Homeschool Discoveries

Sharing a few things I've discovered along the way…

Book Discoveries this Week: Owls in the Family June 5, 2013

Filed under: Books — kirstenjoyhill @ 11:35 pm
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I’ve been meaning all year to step-up the chapter book read-alouds with Mr. E (age 6, rising first grader), but I wasn’t very successful.  He really enjoyed the longer read-alouds he did listen in on, but I had a hard time figuring out where in our schedule literature read-alouds for everyone (or even just for Mr. E) should fall.

I had been thinking that soon Mr. E would “graduate” to joining Miss M and I for longer bedtime read alouds…but Mr. E really like bedtime stories with daddy and his brothers.  He is no where near interested in giving that up (and the attention span of the two younger boys makes chapter books at bedtime a less ideal situation).  Compounding the problem is the fact that Mr. J (the 19-month-old) has this bad habit of crawling all over us every time I try and read-aloud to the boys.  I am trying to teach him not to do that…but without much luck so far.

So last week we decided we were going to make a concerted effort to have reading time during Mr. J’s nap every day…or at least as many days as possible.  And during this block of reading time we’ll read a chapter of the Bible, at least one chapter of a longer read aloud, and probably do some other reading as well.  I’m sure it won’t happen every day…some days we’ll need to work on other projects.  But at least for this summer, nap time will be story time.

I’ve had a stash of more “boy oriented” read-alouds I have been saving for Mr. E.   I decided owls in the familyto kick off our new reading time with Owls in the Family by Farley Mowat.   Much to the chagrin of my kids, we are a non-pet-owning family…but my kids would love to own one.  So this story of a boy and his many pets (including two pet owls) was a big hit with all the kids.

Owls in the Family is a fairly short chapter book (only 91 pages), so it’s a good choice for a little bit younger crowd.   The pet owls in the story are pretty funny, and of course, are the cause of antics with other kids, neighborhood animals, the mail carrier,  a new minister in town, and more.     Besides being a cute, sweet story, Owls in the Family gives a lot of little factual tidbits about owls, the Canadian prairie, and other nature-related topics.   Overall, it’s a great choice for a family read-aloud (especially for animals lovers!).

I’m linking up with Read-Aloud Thursday @ Hope is the Word!

 

L is for Learning a Language June 4, 2013

Filed under: Curriculum — kirstenjoyhill @ 11:26 pm
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Homeschoolers get asked a lot of questions (Do you kids get enough socialization? Do your kids have to take standardized tests? Where does your curriculum come from? Do you have to teach what the schools teach?).  And a question that I’ve been asked several times is, “Will your kids learn a foreign language?”

My answer has been, “yes, someday.”  Honestly, just getting a solid start in English has been our priority so far.  We dabbled just a bit in learning Spanish with a co-op we participated in when Miss M was in Pre-K and Kindergarten.  I day dream about teaching Latin (but I can’t see my kids getting excited about).   I have generally been of the opinion that while learning a language in elementary school is nice, if you don’t have an immersion opportunity, you might be able to quickly get up to speed in middle school or high school when English skills are stronger.

But the kids have been bugging me a lot lately…about learning German.   Now, this isn’t as out of the blue as it seems.  We have close friends across the street who often speak German at home and their kids go to a German immersion school.  Other than smatterings of Spanish and Somali my kids hear spoken at the park or around the neighborhood (those being the two primary immigrant groups in our area), German is by far the non-English language they hear most often.

So, I think we may at least dabble in a bit of German and see if the kids’ interest persists.  At least they will have the opportunity to practice with German speakers!  Luckily, I actually did take German in grades 7-10.   While I don’t remember a lot, I have a bit of a clue of how things should be pronounced and I am guessing more will come back to me.

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MindSnacks German App

Unfortunately, unlike Spanish and Latin, two languages often studied at school (or at home by homeschoolers), I haven’t found that there are quite as many options for beginning German for early elementary-age students.

I’ve requested a few books and videos from the library, we’re trying out a couple of apps and our German speaking friends have some books and videos we can borrow.   I’m still hoping a curriculum or at least something we can use in a more organized fashion will turn up.  But until then, we’ll dabble (and maybe start saving up for Rosetta Stone software for the future!).

