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Archives for December 2013

Organize Your Home with FREE Kindle eBooks

December 27, 2013 By: amyswandering2 Comments

organize with free kindle ebooks

It’s time for our weekly seasonal ebook roundup!

I get the itch to organize my home every year as I’m putting away the Christmas stuff.

These ebooks were free at the time of posting but that could change at any moment.
As always, check before you click!

wkfive1

Getting Rid of It: The Step-by-Step Guide to Eliminate the Clutter in Your Life

wkfive2

Declutter Your Home in 10 Days

wkfive3

Simple Steps to a Clean and Organized Home

wkfive4

How to Organize Your Life and Get Things Done

wkfive5

Create a Clutter Free and Organized Household

wkfive6

Life Hacks

wkfive7

Household Organization

Don’t own a Kindle? You can read Kindle ebooks on your PC for free.

My affiliate links were used in this post. There is no cost to you to download the free ebooks. I appreciate any shopping you might do while visiting Amazon!

You might also like my:

  • Giant List of FREE Household Notebook Printables
  • Organize It Pinterest board
  • Household Tips Pinterest board

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Stock Up on Christmas Clearance to Repurpose Throughout the Year

December 26, 2013 By: amyswandering1 Comment

repurposing christmas clearance
This time of year, shelves & shelves of Christmas fun are marked down 50-75% off. Put on your creative thinking cap and you can stock up for several holidays to come.

Christmas food can be stored for future holidays:

  • Holiday M&Ms can be sorted and bagged to be used for Valentine’s Day & St. Patrick’s Day
  • Divide up things like sprinkles & icing from baking kits
  • Candy canes make adorable Valentine treats when put in the oven
  • Chocolate candy and stocking stuffers are good for Easter baskets – many items have Christmas packaging, but just take them out of the package

Christmas decorations can be used for all sorts of things:

  • New Year’s Eve- shiny tinsel to drape everywhere, silver or gold tablecloths
  • January- we leave our non-Christmasy snowmen and snowflakes out for the whole month
  • Valentine’s Day – heart decorations, red ribbon, red tablecloth, napkins, plates, cups
  • St. Patrick’s Day – green tablecloths, napkins, plates, cups
  • Easter – crosses, anything pastel, cellophane for baskets
  • Fourth of July – anything red, white, blue or silver – tablecloths, plates, napkins, cups, strings of lights, garland, anything with stars on it
  • Birthday parties – candy & toys for goody bags, non-Christmasy gift bags & wrapping paper. Target will have a major toy clearance in January so you can stock up on gifts too.

Snag a few gift sets for:

  • upcoming birthday gifts
  • Easter baskets
  • Mother’s Day & Father’s Day
  • party favors – lip gloss, character figurines
  • craft projects (bead kits, etc.)
  • everyday use – razors, shower gel, lotion, Burt’s Bees sets, sauces & seasonings
  • homeschool activities – model kits, experiments

A few more everyday items to grab:

  • candles
  • tissue paper
  • blank cards & envelopes
  • baskets
  • napkins & plates
  • flannel sheets
  • ribbon
  • dishes – a couple years a go I bought a set of plain ivory dishes for 12, gravy boats, and platters at Walmart for around $30

Get a head start on next year with:

  • wrapping paper and bows
  • containers for homemade goodies
  • Christmas cards – get them filled out over the summer
  • Christmas pajamas, shirts, and socks

I also like to venture out when the clearance gets down to 80-90% off. The selection is smaller, but I always find some fun goodies at Michaels to kick off the next Christmas season. I love being able to hand my kids a basket full of craft supplies & kits and truly not care what they do with it because it cost me less than $5!

What ideas do you have? Share them in the comments!
chsubscribe

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We Wish You a Merry Christmas

December 24, 2013 By: amyswanderingcomment

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!!

2013retro

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Write from History: A Writing Curriculum for Kids Who Don’t Like to Write

December 13, 2013 By: amyswanderingcomment

write from history

My 5th grade son dislikes writing. He would say “hates” if I let him. He’d rather be whacking something, taking it apart, or building it in Minecraft (where he would then whack it and take it apart).

