Boy Scouts Yard Sale Haul

We found some seriously awesome toys and games at the giant Boy Scouts Yard Sale in one of our local towns! It's an annual Mother's Day weekend event that I look forward to every year. We always find lots of amazing things! As homeschooler's, I always head straight for the kids section and scope out the toys and games.

One of the items that I bought for myself was a My Keepon interactive robot, which I have always wanted... and of course Munchkin immediately fell in love with it and declared it his "friend." Which means it's now.. his. :(

We snagged a Bristle Block set and a brand new Blokus game!

We found a ZOOB Modeling System, which are seriously cool building toys! Munchkin is simply obsessed with them! He really likes to make robots and cars. The Kid K'NEX set is also a really fun building toy! They love creating unique bugs and monsters!

And can you believe that I only paid $1 for a like-new Snap Circuits Jr. ? My kids LOVE it! They have played with it for like an hour every day! The instruction booklet is full of awesome experiments and they are learning a lot about how electricity works!

Their favorite is the Flying Saucer experiment!

Last year there weren't too many puzzles, but this year there were SO MANY! It was hard to choose and I honestly didn't want to be greedy, despite the fact that my kids LOVE puzzles. So we grabbed a handful that would be useful in our homeschool.

This Upper and Lower Case Alphabet puzzle is pretty great. It was a little worn, but that's just a sign of being well loved!

Melissa and Doug puzzles are pretty amazing!

The Maisy Floor Puzzle was a gem to find! My kids love reading Maisy books and this puzzle is really unique. Once you put the puzzle together, it looks just like Maisy's house and then you can use removable vinyl pieces of Maisy and her toys and objects to set up and play in her house! It's very cool. The other puzzles are of a pet shop, kitchen cooking gadgets and four seasons.

I didn't notice until we got home that I grabbed two USA puzzles, but I was actually glad I did. The Crocodile Creek mini puzzles are awesome for car trips (if you have carseat trays). They are double sided puzzles, so there's actually two to make!

I found a set of plastic pattern blocks, wooden pattern blocks, a Magic School Bus science kit and a pet drawing activity set.

We love this magnet play set. We have been adding to it every day with magnetic items around the house.

This zoo themed felt board is also really cool! The kids like all the animals and think that the felt board is cute. It's an awesome addition to our collection!

One of the best parts of our haul are all the board games we picked up! Rush Hour Jr, Boggle, a collection of Cars themed games, Zingo, Thomas the Train tracks building game, Goodnight Moon matching game, Superwhy Letter Game, Spider-Man matching game... there were so many games to choose from, but these were the ones we really wanted.

Spider-Man game, Krill, Blokus, and two USA card games. Plus an ocean expedition fossil kit.

We didn't find too many Lego sets left over, but we did find two Skylander Mega Bloks sets, two Lego containers (which are perfect for traveling!), and four Lego base plates!

We only recently started playing with Perler beads, but they love creating with them, so of course I had to snag this huge lot of Perler bead shapes!

We happened upon a small set of K'NEX... and then found the motherload of K'NEX...

An unopened box of the Roller Coaster K'NEX! Everything else we paid $1 for, but we donated $20 for the K'NEX. Because they are awesome, and it's a huge set! I actually had this set as a kid growing up and I always had so much fun building with them. We're saving this for Munchkin's birthday in August, but we know he will love it!

Not pictured are the dozen or so trucks and cars Munchkin picked out and the armful of doll clothes and accessories Bean picked out, and a handful of other small toys, including a complete astronauts small world play set! I also managed to snag an adorable handmade picnic basket, a Knifty Knitter set, a cute dog themed cookie jar and some wooden baskets for books and toys. Somehow I never manage to make it into the book area because I know that if I do, I probably would come out with 8 boxes of books and I simply don't have space for them, as much as I would like them! Besides, we enjoy our trips to our local Used Book Superstore. Either way, this was a pretty awesome yard sale haul and we made out like bandits!

Technically this is the second yard sale I have ever been to! It was such a fun experience and I was glad to bring Munchkin and Bean this time. They were able to pick out a bunch of things that they wanted, which I probably wouldn't have picked out if they weren't there. They also had fun talking to people and checking out all the interesting stuff at the yard sale. I look forward to going next year too! We can't wait to incorporate all of these items into our homeschool lessons!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. 

Successful Homeschooling Made Easy Review

We received the Successful Homeschooling Made Easy Course to review. This is a 26 week online course, which is sent each week via email and comes with a downloadable PDF of the course. You can preview a course, but it's basically set up as a weekly lesson for homeschooling parents. If you're brand new to homeschooling, or even experienced and just looking for something new to try (perhaps your own methods aren't quite working), then I highly suggest starting with Successful Homeschooling Made Easy. It's an absolutely fabulous course that educates parents in a step-by-step manner to introduce different aspects of homeschooling. Actually, even if you are still in the stages of wondering whether homeschooling is right for your family, this course would help. It will prepare you for homeschooling and give you the best teaching advice.