Let me know if you have any suggestions for learning German…especially if you have any suggestions appropriate for younger kids who aren’t yet strong readers in English.

I’m linking up with Blogging Through the Alphabet @ Ben and Me!
Blogging Through the Alphabet

 

Collage Saturday: Week #2 of Summer Break June 1, 2013

Filed under: Weekly Highlights — kirstenjoyhill @ 9:56 am

This was a short week for us (as I’m sure it was for many people) with our family returning late Monday afternoon from a 4-day weekend out of town.   It felt more like a “break” week than last week did, since last week was so full/busy.   We didn’t make any big plans — we mostly stayed home (besides taking care of a bunch of errands…and actually having time to do them in the morning before everyone was tired and crabby!)

When it was time to take our summer break, I told the kids I would give them two weeks without bugging them about “school stuff” at all (We have some light schoolwork planned for the summer).  But they still managed to learn a lot anyway.  🙂

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I tried to keep a few notes of the learning activities the kids did this week…mostly on their own initiative, or with a little prompting/suggesting from me when they were out of ideas on a few rainy afternoons:

  • Letter writing (Miss M — age 9)
  • Using the dictionary to check spelling (Miss M)
  • Snap circuits (Mr. E  — age 6 and Mr. K — age 4)
  • Fill-it-in Math Word Problems (like mad libs, but with a math question at the end)
  • Miss M and I tried a new yeast bread recipe (Italian breakfast bread)
  • Educational iPad games
  • Science “One Minute Mysteries”
  • Mr. K dictated a short story to me
  • Started “Owls in the Family” as an afternoon read-aloud with all three older kids
  • Finish a woven potholder (Miss M)
  • Miss M learned how to make twice baked potatoes
  • Typing practice (Mr. E and Miss M)
  • I finished a long read-aloud with Miss M
  • Finding new books at the library (a nice review of using alphabetical order for Miss M)
  • Practicing etiquette at a backyard tea party
  • Birdwatching in the backyard (we observed a female goldfinch for quite a while)
  • Started Life of Fred Cats, at the kids’ request
  • Random picture book read-alouds

 

Have a wonderful weekend!

 

I’m linking up with Collage Friday, The Weekly Wrap-Up, and Homeschool Review!

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Book Discoveries this Week: The Mysterious Benedict Society

Filed under: Books — kirstenjoyhill @ 8:16 am

The past couple summers Miss M and I have devoted our bedtime read-aloud time to a series.  This year I didn’t have a particular series in mind, but I thought we would start out our summer with a change of pace.  We’ve spent a majority of the school year reading some pretty serious historical fiction…so we’ll turn our attention to some lighter reading for a bit.

I’ve heard a lot of good things about The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee MBSStewart.   This combination of mystery, adventure, and fantasy kept us up late reading many nights through all of its 485 pages!

Many children answer a classified ad that asks, “Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?”  But after a series of very unusual tests, only four very different children are selected by Mr. Benedict for a special task.  These four children become The Mysterious Benedict Society.   The children are asked to go on a dangerous mission together to uncover what is really going on at an unusual boarding school run Mr.  Curtain — a man who apparently has an evil plot in mind that involves sending hidden messages in TV broadcasts and the like.  The Mysterious Benedict Society employs their diverse talents to discover what is really going on at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, trying to put a stop Mr. Curtain’s evil intentions.

This was quite an exciting, funny book.  So exciting, in fact, that not only did we stay up too late several nights…My eyes kept skipping ahead wanting to read ahead silently (aka more quickly) to see what would happen…and Miss M grabbed the book and read a few chapters during the day on a few occasions and told me that I could just catch up later.  🙂  Normally we save our bedtime books to read together, but since this one was so long I thought it would help us get through it in a more reasonable amount of time to read parts of it separately.

The Mysterious Benedict Society has a couple of sequels — Miss M will be reading those on her own.  In fact, she insisted I get a copy of the next book ASAP from the library as soon as this first book was finished.  I was happy to oblige, since Miss M has been hard to please as of late when it comes to her own pleasure reading.   The next book in the series is plenty long as well, so it should keep her busy for a bit.

