My ABC Coloring Book

We have a new printable in the shop!  Children will love learning their ABCs while coloring in their My ABC Coloring Book.  The cover page is pre-made for them.  Children can staple the pages together to make their book or parents can staple the pages together for them before they begin coloring the pages.  Each page of the booklet is dedicated to a specific letter.  

It is important for children to learn to identify the letters of the alphabet.  Sarah over at Stay at Home Educator says that in order to have true fluency in letter recognition, children must be able to do four things:

1.  Identify letter names in isolation.

2.  Identify letters in context of words.

3.  Identify letters accurately.

4.  Identify letters automatically.

We believe our "My ABC Coloring Book" will help your child master the skills needed to reach true fluency in letter recognition.

My ABC Coloring Book

My ABC Coloring Book Cover

Children will trace the arrows within the letters to learn how to properly write their ABCs.  Then they will color animals or items with the same beginning sounds as each respective letter of the alphabet.  If your printer won't print on both sides of the paper or you choose not to print on both sides of the paper, you can have your children cut out or print out images of various items.  Then, they can paste the images on the back of the pages that match the beginning sounds of the items.  

While enjoying their My ABC Coloring Book, children will learn to identify letters of the alphabet, learn to write both upper case letters and lower case letters, and practice small motor skills as they color.  If your child chooses to cut and paste items to match beginning sounds, they will gain even more opportunities to practice small motor skills.

My ABC Coloring Book Letter J

More ways to help your child learn the alphabet:

Read and play with letter blocks or magnets.

Sing alphabet songs.

Read alphabet books.

Label simple and easy to read items in your house using index cards.  For example, clearly write "chair" on and index card and tape it to a chair.  Label a cup, a plate, a table - you get the idea.  Ask your child to read the cards often and talk about the times.  This will help you develop a language rich environment for your child.  A child who learns to love reading will establish a skill set that will support a lifelong journey of success.

Get your copy of My ABC Coloring Book here!

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Farm Animals Matching Game Plus 25 More Activities for Building a Farm Animals Unit

Farm Animals Matching Game

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My ABC Coloring Book

Farm Animals Matching Game Plus 25 More Activities for Building a Farm Animals Unit

I've worked with a lot of kids and I've never met a child who doesn't love farm animals.  Kids love farm animal sounds, animal moves, and all the feels of farm animal skins and furs.  A farm animal unit is bound to get your kids up and exercising those large and small motor skills, singing farm animal songs, and loving all the fun of farm animal games.  Oh, and they will love the farm animal snacks too!  First, let's take a look at the newest item in the shop, Farm Animals Matching Game.

Farm Animals Matching Game

There are several benefits of memory matching games for kids.  Memory matching games help improve concentration.  They help children learn to pay more attention to details.  Memory matching games help improve short term memory, focus, and improve vocabulary.  Memory matching games don't usually take a long time to complete so they are great for times when you want to do something constructive with the kids but you don't have a lot of time.  Kids who need to build self confidence are less likely to become frustrated with a game when they can complete it in a shorter amount of time.

How about starting off your farm animal fun with a farm animals matching game?

Farm Animals Memory Matching Game

This memory matching game is perfect for the farm animal loving little learner in your life.  After downloading your copy of the farm animals matching game, print out 2 copies on card-stock paper.  Cut out the cards.  You can laminate them for durability.  Place the cards face down on a table or the floor to play a memory matching game.  

In addition to improving memory and concentration skills, your child will learn to recognize farm animal words (pig, cow, hen, horse, sheep, donkey, duck, goat, and rooster).  This game is a great addition to your farm animal study in your homeschool environment or as a supplemental resource in addition to your child's public school curriculum . . . or just for fun!

More Farm Animal Activities to Help You Build a Farm Animal Unit

Circle Time Activities

Farm Preschool Circle Time (Busy Hands and Minds)

Little Pig (Flannel Board Fun)

Gross Motor Farm Game (Modern Preschool)

9 Books and Circle Time Activities for 2 and 3 Year Olds (No Time for Flashcards)

Farm Books for Little Learners (PocketOfPreschool)

Farm Songs

I Went to Visit a Farm One Day (Let's Play Music)

To the Farm (Enchanting Little Minds)

Farm Songs for Kids (Pre-K Pages)

Farm Songs (Preschool Inspirations)

Farm Songs for Kids (Prekinders)

Farm Books

Raisin' Me a Country Girl by Raelynn Davis

Raisin' Me a Country Girl by Raelynn Davis

Biscuits Day at the Farm

Biscuits Day at the Farm

Cows Can Moo! Can You?

