FREE and/or Frugal Fun with Learning!!

We have been having a really busy time with learning lately! The past few weeks have just flown by! I wanted to update the blog on what we have been doing as of late. We are year-round homeschoolers, so took a bit of a break from the formal learning coursework to spend a few days with Daddy. We celebrated our 6th Wedding Anniversary and also Mother's Day. It was wonderful!!

All of these ideas were either FREE or very inexpensive to do/make. Enjoy!!

Morning Exercise/Warm-Up Class

We all love to exercise and keep healthy. The benefits are so wonderful, but the weather here has been raining cats and dogs, so we decided to check out some new music cd's from our local library that focus on Movement for Toddlers and Preschoolers. 

Some of our favorites are:

~anything of the cd's by Jim Gill 

~Toddlers on Parade

~Preschool Aerobic Fun

The girls have so much fun listening to the cd's and following the movements!

This is how we start our morning after our worship music and prayers. The girls are usually doing this while I cook their breakfast.

Fun and FREE!

Our City Skyline

For this, all I did was use some blue painter's tape and use it to make outlines of buildings on the wall. Em had a GREAT time building different shapes and sizes of buildings and structures!! It was an amazing hit! {We already had the building blocks, but this put a whole new spin on them}.

FREE Sesame Street Learning Kit

PNC Bank is now offering this FREE learning kit. We haven't had a chance to view the DVD, but it is Sesame Street, so I would guess it would be pretty suitable for our girls. We just haven't turned on the tv in a month, so maybe the next time we do, we will pop this in!

But, we have had a chance to work through some of the Spanish vocabulary cards and other inserts. The girls are having a good time with it and it was FREE!

Here is were you can get one!

Fancy Toes

Our girls love to get their little toe nails painted. We always use a really faint color or just clear polish and now that it is "sandals season", we made sure to get those toes looking good:)

As always, tons of books to be read while the nails dry, lol. And, we also incorporated many entrepreneurial elements and match skills as we play "nail shop." Good thing our prices are LOW! LOL.

Quiche AKA "Egg Pie"

We also love to try new recipes. And, if it is healthier and pretty reasonably priced, it is a winner in our book! We tried this LOVELY quiche recipe 

 and just had to share it with you!

We tweaked the recipe a bit to suit our tastes. We used ground turkey, sauteed onions, mushrooms and spinach! It was so GOOD!!!!

Feeding the Birds

We simply used some twine/yarn we had hanging around and laced it with some organic O's type cereal that was in the kitchen already=instant, easy and CHEAP bird feeders:) 

They were gone in no time....

Hope you are enjoying your spring and had a fabulous Mother's Day!
Here is our family at brunch on Mother's Day!

Blessings,

Aria:)

FREE Pizza Hut "Book-It" Reading Incentives Program!!

 {Our oldest 2}

Our family LOVES to read! I remember as a child having to volunteer at my local library to "work off" my fines from keeping my favorite books much too long:) I have always loved to read (in fact, I would much rather read than watch TV-I know, I am "weird.":) and love that our girls love to read as well! We frequent our local library weekly, and sign-up for their summer reading program, but this is another great program for homeschoolers (and anyone really) to enroll your children in!

Here is the info from the Pizza Hut website regarding their reading incentives program! 

It is FREE for all student and they even have a Homeschool sign-up form!

About BOOK IT! BOOK IT! motivates children to read by rewarding their reading accomplishments with praise, recognition and pizza.  BOOK IT! is simple for the teacher to use, flexible because goals match reading ability, and fun because achieving a goal is a great reason to celebrate. BOOK IT! was created in 1985 and currently reaches over 10 million students annually. Simple BOOK IT! runs every school year from October through March.  The teacher sets a reading goal for each child in the class.  A tracking chart and reproducibles are included to make it that much easier.  As soon as a child meets the monthly reading goal, the teacher gives him or her a Reading Award Certificate.  Flexible BOOK IT! goals are based on reading ability.  Number of books, number of pages, or number of minutes – they all work.  BOOK IT! can also be used with the reading curriculum or as support for comprehension or intervention programs.  For children not reading independently, the goal can be set where a parent or others read to the child. Fun Pizza Hut is proud of all BOOK IT! readers!  The restaurant manager and team congratulate every child for meeting the monthly reading goal and reward them with a free, one-topping Personal Pan Pizza, BOOK IT! card and backpack clip. Best of all, BOOK IT! materials are free to schools!  Go here for the homeschool sign up for K-6 grades! Happy Reading!

  Blessings,

Aria:)