Honored to be NOMINATED!!! :)

Wow!  I am so excited to have been nominated for the Circle of Moms Top 25 Homeschooling Moms list!  What a SUPER honor!  Thank you, thank you readers!!!  :)

If you love what you see on my blog, PLEASE consider supporting my blog by taking 10-15 seconds to vote for me!

I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your support and your vote!  By the way, you don't have to be a member to vote.  Simply click the circle badge on my blog (on the side near the top) or in this post and it will take you to nominated blogs.  I think I am near the middle of the list (but my blog could go up or down depending on the number of votes).  Then you just click the little voting hand next to my blog's name and you are done!

Really easy and EVERY vote counts!  ONE vote can possibly push you up the list by five or six spots so your vote REALLY DOES MATTER!  :)

Thanks again to all my followers and readers!  It is such an honor to be nominated and a huge CONGRATS to other nominees as well!

Homeschool Theme of the Week: Homeschool Kindergarten Graduation!!!

I confess.  I am one of those homeschooling moms who wonder - what things will my kids be missing out on if I homeschool?!  One of those "things" was kindergarten graduation.  What about a graduation hat and tassel, participating in some cute song, walking across a stage, etc.?!?

Well, I am here to say - it CAN STILL be done!  You CAN have an awesome kinder graduation if you homeschool!  And the best part?   You get to make the decisions!  What song to sing, what to recite, even what color of hat and tassel you want - or whether you even want one at all!

Once I figured this all out (yep, I am a little slow in that department sometimes), it was SOOOO much fun and we had a graduation I was even happier with than if she had been in a class full of kids up on a stage in front of a huge audience.  

Miss A is very into pink and fancy things and is very dramatic, soooooo that is the kind of graduation program we planned.   We also completed some great school activities and worked on the cutest kindergarten memory book!  Okay, enough talk and more pictures...

A fun graduation themed snack!!!

DETAILS:

Main:  Graduation hat made from a healthy muffin (bottom of hat) and graham cracker top spread with Nutella.  The tassel is string cheese.  The diploma is a rolled up tortilla with peanut butter and jam/jelly inside and tied with a piece of fruit roll-up.

Muffin cups 1 and 3:  Hugs and kisses for our little graduating girl!  :)

Muffin cup 2:  Cheese stars and heart confetti.

Garnish:  Nutella X's and O's (more hugs and kisses) and wording.  Heart confetti.

Disclaimer:  This is a special snack and not the kind of thing Miss A gets every day for snack.  Our normal snacks do not usually include so much sugar.  I just make these every once in a while as a special treat for Miss A!

One of the super parts of having your own graduation (just you) is that you get to pick the colors.  Miss A ended up with a pink hat and a pink and white tassel.  We bought these at a store, and I think it cost a grand total of $7 or $8.  However, if you don't want to spend that much on a hat - you can certainly make one from paper (check Pinterest or search Google for tutorials on how to do this).

We also decided to make the hat fancier (another perk of not being in a classroom where everyone is required to wear the same style and color of cap), so we made sparkly polka dots on the cap using glitter.  In addition to this, I glued pink rhinestones to the four corners and center of the hat for added glamour.  AND let's not forget the tassel - at the request of Miss A, I also added some sparkly glitter dots to the numbers "2012".  

Now how can one have an amazing hat and tassel and then receive just an ordinary diploma?  The answer is - one shouldn't.  Thus, we dramatically increased the fancy factor of her diploma (this was just a staged diploma - I didn't want to mess up the real one by rolling it up so she accepted this one on the stage)  by adding glitter swirls to the outside and lots and lots of curly ribbon (did I mention LOTS)!!!

We created a stage backdrop for about $2 by purchasing two $1 white plastic tablecloths (party section in Walmart), taping them together in back, stringing a piece of yarn from a tree to a post and using clothespins to clip the large white backdrop of tablecloths to the yarn.  We used some bricks to hold the corners down.  It actually turned out really well!  We also added a few tissue paper decorations to give it some added color and flair.  :)

Yet another advantage to having your own kindergarten homeschool graduation is that you get to choose exactly what kind of program you want to have which best spotlights your child's strengths.   My daughter is very dramatic and loves to sing and dance, SOOO we planned a show (see the program above - graphics from www.scrappindoodles.com) where she would recite a verse, sing a cute song, and then dance to some music (Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World").  For the dance, we also bought some pieces of filmy material in different colors and she used those as part of the choreography of her dance to go along with some of the words referencing different colors ("trees of green, red roses too", etc.).  