Her love of the Mysterious Benedict Society, along with a recently found love of Roald Dahl books, helped me figure out a bit more of what kind of books to suggest for her — I think funny, outlandish and mysterious are three adjectives that describe her current reading tastes! We just picked up the first Series of Unfortunate Events book as well as the Nurse Matilda collection to add to her book basket.   If you have any other books you think I should suggest to Miss M that fit some of those characteristics, let me know!

I’m linking up with Read-Aloud Thursday @ Hope is the Word!

 

K is for Kitchen May 29, 2013

Filed under: Fun Stuff and Extras — kirstenjoyhill @ 11:13 pm
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I think most kids have at least some inclination toward wanting to help out in the kitchen.   And since I love to cook, I’m not surprised that my kids seem to have quite a bit of desire to help out and learn.  Even the toddler, Mr. J, seems to count pretending to “cook” with my pans and spoons (and possibly scraps of real food if he can find any!) as one of his favorite activities.

K is for Kitchen

While I generally let my kids “help out” a bit as soon as they are old enough to stir and crack eggs, I’ve noticed that it has been in the past six to nine months that Miss M (who recently turned 9) has been really capable of cooking on her own in a very complex way.  She has been able to do a few simple kitchen tasks for a few years, like browning ground beef, making scrambled eggs, or heating up soup and making grilled cheese.  But this year as her math skills, attention to detail and patience have grown, she is able to follow a recipe from start to finish.

Miss M and I both enjoy baking, both yeast breads and desserts, so it has been natural for us to start there as she grows in more cooking independence.  After working closely together on a number of projects, Miss M ventured out and made M & M Blondies (a cookie bar), pizza dough, and an Italian Breakfast Bread almost completely on her own!  For the Blondies and Breakfast Bread, I let her explore on Pinterest to find a recipe that she wanted to make.

Next, I want to be a bit more intentional at helping Miss M learn how to make the staples of our dinner menu rotation.  She finds this to be a bit less exciting…but  I would love to see her capable of making most anything I make by the time she’s in high school.  I’m planning to start a “cookbook binder” of sorts for her, and add recipes as we make them together (and make sure she gets a chance to make each one on her own too).

One thing I’ve always been so happy my mom did for me as I was growing up, was that starting in Junior High and continuing through High School, she asked me to take one week every summer where I was in charge of our dinners from start to finish. I planned the menu, made the grocery list, helped with the shopping and then made each dinner.   I tried new recipes, as well as practicing family favorites, and I felt well-prepared to cook and plan menus once I was out of college and on my own.  As the kids get older, I’ll be asking them to try their hand at doing the same thing.

Right now, the focus of my cooking instruction has been Miss M — but I am sure the boys will be following close behind.    They will be learning how to cook as well!  I’m not sure if they will develop the passion for it that Miss M seems to have, but they at least need to know the basics.

I’m linking up with Blogging Through the Alphabet @ Ben and Me!
Blogging Through the Alphabet

 

J is for June and July (aka…our summer plans!)

Filed under: Fun Stuff and Extras — kirstenjoyhill @ 12:06 am
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We’ve been on “summer break” from our regular academic-year homeschool schedule for just a bit over a week now…but it hasn’t felt like summer yet.  Last week was busy with a flurry of special activities, then we went out of town for four days…and today was cool and rainy.  It’s looking like a cool and rainy week here, but hopefully by the time June and July roll around, we’ll really be enjoying some summer weather!

Last year we went all out and made a huge bucket list at the beginning of the summer.  We haven’t done that this year (at least not yet), but I’ve been forming a general outline in my head.  I’ll be using this to sit down with the kids soon to fill in a few more details and find out what they have been dreaming of doing this summer.