Cows Can Moo! Can You?

The Berenstain Bears Down on the Farm

The Berenstain Bears Down on the Farm

Moo Moo Peekaboo - Chunky Lift the Flap Board Book

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Farm Games

Printable Farm Bingo Card Set (WondermomWannabe)

Pulling Tractor Party - Part 4:  Games (Not Your Normal Steam)

Farm Animal Ring Toss Game (Craftulate)

Fun Games for Kids Series:  How to Play Duck Duck Goose (Childhood 101)

Farm Math Games Perfect for Preschoolers (Fun A Day)

Farm Snacks

Haystacks Snack for Kids:  Farm Themed and Kid Made (Views from a Step Stool)

Barnyard Bagels (Party Pinching)

Farm Animal Snacks (HomeschoolPreschool)

Graham Cracker Barn (Hungry Happenings)

Cheerios Sheep Snacks (Everyday Dishes)

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Dolch Sight Words Flashcards for Pre-K

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May you live life abundantly,

Tina

Dolch Sight Words Flashcards for Pre-K

When I was in elementary school, flashcards were common.  My teacher gave us all a stack of Dolch sight words flashcards for practice at home.  My mother made me practice them every day.  Some teachers and parents no longer like to use flashcards for teaching sight words, but I know they provided for me a foundation for reading that was essential for my reading success all the way through school.  I became a good reader early in life.  I loved reading then and I still love reading today.  When I have time, I can read an entire novel in a day.  I can get so lost in a story that I forget I'm not actually there.  When I close the book, I have to come back to my own reality until I choose the next book.  If it had not been for those flashcards at various levels of reading skills through the years, I'm not sure I would have learned to read as well as I did.  If I had not learned to read well, I wouldn't love reading as much as I do today.  

My kids are now in their late 20s and early 30s.  Honestly, I don't recall whether or not their teachers used flashcards, but I do remember my youngest daughter creating her own.  I didn't tell her to.  She just did.  She made flashcards for letters, words, and for studying.  At some point, she realized that she learned better by using flashcards as a study tool so I bought her a big stack of index cards.  Many days after school, she would sit on the living room floor with her books and index cards spread all over.  She spent hours creating flashcards for studying various subjects.  

Dolch Sight Words Flashcards for Pre-K

Flashcards are not for everyone, but for some, they are a great learning tool.  If you think your child would benefit from Dolch Sight Words Flash Cards for Pre-K, I've created a printable that includes flashcards for all 40 Dolch sight words for Pre-K students.  

Dolch Sight Words Flashcards for Pre-K

After downloading the PDF file, print them out using your home printer.  Cut them out and start using them right away.  

If you want to make flashcard practice a little more fun for your child, print out two copies.  Cut out all the cards, place them on a table or on the floor face down to create a matching game.  Print out a few copies and make sentences with the cards.  Cut out the letters and practice spelling out the words.  I'm sure you can think of other ways to use the cards.  Sometimes old fashioned rote learning is beneficial but you can get creative and make flashcards fun too.

I hope you enjoy the flashcards.  Here is a short list of other learning resources from our affiliates.  

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Dolch Sight Words Flashcards for Pre-K

May you live abundantly in Him,

Tina

Every good and perfect gift is from above.  James 1:17

Every Good and Perfect Gift is From Above

Every good and perfect gift is from above.  This truth is taken from James 1:17.  The entire verse says:

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Sometimes life gets messy and ugly.  God never promised us that life as Christians would be easy.  In fact, some days are hard.  Some days are so hard and heavy that you feel like the air is sucked out of your lungs.  The heaviness of sorrow and grief makes it hard to breathe.  What do we do when we experience days like this?  

1.  Pray

Prayer is essential to the life of the Christian.  How can we have a relationship with someone we never talk to?  We can't.  As Christians, our life is about a relationship with Jesus.  Talk to God in the name of His Son, Jesus.  If you are so filled with anxiety or grief over a situation that you don't know how to pray or what to say, the Holy Spirit does.  Ask Him to intercede for you.

Now in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.  Romans 8:26

It's a beautiful thing, my friends and fellow believers, that we have a Holy Spirit who intercedes for us in our weakness with groanings too deep for words.  