She LOVED it and so did I, not to mention her little audience of Daddy, Great Grandma, and grandparents (who watched via a webcam).  It was soooo much fun to plan and practice!  :)  

At the end, I formally presented her with her diploma and moved her tassel for her.  It was super sweet, and I didn't even cry (well, actually I did during the dress rehearsal but kept my composure during the real thing).  

I couldn't find just the right song for my daughter to sing, so I finally decided to make up one of my own for her program.  I was so pleased with what a precious job she did - we put actions to the song as well (those are in blue lettering above), and it was just adorable.  

Please feel free to use this song for your own kindergarten graduation ceremony.  I just ask that if you use the song and ESPECIALLY if you post the lyrics and actions to the song - that you credit it back to me/this blog as well.  

Following the graduation ceremony, we had a party with fancy hot dogs and a banana split bar!  :)  And how does one make a hot dog fancy?  I'll bet you didn't realize it was as easy as adding a frilly toothpick or a little umbrella, did you!  

Besides practicing a LOT for our show and ceremony, we did some other cute graduation activities.  The one above was a really neat TLC freebie from the Teachers Pay Teachers website.  See it here.

For some math practice, I wrote addition facts on little pieces of paper and rolled them up, tying each with string to make little diplomas.  Then Miss A opened and answered them.

Meet a kindergarten class which has a serious problem - somehow their graduation caps got all mixed up!  At least that is what I told Miss A, and she had to help find the correct cap for each student.  This was a rhyming exercise - on each cap was a word which would rhyme with a student's name.  It was her job to sort them out and glue them to the correct heads.  :)  She also drew all of the cute faces!  

One thing I really wanted to do with Miss A was to make a memory book for kindergarten.  I searched and searched for something that would be just right but failed to find anything that really made me super happy.  Thus, I decided to come up with my own and it turned out so, so, SOOO cute!  Okay, maybe I am a little biased.  ;)  I guess you will just have to judge for yourselves...

The book includes a cover, two pages of kindergarten facts (favorite color, teacher's name, favorite snack, favorite trip, etc.), my favorite part of kindergarten page, I learned...page, AMAZING me page (self portrait), a handprint page with a delightful poem, a special helper page with another cute poem (showcasing people who helped Miss A achieve success this year), and a page for autographs and well wishes/special messages!

Most of the pages have fun borders that can be colored in.  Miss A used a lovely pink and blue color scheme to fill in the border on her "AMAZING me" page.  :)  I love the picture she drew of herself!  :)

This is one of my absolute favorite pages!!!  I wanted to get a nice handprint as a keepsake for Miss A's kindergarten year and thought it would be cute if each finger had a graduation cap as well.  I came up with a sweet little poem to tie the whole concept together and made it the border for the page!  :)

This was another page I was especially pleased with.  I wanted one which celebrated the support and love of others which helped contribute to Miss A's achievements leading up to her graduation day.  I came up with a short poem and decided on the idea of having Miss A draw herself holding a bouquet of balloons (another idea would be a bouquet of flowers) and each balloon would be the thumbprint of someone who helped her that year.  (Not everyone was there the night we made this page, thus the empty strings which will be attached to "balloons" later on).   

The page is set up so a child could also draw pictures of people who contributed to the child's success if the balloon idea doesn't work for a particular class or family.  

Don't ask me about the blue face.  My daughter is not really blue.  I guess she just felt extra colorful that day?

All wording on the above pages is copyrighted and may not be taken and used for different projects (including handprint art) without first contacting me AND obtaining my written consent.  

I have the entire kindergarten memory book (PDF files) available in my Teachers Pay Teachers store here, AND it is on SALE this week!  Hope you will consider snapping one up to work on with your kindergartener-now-turned-first-grader over the summer or for when your child or class graduates next year!  

PLUS, I have included a super sweet kindergarten diploma (see below) with the memory book files.  Again, I couldn't find one I liked after searching online for a while, so I just created my own!  

So to sum all of this up:  YOU CAN HAVE AN AWESOME KINDERGARTEN GRADUATION, EVEN IF YOU HOMESCHOOL - INDEED, ESPECIALLY IF YOU HOMESCHOOL!  

