Planner Pages

    April personal planner pages

    You can download the April 2016 Personal Planner Pages by clicking here. Each month I’ll be offering a free download for that month’s planning pages, so you can check back and download them as they become available.

    Purchase the 2015 Daily Personal Planner

    Daily Planning Pages printable - free download for February. Also link to the FULL 2015 Daily Planner - get organized this year.

    Add to Cart
     

    If you like the layout and want to start planning out the rest of your year now (and next year too), purchase the full 2015 Daily Planner for $3.99. The calendar runs from January 2015 thru June 2016. It includes 15 month-at-a-glance pages and dated weekly pages through June 2016.

    Enjoy!

     

    Sponsor Thanks

    We really appreciate the following companies. Many of these have been long time sponsors of Homeschool Creations and we are SO thankful for them – be sure to stop by their sites and check them out!

    Teach Them Diligently Conventions are now open for registration! Speakers for 2015 include James Dobson, Barbara Rainey, and many others. Locations include Atlanta, GA; Sandusky, OH; and Dallas, TX. Hope to see you at one of them! (p.s. Nashville was amazing this past month!!!)

    Red Wagon Tutorials offers upper level science help for homeschool families worldwide. They specialize in downloadable, online live-feed, and online recorded science classes as well as digital e-Notebooks and Flash Drive presentations. Learn more about their 2014-2015 programs.

    Norm’s Farm features a line of farm-fresh elderberry products to help energize and support a healthy immune system. They are your one-stop shop for all things elderberry!

    WordUp! The Vocab Show is a zany new show teaching Latin and Greek roots, as well as hundreds of English vocabulary words. Utilizing a new approach to learning, WordUp! seriously expands a student’s grasp of the vocabulary used in literature, science, and standardized tests.

    Noodle helps you find tutors and tutoring services and programs near you. Whether online or in-home, for math or for reading, you’ll find a match to help.

    Pipsticks provides sticker club subscriptions for kids, teachers, crafters, gift givers and kids at heart. Subscribe or give our gift sticker packs today.

    Don’t Miss The Daily To-Do List

    Daily to do list free printable

    My Daily To-Do List is pretty basic, but hopefully it will work for you too. There is an area to make a list of things to accomplish, household goals, appointment, meals for the day, and even a space to record exercise (oh – I crack myself up!) and water intake.

    Each page in the document is identical so you can print them off, cut the page in half, and have two lists. If you print them front to back, you’ll have four to-do lists and save a little paper.

    July Pocket Chart Calendar Pieces – Freebie Printable

    July pocket chart calendar pieces from homeschoolcreations.net

    Ready for some free calendar pieces for the month of July? Maybe you aren’t doing ‘school’ during the summer months, but these are a fun way to keep the math learning going in a simple way.

    The July pocket chart calendar pieces have three different colored number cards and pictures. Use the different colored number cards to try different pattern sequences: an ABC pattern, ABAB pattern, AABB pattern and other patterns you can make up together. Here’s an example of different patterns using the cards from a past set to give you a few ideas.

    pattern example The set includes a calendar header for the month of July as well. Time to get your pocket charts and laminators ready and start printing the June pocket chart calendar pieces. {Psst —> Here are some cheaper laminating pouches we use and LOVE!}.

    July header

     

    Additional Calendar Helps

    Here are a few additional printables and helps for you all, including the pocket chart that we use, laminating tips, and additional printables you may like:

    Yearly pocket chart calendar numbers from Homeschool Creations copy Pocket chart holiday and special occasion cards

     

     

    Reader’s Favorite Posts from June

    Curious to see what others have been reading this past month? Below is a list of the ten most visited posts for the month of June:

    1. Three Letter Word Card Printables
    2. Used Homeschool Curriculum Sale
    3. Organizing School Paperwork
    4. Alphabet Flashcards and Wall Posters
    5. Daily Calendar Notebook Printables
    6. Our Workbox System: Weekly Workbox Grid
    7. Book Report Form and Reading Log Printables

      PDF Printing Problems

    Having trouble downloading or printing this file? Be sure to check out the post on PDF Download Problems for tips and tricks on getting the files to download properly. The solution is usually something simple and quick!