25 Books for Christmas: A Christmas Family Tradition

Every other year, I put together a list of 25 books to read to the girls. Everyday of December, they open the wrapped book and we read it together. This year, I have added a few special things to our fun tradition and a few tricks to make it a bit easier on me!

25 Wrapped Books Take Forever

Seriously. You would not believe how long it takes to wrap 25 books! Instead of wrapping, I made an assortment of bag books this year. Some bags are small, some are large. It's important to have a variety of sizes.

See the blog post here for instructions on how to make the fabric bags!

Another wonderful option is to put your books in decorative boxes. You can reuse both the fabric bags or boxes each year.

If you aren't much of a seamstress, you can purchase cute fabric gift bags at Walmart.

I wanted to buy cute wooden tags for the bags, but they were super expensive. Instead, I just used an old cardboard box and cut out a tag shape I liked. I had the little wooden numbers for years, so I painted them and glued them on the tags with hot glue! Easy peesy!

Book Ornaments

All the books sit wrapped under a special little Christmas tree upstairs. The tree is kind of bare in the beginning, but that is because each book has a special ornament with it. Once we read the book, the girls can hang the ornament that represents the book onto the tree!

I painted a peg "person" or two for each book. It helps remind them of the main characters in the book! [A little lesson on deciding who the main character or characters is a nice little English lesson, too!]

If you aren't an artist, you can find a special ornament that represents your book and use that for your tree. The ideas are endless!

Our Book List

You may be wondering how on earth we find 25 books about Christmas. We don't! LOL! I tried that one year and it was way too hard. So instead, I have about 5 books that are about Christmas and the rest are books I wanted to add to our library.

I also like to have a little surprise or two. One day, the bag contains 3 coloring books and a package of the girls' favorite Crayola Brush and Detail Dual Tip Markers. On another day, we have a small Lego set for the family to put together. This year, it is a Harry Potter Lego kit. I will read a little bit of the Harry Potter series while they put together the Lego's with Dad!

Let me tell you...BOOKS ARE EXPENSIVE! All year long, I keep a list of books I want to add to our library. I start making the purchases by going first to ThriftBooks.com. What I can't find there, I purchase from Amazon. Another great idea is to find 25 books from your local library and use them!

Here is our list for this year. You can click on the title for a link to the book at Amazon.

1. What Should Darla Do?

2. Little Critter The Night Before Christmas

3. Frog and Toad are Friends: 50th Anniversary Edition

4. Shark Lady

5. Richard Scarry's Christmas Mice

6. The Story Orchestra: Sleeping Beauty

7. More Caps for Sale: Another Tale of Mischievous Monkeys

8. 1001 Things to Spot at Christmas

9. Once Upon a Goat

10. Argus

11. Churri and Chirra Under the Sea

12. Santa's Story

13. Oh No!

14. Madeline's Christmas

15. Marcel the Shell: With Shoes On

16. A Gift for Santa

17. Fox's Socks

18. Jamberry

19. Richard Scarry's Best Mysteries Ever

20. Each Peach Pear Plum

21. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Pop Up Book

22. Did You See That Dinosaur?

23. The Skunk

If you have a book list, whether it is for the school year, the summer, or Christmas, I would love to hear your suggestions! This Mama needs to start preparing for Christmas 2022! (P.S. Our 25 Books for Christmas tradition is something we do every other year.)

~Andrea

What's In Our Amazon Cart?

 We sure have been doing a lot of Amazon shopping here at the Fletcher Farmhouses! Yes, I said houses because my sisters and I all have busy, but different, households and you might be surprised at what's in our Amazon carts as of late! We've been planning for homeschool, birthdays, Christmas, and now a WEDDING! Check out things we have recently purchased and loved.

Christine's Amazon Cart: Christine is thinking about fitness and motivating her family to read more. And if you know Christine, there is ALWAYS a purse or two in her Amazon cart!

Amie's Amazon Cart: Amie always starts Christmas shopping in October, so her cart has a few items the kids and hubby have been wanting. The thermometer was a special purchase she made for herself because she thinks she needs more than one!

Mandie's Amazon Cart: Mandie has just three weeks to finish planning her daughter's wedding and she is making it look easy! You might notice she has done a little birthday shopping for her youngest, too! Happy almost birthday, Eli!