And to my beloved daughter on her graduation from kindergarten - we love you and are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO proud of you!  I am already looking forward to a fun year of homeschooling with you in first grade!  XXXOOO

Linking to:

www.bearrabbitbear.com

www.momontimeout.com

www.houseofhepworths.com

www.somewhatsimple.com

www.thecraftyblogstalker.blogspot.com

www.theartsygirlconnection.blogspot.com

www.atthepicketfence.com

www.happhourprojects.com

www.joyfulstamper.blogspot.com

www.petalstopicots.com

www.whipperberry.com

www.livinglifeintentionally.blogspot.com

www.homeschoolcreations.net

www.delicateconstruction.com

www.iamalongfortheride.blogspot.com

www.lollyjane.com

www.sixsistersstuff.com

www.bedifferentactnormal.com

www.makingtheworldcuter.com

www.delicateconstruction.com

http://michellesjournalcorner.blogspot.com/

http://www.creatingreallyawesomefreethings.com/

www.sumossweetstuff.com

www.diyhshp.blogspot.com

www.abcand123learning.com

www.gingersnapcrafts.com

www.cleanandscentsible.blogspot.com/

www.familyhomeandlife.com

Le Chef Petite - Ocean Pie!

Got the summer blues?  Hmmm, probably not - at least not yet.  BUT if you do - then sit down, close your eyes, dream of the beach, and let your kids make you a dessert that will be almost as good as digging your toes in the warm sand while a balmy breeze kisses your face.  :)  Did I mention that your kids can make it?  (Depending on their ages though, you will want to step in on the hot water part, AND it would be most wise of you to keep at least one eye open, watching the process in the kitchen so that most of the "ocean" does not end up on your floor or in someone's tummy).  See below for the recipe!  :)

Ingredients:
1 small box of blue Jello (3 oz.)

1 container of Cool Whip (16 oz.)

1 graham cracker pie crust (or crushed graham crackers)

Strawberries and kiwis for ocean plants (or some other type of fruit)

Swedish fish or gummy fish or gummy eels (a.ka. worms), etc.  - basically, anything ocean creature like.

Optional: blue food color, large glass bowl or container

Directions:

1.  Mix the entire box of blue jello into 2/3 cup boiling or very hot water until Jello is dissolved.

2.  Add 1 cup of ice water (or part water with ice mixed in) to the jello mixture and stir.

3.  While the dissolved jello mixture cools a bit, slice strawberries and kiwis (use child friendly knives - see below for some suggestions).

4.  Once the jello mixture has cooled to a lukewarm temperature, carefully add the mixture to about 12 ounces of Cool Whip and stir until well combined.

5.  Place sliced fruit on top of the prepared graham cracker crust OR crushed graham crackers in a glass container (we used a large glass container so you could see through the sides, and we just broke up the crust and smashed it into the bottom of the bowl.  Then we placed some of the slices up against the glass so you could see the colorful ocean "plants").

6.  Carefully pour the jello and Cool Whip mixture over the graham crust and fruit until the container is full (if you have extra - freeze it as well and save it for eating later on).

7.  Push your Swedish fish or other gummy ocean creatures into the "ocean" mixture until submerged (or you may want to have a few peeking up from the ocean depths). 

8.  Optional:  dip a knife in blue food color and swirl through the mixture and against the sides of the container you are using.

9.  Dot the top of the "ocean" with any extra Cool Whip to simulate frothy waves.

10. Place your pie in the freezer for 4-6 hours and serve up your own piece of the ocean!  :)

COMING UP LATER IN THE WEEK:  A Homeschool Kinder Graduation - Fancy Style!


NOTE:  I'd love to feature some of my readers!!  If you have an infant or child related post or party you would like to share, please send me a link at michelle.natureofgrace@gmail.com and I will take a look.  :)



Linking to:
www.sumossweetstuff.com
www.makingtheworldcuter.com
www.diyhshp.blogspot.com
www.printabelle.com

Homeschool Theme of the Week: Oceans and Beaches!

We had a break recently when family came to visit us and then we traveled to visit family.  But we are back in the swing of things - at least for a couple weeks until we finish the year.  This week's theme was "Ocean and Beaches"...

We did not have a sandbox handy for this theme, nor do I know of any great beaches nearby.  Sooo, I made my own sandbox/beach.  I bought a plastic container and dumped some play sand inside.  Miss A loved it and enjoyed making sand castles, digging for "treasures", etc.  Who needs a real beach anyway...

This is an activity called an "ocean in a bottle".  See here for directions on how to make your own.  We should have used more food coloring to make the water darker so you could see the division between the water and oil and benefit from a better visual of wave action.  Oh well.  Miss A still liked making this.  We added shells and fish buttons and some sand to ours.