I've only received nine weeks of the course and so far is has been a game changer. I've learned to organize our days better, which helps me not to lose focus throughout the day. One thing I love about this course is that it applies to children of all ages (preschoolers, all the way up to high schoolers), with advice for each type of age group. I love that there is a lot of emphasis on "family time," play time, and being sure to learn alongside your children. That's how we learn best and it's usually a group effort.

These lessons will ask parents to think about what their values and goals are, what they expect and plan to do, and asks many important questions that help you understand your homeschool. They deal with planning, scheduling, lessons, goals, and ideals. If you still feel like you need guidance, the author Stephanie Walmsley suggests several books that are great for new and experienced homeschoolers. I actually haven't read any of them yet, but I've been looking for them at our library and local bookstores.


Options I would personally like:
- Opportunity to purchase full course as a printed book (like the image above), but also available as a download through the emails (in case you're reading on a tablet or smartphone).
- Opportunity to print all 26 lessons up front, this way you can create the book yourself and always be prepared (which prevents you from forgetting to check your email or accidentally deleting an email). OR create a members only area where you can access all the lessons online.

9 lessons - 1/2 inch thick so far!

So because this course is only available as a download, I suggest planning to print it out and storing it in a binder. Some lessons are only 11 pages while others are over 20, so you'll need a fairly large binder if you plan to fit the entire 26 week course. There are sections that are meant to be filled in (parent homework!) and plenty of space for notes. Some pages will be used as a weekly schedule, so those will be displayed on a fridge or somewhere where everyone can see it, but you can keep an extra copy in your binder for notes. In addition to the printed copy, I would save the lessons on your tablet/laptop/smartphone, because there are some links that take you to extra lists, resources or references (for example, the full recommended book list is a link in lesson four).

I personally see myself homeschooling for many years to come, hopefully all the way through high school! But I'm not an overly confident person. So I know we will hit some bumps along the way, and I know we will get through them, because we're determined to make this work. Still being fairly new to homeschooling (we're in our second year), this was a great resource to help us smooth out the kinks in our daily routine, such as making housekeeping part of our routine and involving the kids. Lesson Six is actually perfect for Mother's Day, since it involves creating "mom time," doing the activities that make mom happy and creating time for themselves.

The Successful Homeschooling Made Easy also comes with some free bonus lessons. The first bonus lesson was about fun math games and activities that we have used and loved! We have only received one so far, but we look forward to the ones that come next, because if they're just as good and useful, then they will be amazing to add to our homeschool lessons! It would be amazing if Stephanie W. decided to create another series of lessons focused solely on learning activities, games and reading recommendations for children!

This course costs $10 a month (just over $2 per lesson), or you can purchase it as a one time payment with a 20% discount for $48. I feel like it's absolutely worth it! It's a wonderful investment that will work for any homeschooling family.

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Family Game Night #1

Family Game Night is a new series I'm introducing to our blog! Munchkin and Bean love board games, card games and even love making up some of their own games. It's a lot of fun to play games with the kids, or even to just watch them play together once they understand all the rules (or make them up). We have about 40 board/card games for the kids to choose from and while they do have many favorites, we usually like to make sure we play a different game on Family Game Night. It's a nice change of pace and it means they never get tired of the games they love.

We don't have a specific time or place that we play games at. We ask the kids if they are interested in playing a game, and if they aren't, then we don't force them to play. We don't want to make them feel like it is a chore. Playing games should always be a fun experience for everyone. Losing interest in the middle of a game does happen with younger children, so we just know to expect it can happen. And when it does, no one makes a fuss. We keep all of their pieces in the same place and the rest of us continue playing. There's a chance that they may come back in a few minutes after stretching their legs.

We usually play at our game table, though sometimes we play on the floor or outside at the park on a picnic blanket. Depending on who is playing, we try to make sure there is a parent between or next to each of the children. So if it's a circle table and there are two adults and two children playing, a parent is on each side of the children, meaning they can get help from either of them. And when we play at a square table, we have a parent sitting next to a child and opposite the other child, so that each parent can reach everything on their side of the table.

This week we played two preschool aged games based on the kids' favorite TV shows: Rescue Bots and Paw Patrol. They are simple, typical children's games and while they are not very "challenging," they do help children practice some basic skill, like memory, picture recognition, color recognition, counting and social skills, such as taking turns and communication.

Transformers Rescue Bots Memory Game

We have at least a half dozen, if not more, Memory games. The reason is because my son loves memory games. He has a great memory and he's very patient. But as with most kids, his interests change over time, so the Memory games reflect on that. His current obsession is Transformers, or basically anything robotic, and if it transforms, then that's a major plus. The Rescue Bots show is a favorite at our house and it's actually pretty great. We got this game before he even liked the show and it sat on our shelf for months before he noticed it. Then one day he was reaching up to grab his Thomas the Train Memory game and noticed it. Since then he has not gone back to the Thomas game (which I'm thankful for, because I can never remember the names of all the trains).