2.  Get into the Word

Read your Bible.  Just like we can't have a relationship with someone we never talk to, how can we have a relationship with someone who writes to us but we never read what he writes?  When my husband was in Somalia in 1993, our only means of communication was snail mail.  Remember the letters we used to write and the letters we used to get in the mail before the internet?  When I received a letter from my husband, I didn't put it aside or place it on a shelf.  I didn't save it for later.  Trust me when I tell you that I opened it up immediately.  I couldn't wait to read what he wrote to me.  

Why was I in such a hurry to read his words?  I love him.  I love him so much that my number one priority was to read his letters as soon as I received them.  

Why then do we who love the Lord sometimes not possess the same hunger and thirst to read the Words that God has sent us?  Some have said that the Bible is God's love letter to us.  God is real.  We can talk to Him and we can read His words in THE WORD.  Scripture is living, active, inspired by God, beneficial for teaching, correction, training, and equipping us for every good work.

For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  Hebrews 4:12 (NASB)

All scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work.  2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NASB)

3.  Focus on the good and perfect gifts from above.

Life is sometimes ugly, messy, and hard.  Sometimes life is so hard that it seems crippling, but oh there are so many good and perfect gifts fighting for our attention in the shadowy spaces of sorrow and grief.  

In troubling times, we can talk to God, read His Word, and focus on His good and perfect gifts. God's Word tells us to think about whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise.  Look around you and take note of anything in your life that fits this description.  All these things are good and perfect gifts sent from God to lift us up and point us to Him when the shifting shadows of this earthly life seem too heavy a weight for us to carry alone.

Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think about these things.  Philippians 4:8 (NASB)

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17 (NIV)

Coming Soon!

Do you know what babies are?  Good and perfect gifts sent from God!  Babies are not mistakes.  They are blessings. They are fearfully and wonderfully made, knitted together in their mothers' wombs.  I'm so excited about my first full Christian fiction pro-life novel, Heartbeat, that is coming soon!  Stay tuned!

New in Our Etsy Shop

Who can resist a laughing baby?  I can hear this little darling giggling away.  There is not a sound in the world that will lift your spirits like the sound of baby giggles.  This printable is perfect for the baby nursery.  Download it, print it out, and add your own frame.  Display it in your baby's nursery or give it to a new mommy and daddy as a baby shower gift.  

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May you live abundantly in Him, 

Tina

My First Christian Fiction Novel, Easter, and a Mother's Day Card Printable for Kids (Digital Download)

Heartbeat:  My First Christian Fiction Novel Coming Soon

My First Christian Fiction Novel, Heartbeat, is Coming Soon!

Hello!  It has been a while since you last heard from me, but I have good reasons for my absence here on the blog.  First, I have a new granddaughter!  She's is the apple of my eye.  She smiles all the time.  She is such a joy and I'm loving my new position as Nonnie.  Secondly, I took time off the blog to do something I've wanted to do since high school.  I finally did something I've dreamed about for 32 years.  I wrote a novel.  My first Christian fiction novel will be released soon.  It's a novel about 4 women in 4 different circumstances.  3 women find themselves dealing with unplanned pregnancies while the 4th woman's life unexpectedly intertwines with the first three.  It's a novel about life, loss, love, forgiveness, mercy, grace, and healing.  I'll be sure to let you know when it becomes available.  

You might not know about my first publication.  Back in 2016, I was diagnosed with a chronic illness called Crohn's Disease.  I was discouraged at first because Crohn's Disease is a tough disease to fight and manage.  My "pity party" as I like to call it didn't last long because I realized that though chronic illness is tough and it might steal my happiness for a time, it could never steal my joy.  My happiness is based on my circumstances, but my joy is based on my faith in God who is greater than my disease or any earthly affliction.  If you or someone you love suffers from a chronic illness, I hope my little 10 day devotional, When Chronic Illness Steals Your Joy, will help restore a joy that only seems lost.  You'll find it here. 

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Celebrating Easter by Remembering Jesus' Suffering

Easter is just around the corner.  For me, Holy Week has always been somber.  The truth is I don't like to think about the betrayal of Jesus and His suffering.  I like to skip on to Sunday and focus on His resurrection.  When The Passion of the Christ was released, I watched it once in the theater, but I have not watched it since.  I couldn't get it out of my mind for months.  We purchased the movie but we have never even taken it out of its original packaging.  I don't like to focus on that part of the Easter story, but you know what?  We should read about it, watch it, and think about it.  Jesus suffered in our place so we should know all the horrors of His scourging and crucifixion.  It should make me as sick now as it did back then.  It should make us all sick.  It was His suffering that paid for our sin.  It was His suffering that gave us a way to eternal life in Heaven with Him.  Without the suffering, there would have been no death, no sacrifice, no resurrection.  Jesus did suffer.  He died in our place.  He rose again.  He is alive today and He offers the free gift of eternal life for those who believe in Him and repent of their sins.  If you would like to know more about the free gift of eternal life, you can learn more here.  