Big Plans for Fun, Recreation and Travel:

  • Lots of Swimming (swimming lessons + a pool pass…I really hope it warms up soon!)
  • Visiting MN Historic sites with our Minnesota Historical Society membership
  • Park and rec sports – Tennis for the two older kids, soccer for Mr. K and maybe Mr. E as well
  • Vacation Bible Camp at church in August
  • “Mission to the City” for two older kids (along with mom and dad) — 3 intense days of service projects with our church
  • Long weekend trip to Chicago in June and a two week vacation out west at the end of the summer
  • One or more weekend camping trips
  • Visits to Grandma Karen’s house for each of the three “big kids” individually

“Summer School” plans:

While all those activities will keep us busy, I want to make sure we fit in some intentional learning and review, mainly for the two older kids.  Here are a few things I have in mind:

  • Summer history/geography theme of learning about our state (Minnesota) — We’ll read some fiction and non-fiction, and Miss M may make a lapbook or notebook…plus the field trips of course!
  • Math review — Miss M and Mr. E will focus on math fact review with RightStart math games, iPad games, and maybe some “fun” worksheets (as fun as worksheets can get, I guess! I bought a few interesting e-books from the dollar sale at Scholastic Teacher Express that might come in handy).
  • Daily reading — Reading aloud is almost always part of our routine, but I want to make sure that Mr. E continues to practice his reading skills often, and that Miss M finds interesting books to read on her own
  • Learning to type — Miss M will work on learning to type this summer, and Mr. E may join in on this too
  • Interest-led science/nature study — Miss M in particular is really interested in nature study at the moment, and Mr. E often has a science topic in mind to learn more about…so I will be encouraging the kids to pursue these interests

Beyond that…we’ll find plenty of ways to have fun, I’m sure.  Water gun fights, ice cream outings, field trips to other local attractions and time to play with friends will definitely be on the agenda.

I’m linking up with…

 

Blogging Through the Alphabet

 

Collage Saturday: A Birthday and our First Week of Summer Break May 25, 2013

Filed under: Weekly Highlights — kirstenjoyhill @ 3:58 pm

Not only was it the first week of summer break for the kids…I ended up taking an unplanned blogging break too.   I had plenty of ideas to blog about…but I just ended up being too busy with other things:

 

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1.  Swimming at an indoor pool (we received two one-day family passes almost two years ago to a pool not especially close to home, and we finally got around to using one of them).

2.  Last weekend Tony built the kids a giant sandbox, and got it filled with sand on Tuesday afternoon.

3.  Miss M celebrated her 9th birthday on Tuesday with an “old fashioned”-themed birthday party that evening.

4. – 6.  Miss M’s wish for the day of her birthday was to visit the MN History Center — everyone had a blast.  We saw two newer exhibits — one aimed at kids about MN history in general, and one about Minnesota’s role in the Civil War.

7.  Miss M and I made cake pops for a end-of-year co-op picnic on Thursday.  They were just as hard to make as I always feared they might be.  😉  Luckily they tasted good and were snatched up in a few short minutes at the picnic.

8. – 9.  Enjoying a long weekend hanging out at Grandma’s house with swings, monopoly and lots of room to run and play.

Hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!

I’m linking up with Collage Friday, The Weekly Wrap-Up, and Homeschool Review!

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Collage Friday: Testing and our “Official” Last Day May 17, 2013

Filed under: Weekly Highlights — kirstenjoyhill @ 3:08 pm

Whoo-hoo! It’s Friday, our standardized testing is done for the year, and we’re calling it a wrap on this school year.

Here are a few highlights from our week:

2013-05-17

1.  Miss M had our required-by-state-regulations standardized testing this week.  We opted to do the Iowa Test of Basic Skills with our homeschool co-op.  It gives Miss M a quiet environment away from siblings, (and with no worries that I might not be a fair test administrator to my own child).   On Monday and Tuesday I read a test to a younger student from another co-op family (and the boys played with other siblings too young to need to test).  Then on Wednesday while 3rd graders and up continued testing, I took the boys to play at a park.

2.  I told Miss M I would treat everyone to lunch after she was done with the last day of the test.  She picked Little Ceasar’s Pizza.  I asked her if that was what she really wanted, because I didn’t mind going to the “nicer” pizza place…but no, she really wanted the cheap pizza as her post-test reward.  🙂

3. Miss M is thrilled to now have more time for outdoor pursuits…like trying to climb the tree in the front yard.

4.-5. Miss M and best friend Miss J from across the street had the brilliant idea of a “free art” stand.  They get to have fun chatting with neighbors and others who stroll by, and I get the side benefit of less paper accumulating in the house.  I told them they can definitely do this one again!