I saw a cute idea here on Pinterest regarding putting treasures under shells.  I put my own spin on it and wrote a number on the bottom of each shell to use for addition facts.  Miss A would turn over two shells, add the two numbers together, write the number sentence in the sand, and if she was correct - would get to keep the two shells.  Then I would have a turn.  At the end, we laid our shells out (matching one to one) in lines to see who had more.

Part of the fun of going to the beach is searching for treasures in the sand which have been washed ashore.  But if you don't have a beach, you make do with your homemade sandbox (pretend beach).  While my daughter was busy with something else, I wrote out some words related to our theme and buried them in the sand for her to find and read.  As a special treat, I also put some gumdrops in a bag with the tag "buried treasure" and hid those in the sand as well.  :)

This was our fun snack for the week!  See details here.

While walking through a craft store one day, I was struck by the gorgeous jeweled tones of some acrylic gems and how they seemed to resemble the shiny, colorful scales of a fish.  Soooo, I bought some, drew a fish outline, and let Miss A pour on the glue and gems (the glue began to overwhelm the gem part so we added glitter to help).  I am thinking this would have been a super activity to go along with "The Rainbow Fish".

My plan for this activity was to do a crayon resist painting.  Miss A picked a page from a book, then drew and colored the scene on watercolor paper.  However, I made the mistake of having Miss A use crayons which were washable.  So of course, when she began to watercolor her picture, the crayon seemed to do less resisting and more blending.  I told her to try to avoid the other crayon areas and just paint around them instead.  So much for the "resist" part.  Oh well.  I am now wiser for it, I suppose.

We created a coral "garden" or "zoo" using cheerios glued onto shapes Miss A cut out.  The original activity (here) called for puffed rice, I believe.  However, I didn't have puffed rice so we used cheerios instead.  She then painted the cheerios to match the color of the shape and glued them onto a paper she had watercolored.

We also made "ocean pie" for our dessert night on Friday.  It was super easy and something fun that Miss A could easily help make.  I will try to post the details later...

We finished off the week by watching Disney's "Oceans" (a really well done documentary about ocean life) and eating fish tacos and "ocean pie".

By the way, if you are fortunate enough to live near an upscale grocery store with a great fresh seafood section - think possible field trip!  I know it sounds crazy, but I was shocked at all the neat creatures we saw at one  - dead - but real.  I think Miss A was highly intrigued by them, as was I.

Looking for some ocean themed books?  See below.


NOTE:  I'd love to feature some of my readers!!  If you have an infant or child related post or party you would like to share, please send me a link at michelle.natureofgrace@gmail.com and I will take a look.  :)






Linking to:
www.cleanandscentsible.blogpsot.com
www.gingersnapcrafts.com
www.milkandcuddles.com
www.bearrabbitbear.com
www.momontimeout.com
www.enchantedhomeschoolingmom.blogspot.com
www.houseofhepworths.com
www.kitchenfunwithmy3sons.blogspot.com
www.whipperberry.com
www.homeschoolcreations.net
www.tatertotsandjello.com
www.livinglifeintentionally.blogspot.com
www.printabelle.com
www.joyfulstamper.blogspot.com
www.petalstopicots.com
www.delicateconstruction.com
www.sixsistersstuff.com
www.bedifferentactnormal.com

"Ocean View" Snack

Here's a snack from our "Oceans and Beaches" theme last week.  Check back later this week to see a post full of activities and fun related to the theme as well!  :)

Snack details:

Blue jello ocean with graham cracker crumb "sand", kiwi and strawberry "coral", apple starfish, strawberry fish with a chocolate chip eye, and goldfish (parmesan).  The hairy looking "urchins" are actually rambutan shell pieces and not really edible (although the inside part is) but they looked sooo much like something one would find in the ocean that I decided to include them.  

Muffin cup #1:  Apple starfish for more decorating.

Muffin cup #2:  Kiwi slices for more decorating.

Muffin cup #3:  More parmesan goldfish.

Muffin cup #4:  Real seaweed salad.

Garnish:  Cheerios

See amazing snacks by other moms here:  www.meetthedubiens.com, http://michellesjournalcorner.blogspot.com/

Would you like to be featured or mentioned on "The Nature of Grace" blog?  See here for details!

Linking up here:
http://michellesjournalcorner.blogspot.com/
www.makingtheworldcuter.com

Opportunities for YOU....

How many of you have started a project only to find out halfway through that it is beginning to take on a life of its own other than what you originally intended?  Well, that is what happened with this blog. Initially, I had planned to post new designs for a maternity t-shirt company I was hoping to start up with a friend (which for several reasons has now had to be put on the side for a bit).  However, in the process of getting that moving, I began blogging about homeschooling and fun projects as well.