Andrea's Amazon Cart: Andrea always puts us to shame with her cart of healthy treats and organic goodies! 

What's in your cart this month? Did you go crazy on Amazon Prime Day? We might have!

Happy fall to you all. Shop til' you drop and if you find any good deals, let us know in the comments below!

The Fletcher Farmhouse has entered into an affiliate relationship with Amazon. Clicking on the links provided in this blog post may result in a commission being paid to The Fletcher Farmhouse at no additional cost to you.

Artist's in History: Frida Kahlo

Every month during the school year, we study a new artist in history. This month was Frida Kahlo!

We have studied quite a few artists! Monet, Van Gogh, and Degas are just a few of the artists we have studied. We read, we paint, we listen, and learn about these amazing people. This month, we studied the art and life of Frida Kahlo.

Born as Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderon, Frida endured many hardships through her life. The girls were touched by her physical challenges that didn't keep her from pursuing her dreams.

It took us a couple weeks, but we finished her biography and the girls fell in love with her brightly colored flowers and art! [Link to the biography we used, below]

Because Frida was a Mexican artist, it was fun to incorporate Mexico in our social studies, meals, music, and many more things.

 

 For our extension projects, we completed our tiled poster of "The Frame" which I found on Teachers Pay Teachers. It had several pages you could color and then piece together. You can follow the color guide or choose your own color palette. Here is a link to the poster!

Then, we made felt flower headbands in honor of Frida's love of real flowers in her hair. Felt flowers are super easy to make and don't cost a lot of money. Below is a YouTube video of how to make the flowers. You can attach the flowers to a solid piece of felt and add clips to the back, or you can attach the felt flowers with hot glue directly to a store bought headband from Dollar Tree!

Next up? We will be studying Georgia O'Keefe! If you have any great projects we could do while studying her, let me know in the comments below!

~Andrea

The Fletcher Farmhouse has entered into an affiliate relationship with Amazon. Clicking on links in this post may result in a commission being paid to The Fletcher Farmhouse at no additional cost to you.

Teaching Fractions with Fraction Plates

Fractions were always hard for me. When I was a little girl, my dad made me a wooden set of fraction blocks to help me visualize how 2 halves make a whole, 2 fourths make a half, etc. Recently, I asked my brother-in-law if he could make me something similar for our homeschool room. He didn't disappoint!

I am excited to announce Little Light of Homeschool is offering 3 different color palettes of these fraction math manipulatives in our Etsy Shop!

Rainbow:

You can download the free worksheet, here.

Unicorn Princess:

You can download this free unicorn worksheet, here.

Beach Party:

You can download the free sandcastle worksheet, here.

Each set of fraction plates comes with 1, 2 halves, 3 thirds, 4 fourths, and 8 eights.

We have created a fun worksheet that you can download for each. Just follow the links above.

To purchase your fraction math manipulative plates today, see our Etsy shop at Little Light of Home.

~ Andrea

Summer Bucket List Patches and Memory Ideas

Each year, my sister puts together a summer bucket list with her family. They make a big summer-bucket-list-poster and everyone is super excited to get started on the adventures they have planned. But, she goes one step farther by incorporating patches for each of the items they accomplish. Read on to learn more!

As the family marks something off the summer bucket list, the girls are presented with a fun patch to remind them of that activity. All summer, they collect their patches by attaching them to a ribbon that hangs next to the summer bucket list poster. At the end of the summer, Andrea sews the patches on their backpacks or other fun memory item. Now, they can look back over summers of memories!

This year's list included making rockets, seeing dolphins, building sand castles, and that was just the tip of the iceberg! Below, I have made a list with a link to each of the items on their bucket list. You will notice that some patches are on sale now for as low as $0.74, while other unique one's may be at the $1 or $2 range. At each of the patch websites, you can browse through their other patches which will also give you some great ideas to add to your summer bucket list if you need some help!