6.  We had one surprisingly hot day in the middle of the week, surrounded by warm or even cool days.  The temperature was over 90 degrees on Tuesday, but unfortunately our outside faucets were not on yet and I couldn’t manage to get them on myself.  So, the kids enjoyed water guns and buckets of water.  Mr. J can’t quite figure out the water guns yet, but he could definitely use part of one of the guns to cool off the “old fashioned way”  (aka just dumping the water on his head!).

7.  Today was our “official” (as I determined it) last day of school for this school year.  I had originally planned this for next week…but the way our schedule was shaping up, we’ll not have a single “ordinary” day.  And we always call a summer break by Memorial Day. So today (among a couple other errands), we bought a few new books for summer reading at Half Price Books, and went to Panera for a treat and to discuss our favorites, least favorites, etc from this year (that will deserve it’s own post, perhaps, another day).   This afternoon I’d like to do some clean out of school supplies, books and papers…but I am not sure that is going to happen.   I guess that’s what “break” is for!

Between our Monday-Wednesday testing and our “last day” today, we went to one of our favorite museums, The Works, on Thursday to see a new exhibit and do the new activities in the “design lab”:

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It feels good to be on break…like maybe I can catch up or begin on a few projects and goals of my own.   I promised the kids I wouldn’t bug them about any summer schoolwork/review for at least two weeks (though I am still going to try and keep Mr. E practicing reading…I’m afraid even two weeks would be too long of a break for him with his budding reading skills!).

Then once June rolls around, we’ll add in math review/games, learning to type (at least for Miss M, and maybe Mr. E), and a summer study on our state’s history (coupled with plenty of field trips, of course).  At some undermined point (July?), we’ll add back in a few new lessons in some subjects…leading up to two weeks of vacation in the end of August, then a full start to the new school year on September 3rd.  Good times!  But for now, bring on the Summer Bucket List!

I’m linking up with Collage Friday, The Weekly Wrap-Up, and Homeschool Review!

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Book Discoveries this Week: Island of the Blue Dolphins May 16, 2013

Filed under: Books — kirstenjoyhill @ 10:52 pm
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I don’t have very many distinct memories of books I read as an elementary-school aged child.  I do remember a few book series I enjoyed reading, like Nancy Drew, The Babysitter’s Club and Sweet Valley Twins (Ugh, anyone else remember those? I distinctly remember also that as a girl about Miss M’s age, my mom said I was not allowed to read the “high school” series from Sweet Valley.  Good call, Mom!).

As far as individual books go, Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’ Dell is one of the few I clearly remember reading.  I also remember that after reading it, I incorporated it into my own imaginative play as I pretended to be the main character from the story.  I’m fairly sure I read it in 3rd grade (based on my memory of which house I “played” this in, from the many I lived in during childhood).  So it was a natural choice to add Island of the Blue dolphins to our read-aloud this for this year. Though I am sure it is one Miss M could have handled on her own, I definitely wanted to share the experience of this book together with her.  I entered into it with some apprehension, however, that I might be disappointed in the re-read of this book that was so highly regarded in my memory!

Luckily, I was not disappointed.  I think I enjoyed it just as much as I remember having enjoyed it when I was Miss M’s age, and Miss M said it was one of her favorites of this year as well.

While this strikes me as a book many of us probably read as a child, here’s a brief recap of island of the blue dolphinsthe plot:  Karana is a girl living with her small tribe on a remote island off the coast of California.  The population of the tribe is decimated following a battle with a group of Aleut hunters who have come to the island to hunt otter.  Eventually the decision is made that the remnant of the tribe must leave the island.  The tribe’s chief leaves to get help from the mainland, and a ship arrives to take the tribe away.  Karana’s brother, however, is not found aboard the ship as it is leaving the island, and Karana abandons the ship to find her brother, knowing they will be left behind.