Memory games are great to travel with too. We have taken them on road trips and brought along trays. The tiles are thick and durable and slide around less on textured plastic trays. 

Munchkin starts by choosing the pairs that he wants to play with (typically between 4-8 pairs). Then he flips them and shuffles them up and organizes them in rows. 

A match.

Not a match.

When he's playing by himself, he will leave the tiles face-up when he's made a match. When he's playing competitively against his sister, they will take the matches they make and place them in front of them.

When he's finished, he usually finds a new handful of pairs and starts over.

Paw Patrol Adventure Game

The Paw Patrol Adventure Game is kind of like a mini version of Candy Land, but with badges and puppies. You flick the spinner and then move your puppy to the next available space of that color. If you don't already have one, you'll collect a badge of the corresponding color. When you pass a slide, check your available badges and if you have one that matches the slide, you can use it and move on to the color you were moving towards. It's fun for Munchkin who is eager to learn to count and this game helps him to practice. 

My children aren't very competitive, so they usually play with all of the available puppies and take turns flicking the spinner and moving the puppy of their choice. No one bickers or fights over the puppies, and it means they have more opportunities to count.

Be sure to come back soon for our next Family Game Night!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.

Lapbooking Made Simple Review

We received Lapbooking Made Simple from Real Life Press to review. Lapbooking Made Simple is a comprehensive ebook, available as a PDF digital download, with numerous resources for homeschooling, and also non-homeschooling, families. It's mainly a resource for parents, with advice, suggestions, ideas and templates for lapbooking. You can easily read the ebook on a tablet or laptop, but I highly recommend printing the templates. Lapbooking Made Simple has become part of my Homeschooling Mom Binder, which is full of all of my homeschooling "teacher" resources that I can look to when I need inspiration.

I actually printed off my copy (and I'm seriously kicking myself for not having a color printer because the pictures are amazing), because the weather has been nice and we have been spending most afternoons outside, which is perfect reading at the park weather. It was also where we collected a bunch of samples and pictures for our first lapbook! The pictures actually didn't make it into our lapbook, since we used them as picture references for drawing and coloring.

I have a whole folder on my computer of printables for lapbooks, but I had no idea where to start. I had the supplies, the themed printables, the unit study materials and the curriculum. But I feel like I finally found the element that we were missing. Lapbooking Made Simple answered all the of the questions I had about lapbooking. I always second guess myself when designing, so it was like the perfect resource for me. Ideas, inspiration and templates all in one place! Lapbooks are like those folded poster boards, but smaller and easily portable, without lacking any of the information. They are now the last component to our unit studies, where were can store all the main information we learned, and save it for future unit studies on the same, or similar, topics.

I attended public schools growing up and we actually rarely did projects which involved independent research. Most of our lessons involved copying notes off the board, followed by a test at the end of the week. Rushed much? We had one big project a year that involved a poster board and I remember those most because I had the most fun working on them. I have always learned best by reading books, going to museums and creating hands on crafts, experiments, or projects about the subject we are learning about. And now that I'm homeschooling my own children, I am encouraging them to learn about subjects and topics that interest them. With spring finally being here (rough winter), we are learning about growth, plants and birth. We started with flowers and trees and their life cycle. My daughter, who is obsessed with how everything grows and "is born," loves spring time. 

For our lapbook, we started with one theme: trees. Since lapbooks usually have a cover, Bean made a tree using construction paper. She made sure the tree had roots, branches and leaves. We glued it to the front of the folder (a regular manila folder).

I labeled the tab.

We found printables online that fit our theme. I did most of the cutting, but Bean drew in her answers. For some of the written parts, I typed what she said and printed it, so she glued those answers in. 

And since we collected so many "tree samples" outside, we had to use some of them in our lapbook. She glued the seeds she found inside the seed packet. We actually can't close it flat now, so in future we will just leave things like this in a baggie outside of the lapbook.

This printable was really neat! (And yeah, we did put some of the answers in the wrong spot, since some are upside down.) It asks simple questions are photosynthesis.

You can quiz yourself to see if you answered correctly.

We drew out a life cycle for an oak tree. We consulted google images for all the stages.

Some parts of the folder was left blank, so Bean colored tree circles. (She later added more tree elements, like leaves and roots.)

And that's our first lapbook! We actually planned to add a plant cell drawing and a "tree facts" spinner to the back of the lapbook, but we could not find brass fasteners!

I'm really glad that I had Lapbooking Made Simple to get us started. We learned a lot about lapbooking! This ebook is seriously ideal for first time homeschoolers or anyone who wants to begin lapbooking. The only thing I would change or improve, would be the printables in the extras section. I think that they should make those available as a separate download and separate them from black and white and filled in, and also offer them in different sizes. Then it would be an all-in-one resource and make it so much easier to create our own lapbooking materials! But as it is is still perfectly fine to start with! 

Get your copy of the ebook for $7.95.

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