Wordless Wednesday: New Reading Pal

 

Yard Sale Finds!

Unfortunately, I haven't been to many yard sales this summer.  However, yesterday we were in town, so the girls and I decided to stop at a few sales.   

Last weekend, we picked up our newest family member, Lincoln, an 8-week old boxer puppy.  The girls and I have been shopping for puppy toys, but they are super expensive at the pet stores.  So, when I saw a basket full of baby teething toys for only 25 cents each, I thought they would make perfect toys for Lincoln! 

Baby Toys for Lincoln, $1.50

He has had the BEST time with these toys! 

 We shopped around at a few more with no luck of finding anything.  However, our last yard sale of the morning was the JACKPOT!  Izzie has been wishing for an American Girl doll.  She and Mac received the Itty Bitty Twins for Christmas last year, but she has been begging for a "big girl" American Girl for months.  We've been telling her that she must save up her money and possibly she would have enough money saved to purchase a doll for her birthday.  However, it's so hard to justify spending $110 on a doll!  

 Thankfully, she will not be spending that much money on an American Girl doll!  We snatched up the American Girl doll, Amber, for only $10.  Whoosh!!  SCORE! 

Izzie was thrilled with the find.  Honestly, I didn't even recognize that it was an American Girl doll and walked right passed it!  Thankfully, Izzie and her "eyes" were with me! 

Summer Reading: Week 2

 

 Our library always does an amazing job at encouraging children to read!  Izzie really enjoyed Week 1 activities and was excited to go back for Week 2! 

The theme was "Digging Up Dinosaurs". 

She completed this cute macaroni dinosaur and was thrilled to bring home a dinosaur egg! 

 The girls received credit for reading a handful of books around the house.  However, the find of the week were these adorable Epossumondas' books written by Coleen Salley.  The books were silly and the girls begged to read them over and over again!  We actually found one audio book, which was a hoot to listen too.  The Louisianian accent made the book come alive and boy there were so many giggles from my girls! 

In addition, we found a new series called A to Z Mysteries.  

 Our library has these on audio, so we checked out the first few and have been listening to them in the car.  They're great entertainment for our summer day trips! 

 

Wordless Wednesday: Our {FIRST} Puppy!

 

Safari Park Adventure!

The girls and I had an adventurous time at the Safari Park with friends! 

We began our adventure with a wagon-ride around the safari park!  

There were so many animals to feed.  They were very well trained to rush the wagon at the first sound of it.  And, they were not scared of us!  They stuck their heads right in the wagon and demanded food.  

 

The girls had a blast with all the animals even though, we did get snorted on by a llama!  

Afterward, we headed toward the camels, which were the most aggressive.  

We were warned not to get too close with our buckets of food, as the camels are notorious for snatching the bucket right out of your hands!  

Yep, the camel got Mac's bucket of food.  

We were eventually pushed off the bench by the camels...they were hungry!  

The bison were my girls' favorite animal to feed.  They were so gentle.  They would simply stick out their tongue for you to sprinkle the food on it.  

After the one-hour wagon adventure, we were able to walk about.  The girls really enjoyed feeding the giraffe. 

My favorite animal was this cute little black mountain goat!  He kept running and climbing up on the baby llama, who didn't mind being a mountain for this little guy! 

 

 We had such a great time exploring the Safari Park and seeing and feeding the animals up close!

TOS Review: Classical Conversations

 Classical Conversations, a leader in home education, has just launched a new series called PreScripts, which teaches cursive writing along with art instruction and drawing practice.

There are four books in the PreScripts series.  Each book contains over 100 pages and can be completed within the school year.  In addition, the Prescripts books do not need to be used in sequential order. 

          

           Cursive Letters and Coloring               Cursive Words and Drawing

                         Ages: 3-7                                            Ages: 5-10

                           $11.99                                                  $12.99

                       

    

Cursive Sentences and Art Lessons

Ages: 7-12

 $12.99

 

Cursive Passages and Illuminations 

Ages: 9+

$12.99

Be sure to check out the sample pages, which can be found by clicking on the above links, for each book. 

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Izzie, 6 years old, has been begging to learn how to write in cursive.  Many believe that with the advances in technology, cursive writing is no longer necessary and will become obsolete.  I disagree.  So, when we were offered to review Prescripts Cursive Letters and Coloring, we were beyond excited!

 Prescripts Cursive Letters and Coloring

  

"The goal of Prescripts Cursive Letters and Coloring is to introduce your child to the building blocks of cursive writing and drawing through an immersion method of fun exercises."    

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 What's included in Prescripts Cursive Letters and Coloring?

• The spiral bound softcover book consists of 121 pages.  

• The first section (5 pages) are tracing pages of a variety of shapes and lines.  The primary focus of Prescripts Cursive Letters and Coloring is to help your student develop fine motor skills.

Prescripts Cursive Letters and Coloring

• The next section (99 pages) contains all twenty-six capital and lowercase letters in alphabetical order, learn to draw pages, and coloring pages.  The book is set up in a structured manner.  

First, your student will complete a coloring page that corresponds with the Acts and Facts Timeline Cards for Cycle 2 Memory Work.  

Basilica roof, Florence, Italy

Then, your student will learn how to form a specific cursive capital letter by finger-tracing, pencil-tracing, and copywork practice. 

Prescripts Cursive Letters and Coloring

Prescripts Cursive Letters and Coloring

Followed by a trace and color page, which again helps your child with his/her fine motor skills.

Prescripts Cursive Letters and Coloring

Lastly, your student will learn how to form a specific cursive lowercase letter. 

Prescripts Cursive Letters and Coloring

Prescripts Cursive Letters and Coloring

The cycle continues with the next letter in the alphabet. 

• In the back of the book, there are 6 blank pages for free drawing. 

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What did I like about Prescripts Cursive Letters and Coloring?

•  Izzie enjoyed the variety of the workbook.  She is new to cursive, so it was very beneficial to have several different activities that kept her interested.

• It was an easy way to integrate cursive writing and art into our day. 

• The price is very affordable.  

•   Each Prescripts book is reproducible within the immediate family.  

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Sail over to read what other Crew Mates had to say about their experience with PreScripts from Classical Conversations.