Finding Write from History was like a breath of fresh air. It is a Charlotte Mason writing curriculum that uses primary source documents to teach writing, grammar, and history.

There are four books from which to choose:

  • Write from Ancient History
  • Write from Medieval History
  • Write from Early Modern History
  • Write from Modern History

The two levels cover grades first through fifth, but can be used on into middle school due to the upper level writings included in the books. The difference in the two levels is the reading difficulty and copywork style. You can pick manuscript or cursive. The readings are in the form of historical narratives, primary source documents, poetry, and cultural tales. A grammar section is located in the back of the book with lessons for color-coding the copywork. We have a grammar curriculum that we love so this one was a bit too basic for my son, but it would be a great fit for a beginner grammar course. Update: Brookdale House now offers Sheldon’s New Primary Language Lessons if you want to add a more formal grammar curriculum.

toc

Each lesson includes these activities:

  • Reading
  • Oral Narration
  • Copywork
  • Grammar
  • Dictation

As a member of the Write from History launch team, I chose to review Write from Medieval History Level 2 Manuscript Models. We will be moving into this time period after the first of the year, and though my son writes beautifully in cursive, I didn’t want him to have to concentrate on that aspect. In fact I didn’t address his handwriting at all. I figure it will improve as he gets used to the longer copywork passages.

copywork

A few of my favorite things:

Flexibility– This is a history supplement, so you just browse through the table of contents to find a passage that matches what you are studying. You can work your way from start to finish, but you don’t have to. The grammar is broken down into a new part of speech each month and works with any lesson in any order. I’ve always combined as many subjects and ages as possible in our homeschool (one of the reasons I love Charlotte Mason). These lessons are easily adapted for multiple ages because you have the freedom to structure them any way you want.

Scheduling- A detailed 5-day suggested schedule is included, as well as a couple of optional schedules.

Definitions- Many Charlotte mason newbies get hung up on the differences between narration, dictation, and copywork. There are a couple of pages of helpful definitions and examples to help you straighten it all out.

Interest Level- Because we aren’t starting medieval history for another month or so, I let my son browse through the table of contents and pick what he wanted to read. (He chose his first selection because it was one of the shortest copywork assignments. Ha!) I knew we had a winner a few minutes later when I heard the words that are music to this momma’s ears, “Hey Mommy! Did you know….?”. And while he still doesn’t like to write, he enjoys seeing exactly what is expected from him so that he knows when he is done.

definitions

A couple of my not so favorite things:

Lack of Answer Key for Grammar- Answer keys make my job so much easier, but a little birdie told me there could be one in the works. 😉

Too Much Flipping- It can get a little awkward switching from front to back to look at the grammar lessons or optional exercises, but there is an easy fix for that–> get the eBook! I will definitely go the eBook route for future courses. Super simple to pick the topic I want and print it out when I need it.

The Write from History books are priced at $22.99.

Your reluctant writer with thank you!!
(Or maybe not, but I bet they will no longer hate writing.)

I received a free book for the purpose of giving my honest review. No other compensation was given. My affiliate link is used in this post – thank you for supporting my site through any purchase you make!

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A Christmas to Remember *FREE Printable*

December 13, 2013 By: amyswandering2 Comments

We are getting into the Christmas spirit at our house – crafting, cooking, singing, and giving thanks for a Savior in a manger!

As the kids get older and the weeks get busier, I’ve learned to focus on a few meaningful activities that they enjoy. We want to remember the peace of the season, not the frantic craziness. I created a Christmas to Remember printable for my kids to fill out with their holiday favorites.

christmas to remember

Print it out for your kiddos and have yourself a merry little Christmas instead of a weary one!

–>Download a Christmas to Remember<–

You might also like my:

  • Christmas Pinterest Board
  • Christmas Planning Pinterest Board
  • Homeschool Christmas Pinterest Board

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