Make a rocket
Moving night outside

See dolphins
See caverns
Ride on a boat
Go tubing
Lego chain reaction
Geo-caching
Go star gazing
Learn a magic trick
Go to Farmers Market
Find shark tooth
Sleepover on trampoline
Night swim with glow sticks
Go fishing
Tie Dye
Build a giant sand castle
Play minigolf
Watch fireworks
Summer reading challenge
Car wash day
Play in the rain
Paint rocks
Water balloon fight
Bowling
Smores
Create a fairy garden
Have a pen pal
Family game night
Bonfire with friends

The backpack in the pictures is a Fjallraven Kanken mini backpack and it comes in 50 colors. You can see it here. It is a bit on the expensive side. As another option, I suggest this one from Kayond. It comes in five neutral colors.



Another idea instead of using patches is to try stickers. Stickers put in a sticker book could also be a way for your child to journal about the activity and what it meant to them!

Hope you all have a terrific and safe summer! Let us know what things your family has put on the summer bucket list for 2020 in the comments below.

--Amie

The Fletcher Farmhouse has entered an affiliate relationship with Amazon. Clicking on links provided in this post may result in a commission being paid to The Fletcher Farmhouse at no additional cost to you.

Lego Disaster Island

We have so many Lego's in our house! I wondered what more we could do with them and started looking. Introducing Lego Librarian and his awesome idea for Lego Disaster Island.

The Lego Librarian blogs about Lego Clubs and other library program ideas. His idea for a Lego Disaster Island Game caught my eye. You can see his blog post about it, here.

Here's what I did with my girls:

1. Use 10 to 20 minutes creating your island oasis with Lego's.

2. Take turns pulling a disaster card from the pile. I used some of the cards from Lego Librarian, but I also made some of my own. I really wanted to add a picture to each card for my littlest who is a non-reader.

3. After you have created something to overcome your disaster, share your creation by telling the other players what your disaster card said and what you built.

We had loads of fun and the girls were asking me to create more disasters!

Attached below are 8 picture cards for Lego Disaster Island. Feel free to print and share with your friends! Click here to download the flashcard PDF.

If you need some additional Lego's to make your disaster island even more realistic, the items below from Amazon are perfect!





--Andrea

The Fletcher Farmhouse has entered into an affiliate relationship with Amazon. Clicking on links provided in this blog post may result in a commission being paid to The Fletcher Farmhouse at no additional cost to you.

Shipwrecks and Seashells! Ideas for Homeschool Science

Our family really enjoyed our recent trip to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. I have BIG ideas for upcoming homeschool science lessons with all we saw and experienced on our vacation. Here are some ideas I wanted to share with you!

Shipwreck!

The Outer Banks is known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic because of the thousands of ships that have wrecked there. Some of the wrecks are on the beach and some are in the water. When the ocean is clear, you can explore the underwater shipwrecks by kayak or paddle board. We stayed on the beach, but we found this shipwreck at Nag's Head.

Book ideas for shipwrecks:




And, I found these fun virtual tours of shipwrecks that we can use from YouTube!

"Virtual Dive on the wreck of the Melckmeyt (1659), Iceland's oldest identified shipwreck":
https://youtu.be/hovKu1bi7kA

"A 452 Year Old Shipwreck was Found off the Florida Coast" : https://youtu.be/XDuo3J8DFZU

Seashells by the Seashore

What is it about seashells that delight the mind? Maybe their colors and mysterious shapes and sizes. My girls have always loved collecting shells and this week, they have returned home with quite a large collection of treasured finds to add to our cabinet of curiosities!

One of our favorite activities is to create art and jewelry with the seashells, but this year, I think we will learn how to identify them and more about the animals that live in each!




The book titled "Seashells by the Seashore" includes tear-out shell identification cards!

-- Andrea

The Fletcher Farmhouse has entered into an affiliate relationship with Amazon. Clicking on links provided in this post may result in a commission being paid to The Fletcher Farmhouse at no additional cost to you.

Our Homeschool Back-to-School Theme for 2019-2020

"Each year I have homeschooled, I have introduced a new theme for the year. A theme seems to set the tone for a great year!" said Andrea, a homeschool mom.

Join me as I share a little from my interview of Andrea about why her family has a back-to-school theme, their theme for this year, themes of the past, and how you might decide on a theme of your own.

Q: What Inspired You to Pick a School Year Theme?