If you've never watched The Passion of the Christ, you can watch it here via Prime Video or you can purchase the Blu-ray version below.

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Mother's Day Coloring Card Printable

Looking ahead to Mother's Day, I've created a cute little Mother's Day card that is perfect for kids to color for their moms in honor of Mother's Day.  

Mother's Day Card Coloring Printable

After downloading the printable, your child can cut out the card, color it, fold it, and give it to Mom.  When folded correctly, the card is blank on the inside so your child can write a personal Mother's Day message for mom, draw a picture, or maybe complete a hand-print or thumb-print activity.  Mom will love it.  You'll find the printable here.

Celebrating Easter

As we move into Easter weekend, I hope you enjoy your families, but please take time to read about Jesus' suffering and death. Then, rejoice because He lives again!  I'll make it easy for you.  You can read the Easter story in Luke: 22-24 right here on BibleGateway.

Snowman Drawing and Writing Practice: If I had a snowman, I would . . .

When kids tell their own stories, they exercise their creative thinking skills.  It's even better when they draw their stories. Then, they get to exercise another type of creativity.  Telling stories helps kids develop language skills and writing those stories helps them learn to organize their thoughts and practice sequencing events in their minds and on paper.  Even younger children can practice these skills with this snowman writing practice activity.

Snowman Drawing and Writing Practice

Snowman Drawing and Writing Practice

This two page snowman drawing and writing practice activity gives children the opportunity to practice creative thinking skills, drawing, and writing skills.  

First, children are instructed to draw a picture of what they would do if they had a snowman.  Then, they are in told to trace the dotted letters and finish the sentence on the second page.  This is a simple activity but one that gives children the opportunity to develop those critical thinking skills, creative thinking skills, language skills, hand-eye coordination, writing skills, and small motor skills.

Get your copy of the Snowman Drawing and Writing Practice Sheets here.

More Writing Practice

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Snowman Drawing and Writing Practice

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Weekly Meal Planner - Share me on Facebook!

How are you doing with your New Year health goals?  One of our family goals is to eat at home more.  When we eat at home, we eat healthier.  We love food.  We love our local restaurants and we are a busy family so we eat out way too much.  Since we are busy (much too busy sometimes) and I don't particularly love cooking, meal planning is challenging.  Sometimes I buy too little which leaves us unprepared so we grab something on the way home or I buy too much and we end up throwing away wasted food.  Food is expensive.  I cringe at the thought of throwing away all that wasted food.  A few days ago, I sat down to create a weekly meal planner to help me stay organized.  

Weekly Meal Planner

My weekly meal planner includes space for writing down our dinner menu for each night of the week.  For my family, breakfast and lunch aren't a problem for planning.  We all have a pretty well established routine for those meals.  Meal planning for our family dinners is the challenging part for me.  To make meal planning for dinner even more challenging, one of my daughters has decided to go gluten free.  I have a personal goal to eat cleaner, avoiding all those dangerous additives and preservatives as much as possible.  My husband and my younger daughter don't plan to make many changes to their dietary lifestyles.  That leaves me with the daunting task of coming up with meals to suit everyone's tastes.  It's not going to be easy but my weekly meal planner will certainly help.   

Weekly Meal Planner - Share me on Instagram!

My weekly meal planner includes 4 pages of planning space.  On the left column of each page, there is a colorful note pad image for writing down our dinner menu.  The right column of each page includes space for my grocery list.  After I write down the name of the dish I plan to prepare on the note pad space, I will list all the ingredients in the spaces on the right column.  When I finish all the planning for the week and I've listed all the ingredients, I'll go to my cabinets to check off any ingredients that I already have on hand.  Then, I'll take the planner pages with me to the grocery store to shop for any items not checked off.  I can keep my weekly meal planner clipped to my refrigerator so that my husband and my daughters can keep track of the meals I plan to serve for each night.  

Grab your weekly meal planner here!

I've already tested my planner and it worked out well for us.  I used it to record my planned meals.  I used it to check off my ingredients and then I headed to the grocery store.  Tonight, I'm making a gluten free chicken recipe that I'll share with you in a future post.

In the meantime, grab your copy of my Weekly Meal Planner here and start planning your meals to help you reach your New Year health goals.

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Weekly Meal Planner - Pin Me!