Eventually those posts caught up with and surpassed the number related to the maternity design posts and the blog began to attract a following of other like-minded mommies and teachers.  I found that I was challenged to put even more creativity and effort into fun ideas for themes and homeschooling just by knowing they would be posted for others to see and to use.  So I decided to keep it up and have enjoyed the many uplifting comments you've sent in the process!  Even though I have not responded to each one as my time is pretty limited, I truly appreciate the encouragement!

I'd love for this blog to become a spot where other homeschool families and teachers can showcase some ideas as well so after much thought, I will be opening up some spots to feature others - see below!  :)

Send your email inquiries about any items below to:  michelle.natureofgrace@gmail.com

Friendly Fridays:  Tell me something your family, child, or classroom has done to benefit someone else.  This could be anything from a tiny tot holding the door open for others to a bunch of children organizing a food drive or cleaning up a park.  If you or your family have done something small or large to help someone else here or even abroad in other countries, please consider sending me a quick note and link to your blog (or pictures if you don't have a blog).  I will definitely consider shining a spotlight on your classroom or your family's or child's actions!  :)

GENDER REVEAL and/or other Kid Related Parties:  Send me a link to your blog post or tell me about your party and send some pictures!


Le Chef Petite!:  I have been intrigued by the number of recipes showing up out there which only require two - four ingredients and are so easy, your toddler could make them.  I have pinned several already in hopes of letting my kids try them out and thought I would post them if they turn out well.  :)  So feel free to send me your own "Little Chef" attempts and successes!  :)

Infant or Kid related posts:  If you have a post or a product which doesn't fit under the categories above, but you would really like to have featured, please feel free to send it my way!  :)

If you have a kid or toddler friendly product you would like me to review, I would be happy to consider doing so and posting about it if it is something I feel confident in promoting.

I am tentatively considering adding some sponsorship adds as well, so if you are interested in grabbing a spot, please let me know!  :)

Homeschool Theme of the Week: Dentist and Teeth!

A visit to our new dentist was in order recently, so I decided it would be the perfect time for a unit on teeth and dentists.  I would also like to point out that one VERY handy and cheap little item we use for our own Miss A is a timer which has a button for brushing teeth and a button for washing hands.  She hits the tooth button and a light flashes and continues flashing (faster as the time counts down) until it turns red to let her know it is time to stop brushing her teeth (or washing her hands if that was the button pushed).  It is sooooo wonderful to have because it is a good visual aid to help her know how long she should take when brushing her teeth (or washing hands) in order to do a good job. I will post a link below if you are interested.  Without further ado, here are a few activities from our week:

I saw this activity (see here) and loved the idea of teaching flossing by using legos and playdough so that is what we did!  :)  Lots of other cute stuff on the same site!

Another activity (see site here) used egg cartons for teeth.  I chose to smear different kinds of real food on AND in between the "teeth", and Miss A would practice brushing them in the bathroom until she was able to get them sparkly clean again.  She loved this!

Losing baby teeth is part of growing up, so we made a mouth full of twenty baby teeth and then made up stories about losing teeth and number sentences to show how many teeth were lost and how many teeth were left.  :)  I believe I saw this idea on a first grade website as well but cannot remember where (if you know or see it, please feel free to send me the link so I can post it here).

Welcome to our Toothpaste Factory!  I used leftover shaving cream and paint to create a toothpaste making factory for my daughter.  She chose what "flavor" each color of paint would be, labeled them, and then mixed them into the shaving cream to make a new "flavor" of toothpaste.



The fun did not end there though.  I cut out some large white paper teeth, gave her a toothbrush and let her practice brushing (circular motions)/painting the teeth with her new toothpaste mixes.  :)

We also read books related to our theme (see below).  By the way, while I was browsing books on Amazon, I found some pretty neat looking activities that I wish we had had for this week's theme.  I know Miss A would have loved the Playdough drill and fill set!  Oh well, maybe next year.  I added them to the links below in case you were interested in supplementing your own dental unit at home or in the classroom...




Linking to:
www.delicateconstruction.blogspot.com
www.makingtheworldcuter.com
www.singingthreelittlebirds.blogspot.com
www.tipjunkie.com
www.hiphomeschoolmoms.com
www.abcand123learning.com
www.printabelle.com
www.homeschoolcreations.net
www.whipperberry.com
www.tatertotsandjello.com
www.livinglifeintentionally.blogspot.com
www.classyclutter.blogspot.com