I had been reading the NieNie Dialogues blog and feeling so inspired. Stephanie always had a back-to-school feast and a theme to get her kids started on the right foot. I LOVED that idea! That is what first inspired me to pick a back-to-school year theme.

Q: How Do You Pick the Perfect School Year Theme?

Well, I pray about it...I really do. I start looking for a new theme several months before school starts. I try to see what trials or difficulties my children are going through, or might be going through soon, and find a theme that matches that challenge.

Last year, I had the theme "I will Be What I Believe." I wasn't as committed to this theme as I had been to others and wondered if I had chosen the "right" one. Then, October came around and it was time for my Church's annual General Conference. That's when we gather together as a world-wide church in buildings all over the world to listen to our church leaders and prophets. One of the talks specifically mentioned that we are what we believe and that's when I knew. I had been totally inspired to pick that theme.

Q: How Do You Introduce Your New Theme Each Year?

I like to make the introduction to our new theme a special event. A special dinner, a small gift for each girl to help them remember the theme, a scripture if applicable, and some pretty artwork for the home and school room.

Generally, we incorporate our back-to-school feast and introduction to the new theme on a Monday evening for Family Home Evening. Then, we start school on a Tuesday.

Q: What Themes Have You Had in the Past?

Well, I don't know if I can remember them all off the top of my head! But, here's what I can remember. Maybe you can check my Instagram or Facebook to see if I'm right!

2018 - I Will Be What I Believe. For this theme, I wanted us to remember to follow our Savior in all we do.
2017 - Arise with Kindness. This one kind of speaks for itself. We needed some extra help to remember to wake up in a good mood! We had a great quote for this one from Thomas S. Monson:

"As we arise each morning let us determine to respond with more love and kindness to whatever might come our way."

2016 - Make the Decision To Do What Jesus Christ Has Asked Us To Do. There were lots of pictures of Christ and scriptures that were good for this one. The options were limitless!

Q: What is Your Back-to-School Theme for 2019?

This year's back-to-school theme is "React with Love." This one had a lot of thought behind it and I think it is really important. Of course, with three little girls, we sometimes have arguing and bickering in the house. Actually, they are usually quick to resolve problems by themselves. But I noticed, particularly with my oldest, that they did not quickly forgive or react with love to THEMSELVES. For example, when Chloe didn't have a story or picture turn out to her level of expectations, she was really hard on herself and I didn't want that. This theme has already helped with the girls reacting to each other and themselves with more love and patience.

Q: What Would You Tell Someone Who is Looking for the Perfect Theme?

Um...well, first of all, I would say there are either no "perfect themes" or there are thousands of "perfect themes"! It just depends on how you look at it. Like I said before, I pray about it. I take into consideration the family dynamics and what's happening in our lives and how we can improve. Then I pray and prepare to be inspired! It also helps to hear what other homeschool moms have done and what worked for them. Pinterest has tons of fantastic ideas!

Q: I Noticed the Girls Each Get a Glass Star. What's That All About?

Ah, yes...the glass stars! Another awesome idea from the NieNie blog! At the end of each year, I order a glass star from  Piggy and Dirt Etsy Shop by Kurt Knudsen with the theme on it. I present each girl with her star and praise them for all their hard work and growth. Then, we hang the stars up in the classroom window.

Look closely in the top right corner for the glass stars!

Wow! Thanks for this interview, Andrea! I continue to be inspired by your thoughtful ideas, fun crafty projects, and motivation to be the best you can be!

How about you, dear readers? Does your family have a back-to-school theme? We would love to hear about it in the comments below!

Don't forget to follow Andrea for more great ideas for your homeschool classroom on Instagram @littlelightofhomeschool and follow her and her three sisters on all things country and farm life @thefletcherfarmhouse.

Watercolors Make Us Happy

We do a lot of painting in our homeschool classroom...and I love that!

Painting, coloring, writing, crafting...I like it all and so do my three girls. In particular, painting with watercolors has been a big part of our homeschool curriculum.

I have many people ask what watercolors, brushes, and paper we use, so I thought I would share our favorites.