Karana’s brother is killed by wild dogs soon after.  (I suppose this could upset some sensitive readers — but if a potential reader/listener reads the summary on the back of the book before beginning, they will have a sizable hint that something must happen to her brother, as the summary states she is alone on the island!).   Karana is thus left alone on the island to find her own way to survive — for what she first believes may only be weeks, months or a year — but for what instead turns out to be 18 years before a ship finally arrives that takes her to the mainland.

Karana’s story is one not only of survival, but of finding friends in unexpected ways, of harmony with her surroundings and of finding peace in difficult circumstances.  I grew up as an only child (in my immediate household — I have half and step siblings I did not live with), and I think that I could relate to Karana’s “aloneness” in some ways.  Other than that, I find it a bit hard, actually, to put my finger on why I liked this book so much as a child and still like it now.  Clearly, I don’t directly relate to her experience of being alone in my current living situation (quite the opposite — I definitely would appreciate a few more moments of peace and quiet!).    I suppose I might be most drawn to Karana’s strong sense of resolve to press on despite the obstacles and find beauty and enjoyment around her.

(Small side note — I picked the small cover picture that reflects the cover of the copy of Island of the Blue Dolphins that I own.  Isn’t it a great illustration? I like it much better than some of the other covers).

After many quite serious, historical read-aloud this year, we’ve next moved on to something much more “fun” and lighthearted.  Miss M and I are a few days into read The Mysterious Benedict Society, having heard and read many positive reviews.  It’s a long one though so this might keep us occupied for a two (or three or four) weeks…if we can keep ourselves from not staying up too late reading it.  😉

I’m linking up with Read Aloud Thursday @ Hope is the Word!

 

I is for iPad (again) May 14, 2013

Filed under: Technology — kirstenjoyhill @ 11:20 pm

When I decided to participate in “Blogging through the Alphabet” for the second time, I wanted to try and not repeat any “words” I used for each letter last time around.  But I haven’t written very much lately about how we use the iPad in our homeschool, so I am going to “cheat” on my own rules and use “I” for “iPad” again this year.

We’re still using the iPad during the school day at least as much, if not more, than we were are year ago…

Over breakfast or early in the school day, the boys can be found doing their Bible listening using the YouVersion app.

Miss M is often assigned at least one type of educational iPad app for independent practice each day.  She likes Spelling City to practice her spelling list; Mathmateer, Math Blaster HyperBlast, Sushi Math and Marble Math for “fun” math practice; and GeoFlight USA to practice locating the states of the US.

All three older kids practice their phonograms regularly with the Logic of English app.

When it comes time for Logic of English Foundations (spelling/phonics) for Mr. E or BFSU science lessons, I often teach directly from the iPad since I have the teacher’s manuals in Kindle (in the case of BFSU) or iBooks (in the case of LoE).

This year I’ve found playing calming music in the background really helps Miss M keep her stress level down during difficult math lessons, and it’s easy to find soothing instrumental music with the Pandora app.

Of course, we still have plenty of “fun” with the iPad too.  Sometimes it’s a nice break or diversion from the school day for the kids to have an educational iPad turn during which they can chose from any of our many educational apps.   General favorites for free-choice educational turns (besides more time on the apps listed above)  include the “Teach Me” apps (there are levels available for Toddler/Preschool through 3rd grade which each offer a mix of reading, math and other skills),  Splash Math (various levels available), and the Brain Pop Jr. Movie of the Week.  Mr K (age 4), also really likes ABCs of God, Eggy Words and Bugsy Pre-K.

At the end of the day, after school and chores are complete (or sometimes for the boys while they are waiting for Miss M during her guitar lesson), it’s time for anything-goes iPad turns.  This is when the boys enjoy favorites such as Angry Birds Star Wars, Bad Piggies and Minecraft.  Miss M often plays “My Horse” during a fun turn.  Everyone likes the wide array of Toca Boca apps that we own (we have almost all of them!).

The iPad is definitely an educational and fun tool that  I am thankful we have!

I’m linking up with Blogging Through the Alphabet @ Ben and Me!
Blogging Through the Alphabet