Our Painting Supplies

1. Artist's Loft 36 Color Pan Set is my choice for watercolor paints. They are relatively inexpensive, so I bought one for each girl. (Because no one likes when baby sister mixes the colors!) The set comes with its own brush, which is nice, but I also like to have several brushes on hand. And, with 36 color choices, there is tons of variety!

2. Watercolor Brushes. Remember those cruddy little brushes that came in watercolor sets of the past? They just don't cut it! The watercolor set above comes with a nice brush, but we always need to have several brushes! Instead, I have upgraded to brushes that hold more color. Here is an example of something similar to what we have now:

Notice the rounded brushes in this set. They work best for blending and applying more saturated color pigment.

3) Natural Spiral Sketchbooks. Though we have painted on just about all types of paper, the girls really liked keeping a nature journal in which they painted all sorts of things they found outside. I liked the fact that these little "nature journals" became keepsakes! These natural spiral sketchbooks in the picture below are a landscape version which I haven't been able to find again lately. But clicking on the image below will take you to some that are similar that I like, too.

The best part of using watercolors is how easy it is to clean up. Watercolor generally comes out of clothes, carpet, pet fur, and barbie hair!

--Andrea and Amie

The Fletcher Farmhouse has entered into an affiliate relationship with Amazon and Walmart. Clicking on links provided in this article may result in a commission being paid to The Fletcher Farmhouse at no additional cost to you.

Fun Activities for Teaching Music Theory

If you have ever taught music to a child, then you have likely experienced the groan when you mention the dreaded word...THEORY! Here are some things I have tried that make learning music theory a bit more fun!

Music Theory Matching Game

I teach piano to children ranging in age from 5-14 years old and none of them enjoy theory. With that being said, I have tried to create activities to teach them theory and be enjoyable at the same time...like the music theory matching game.

For this game, I made my own theory matching cards by using a Word document and free clipart I found online. Here is an example of a set of flash cards:

I make at least 10 matching sets of cards and laminate them so they hold up better.

To play this game, simply mix up the cards and place on the floor or table in a grid format. Take turns with your student by choosing two cards. Are they matches? If yes, can the student tell you what the music theory symbol means?

Whoever has the most matches at the end of the game is the winner!

Download our FREE music theory flash cards and print two copies to use for the music theory matching game! Click here.

Music Theory Ball

The Music Theory Ball is by far the most requested theory activity I have. For this activity, you need a small rubber ball (maybe half the size of a basketball) and a Sharpie or other permanent marker. A ball with a smooth finish and solid color works best.

Using the Sharpie draw music theory symbols and terms all around the ball. Try to cover the surface as much as you can. I made two balls, one for beginners and one for more advanced students.

To play, simply toss the ball back and forth. Whatever symbol or term your right thumb lands on is the one you have to give an explanation of. The children love it!

Music Theory Animal Actions Rhythm Game

I ran across this fun music theory game online at Pinterest. Sara Mullett shared her fun way to have kids learn rhythms and get them moving at the same time!

To prepare the cards for this game, you can go over to the Let's Play Music website and print off the cards for free. Again, I laminate them so they are a bit more sturdy.

There are a couple of ways this game can be played. We place the cards in a pile, face down. Each child takes turns drawing a card from the top, then acting out the type of movement that would best represent the animal and the rhythm. For example, the elephant stomps four quarter notes. Stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp! Or, for the snail slide, imagine sliding your feet across the floor as you count "1-2, 2-2, 3-2, 4-2."

Music Theory Worksheets

You can also try free printable worksheets found online. There are lots to be found and they make a nice change from the same old theory workbook. Try this fun Pinterest page for ideas: Music Theory Ideas from Pinterest.

I hope there are some fun ideas here that will work for you -- give them a try, have fun, and feel free to share your own ideas for teaching music theory in the comments below!

--Christine

Christine's favorite music theory books:




The Fletcher Farmhouse has entered into an affiliate relationship with Amazon. Clicking on the links provided in this blog post may result in a commission being paid to The Fletcher Farmhouse at no additional cost to you.

Book Review: The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters

A book review for a perfect spring or summertime read for any age! Andrea at The Fletcher Farmhouse talks about "The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy," by Jeanne Birdsall.

Our family has been reading a new book series and the girls are loving it! "The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy," is the first in a series of five books written by Jeanne Birdsall.

This National Book Award winner and New York Times Bestseller is perfect for my little gaggle of girls, but would be a favorite with boys or girls!

Amazon gives the following description of the book, saying:

This summer the Penderwick sisters have a wonderful surprise: a holiday on the grounds of a beautiful estate called Arundel. Soon, they are busy discovering the summertime magic of Arundle's sprawling gardens, treasure-filled attic, tame rabbits, and the cook who makes the best gingerbread in Massachusetts. But the best discovery of all is Jeffrey Tifton, son of Arundel's owner, who quickly proves to be the perfect companion for their adventures.

The icy-hearted Mrs. Tifton is not as pleased with the Penderwick's as Jeffrey is, though, and warns the new friends to stay out of trouble. Which, of course, they will ---won't they? One thing's for sure: it will be a summer the Penderwick's will never forget!

My three girls have become obsessed with this new read-aloud. They work on their copywork while I read, they eat their lunch while I read, and they sit and snuggle before bed while I read. They can't get enough of the adventures of the Penderwicks'! I have a feeling we will fly through this series!

How about you? Have you read this series? How did your children like it? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
 ---Andrea

The Fletcher Farmhouse has entered into an affiliate relationship with Amazon. Clicking on links provided in this blog post may result in a commission being paid to The Fletcher Farmhouse at no additional cost to you.

4 Fun and Easy Ways to Journal

There are all sorts of reasons people journal. Maybe it's for future posterity, your mental health, or just because you enjoy it. Whatever the reason, as our lives get busy, time for journaling may go out the window! So, here are a few ideas of alternative ways to journal!

The Bullet Journal

This has been my go-to journal technique for the last few years. Essentially, it's a bullet list of the days events or thoughts. It might look something like this the image below.

A bullet journal doesn't require as much time as it does to write traditional paragraphs. Though not filled with great detail, this type of journal works well to jog your memory later. Though you may not have time to record all the details of some event or day, by writing down a few key words or a sentence, you will be able to recall it in the future.



The Picture Journal

I love this idea for little children, but it works for adults, as well. A picture journal is a collection of drawings that reflect the day's activities or a special event.

There are a few different types of picture journals I have seen. One friend of mine kept a picture journal of church services. While she was listening to the talks or sermons, she would doodle little drawings and keywords that spoke to her. Later, she could look up the scripture references she jotted down and use those words to brighten and enlighten her days.

I gave it a try, but didn't stick with it. However, I can see value in this unique way to journal, especially if you like to doodle!

The Calendar Journal

I think Brent Kavanaugh made this one headline news! The calendar journal is just that...a calendar with events of the day listed on it. It is sometimes kept on a paper calendar, but with today's technology, you could keep it on a digital calendar and then print it off or save it to a thumb drive. For a calendar journal, you might record so-in-so's birthday, a lunch with a friend at Cracker Barrel, a church meeting, or the kids soccer games. This type of journal may look something like this:

Another take on the calendar journal is what I have named the "to-do" list journal. I started keeping a small notebook where I write down all the daily things I need to do, want to do, and hope to do on one side of the page. On the other side of the page, I write down all the things that I actually did! It started out as a way to gauge whether I was being productive and where I spent the majority of my time, but I realized it was also a good way to record my life and what I was doing!

The Family Journal

I started my first Family Journal at the beginning of 2018. A family journal can be done several ways, but the method I used was this. Each Sunday, my parents, sisters, and their families would get together for dinner. Here we would share all the goings-on of our individual families. Then, when I got home, I would write it all down in the family journal.

Though I never considered it at first, it would have been a great idea to pass the family journal around and have others participate in the writing.

At the end of the year, it was my intention to have the family journal typed up and printed. I haven't done that yet (whoops!), but it's a great idea, isn't it?!

Making Time to Journal

There are literally dozens of ideas for how to record your personal history with journaling. You just need to do what works for you. Please feel free to share your ideas for keeping a journal and making the time to do so in the comments below. We love to hear from you!

-Amie

Will you come follow us on Instagram? You can follow all the happenings of The Fletcher Farmhouse at @thefletcherfarmhouse or you can follow just the homeschool inspiration at @littlelightofhomeschool.