Roman Tax Day

So I wanted them to understand the Fall of Rome this week. 

Tony asked me about taxes and I thought this would be a great way to tie in taxes and why the people got angry and overthrew the government. 

Here Tony and Lucy meet up. Tony is the tax collector representing the government. Lucy is bringing her items to be evaluated. 

At first she was ok with giving over her tickets.

She carefully counted each amount.

Tony recorded the amounts. 

I then announced that Tony was collecting more than he needed and was lying about how much he really needed. Then I told him he got to buy candy with all his tickets. The news was welcomed to his ears.

She was soon understanding what was happening.

This is when he got to trade the tickets for candy.

Tony used his gavel to tell her she couldn't do anything about the unfairness as he was the government.

Then we talked about revolution and how the people got angry and started to rebel.

We are going to end up the lesson with reading from our Bible book about Zacheaus and how people didn't like him because of the tax collecting he did. But how Jesus looks at everyone and how he forgave him.

This can be done so many different ways. I mean you could be the tax collector to built roads and have them set up their houses and tax accordinly. The possibilities are endless! I love this for all you can do with it based on the ages of your kids.

Have a great day! 

Ok... Back to Work!

So if you haven't noticed we were off for a week and that is why I was doing some planning ahead and making resources. I made a few more that I'm posting, but for the most part the rest of the next few weeks will mainly be sweet pictures of my kiddos doing some of the great activities I have planned.

For a detailed list of all our stuff (in order) go over to my CC by Week page. I have songs and videos on there that will make some of this memory work a bit more catchy. But I warn you now, I'm not a singer. In fact I know I'm tone deaf. Shannon (from youth group can attest to this). However when it comes to kids they don't care! So Praise the Lord, my kids love me anyway!

Next I have a few things that I have been working on.

First is my 11's memory cards for my kiddos this week. I already have them on card stock and am ready to cut! These are to show the groups of 11 and teach them how large numbers can be when multiplying. Of course I'm not looking for mastery, just identification. 

Next I made a wheel for Science this week. You can use it for older kids to read on their own. If they are older, I would trace a third wheel and have them attach it to the back of the two facing out. Then I would have them make lines and write in their own definitions of each group and characteristics of them. 

Directions: Cut out the black lines on the title wheel and pin a brad in the stars after lining up correctly. 

Lastly, I have a "Tic Tac Go" Memory Game that can be played with older kids or with an adult. I will show a video of how to assemble it this week. It is essentially going to be in a sheet protector with the top sheet cut out so you can flip through the questions and flip over on the back to see the answers. Clear as mud? Yeah I know, if you need more help, just comment and I will answer to clarify. This was a great project in my head until I realized how hard it would be to assemble without video instructions. :)

But it's 1:30 and I need to sleep- so here it is without the video demonstration. Which will be arriving in a blog near you...

As an alternate resort, you can just use two sheet protectors. One to have the Tic Tac Go grid and the other to have answers and questions facing out. Also, in this file I have weeks 5 and 7 as well. :)

Hope you have a great week! We will be posting pictures of the family doing what I love the most... learning!

Be Blessed!

-Crecia

More Fun Stuff!

So I love CC! I know you've heard me say this again and again. But can I just share reason #53? Because we have a huge community out there that is all doing the same curriculum, give or take a few weeks. Regardless of who we are or how long we are doing it, it gives us community and connections with so many people.

This was brought to light again while I was reading my FB posts the other week. I saw a friend talk about her daughter's learning for the day, I knew instantly that she was doing CC.

Long story short, she was the first one that gave me curriculum advise and she is a former teacher as well. We were in the same youth group together and reconnected through FB. How great is that? Anyhow, she gave me some stuff to pass along to you guys...

So here comes some more great resources (courtesy of my friend Shannon). :)

First up is a great picture guide of all kinds of animals. She uses it with the titles which I will attach next.

Memory Work Review 

Here are the instructions I got from Shannon:

 For memory work, I have the girls put the Kingdoms, classifications, and 7 wonders in order.  

We cut up the cards and sort the picture cards many different ways: 1)  Vertebrates vs Invertebrates , 2) then we split up the vertebrates into bird, reptile, mammal, etc. 3) then we split up the invertebrates.  CC didn't split up the Arthropods, but my girls found it helpful to do the sub-phylum on that group.

(There are three pages I'm just showing you two because it's easier. )

https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/Public/Animal%20Kingdom%20Sort%20Cards.docx?w=18697ba9

Here's the titles for you to cut up and have them use with the pictures. 

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/83404917/Kingdoms%20and%20classifications.docx

Here's the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/83404917/Seven%20Wonders%20of%20the%20Ancient%20World.docx

Thanks Shannon! These are great and will be used in our house as well now! :)

Lastly, a friend of mine actually sent me a picture of her daughter doing one of our activities.

She's actually one of the only few people that I thought would read this blog.

I love when we see ideas or things used in other houses. So if you have the time send me an email with your kids and I'll put them in the next post. Who knows maybe it will end up being a huge photo album of kids all over doing great things in CC!

I loved receiving this! It totally made my day yesterday. Thanks Ames!

I thought with Shannon's picture cards an afternoon follow up could be to have the kids try to make as many animals as possible from the cards and see if we could guess them. These are so cute! I especially love the flatworm. 

Blessings to you all!

-Crecia

I Love FREE Resources!

So if you are like me, you love getting a great deal or finding something free that you can use for our little classrooms.

This post is dedicated to just that! Free stuff! Links to all kinds of things that might make your day or week a little easier or brighter.

Thankfully, I was able to figure out how to post documents on the blog now, so watch out, I'm going to try to give something away of value each time I make something... oh I can't wait!

Alright in case you haven't checked out the "Great Links" tab, run on over there after downloading this stuff and see what kind of great sites I found. There are so many amazing sites out there. I tried to put lesser known sites that others may not know about or some that are mega linked to great ones.

First off, I found a site that is all about "Note booking." As far as I can understand it, the note booking is a way of meaningful journaling. So I made a few pages that might be fun for you to use this week or any week.

Here's what the blank one looks like. You can use it for any CC week. It's created in PowerPoint so you can just download and type in whatever you would like.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/83404917/Think%20and%20Draw_%20Blank%20History.pptx

Here's one already typed and ready to go for week 5. I have fill in the blank so to help them write in key words and to work on that memory. If you don't want it to be fill in the blank, simply type it in yourself. :)

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/83404917/Think%20and%20Draw_%20Week%205%20History.pptx

For Week 6, I did a Science Notebook Page...

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/83404917/Week%206%20Science%20Draw%20Boxes.pptx

Week 7, Memory Geography Cards

I love these and it just makes our memory work come to life!

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/83404917/Indus%20River%20Flashcards.pptx

You can use these any way you want. I am going to use them as flashcards and then print an extra copy and make them into memory game cards. 

Alright, it's 11PM and I promised myself I would get to bed at a decent hour. I hope you enjoy these resources. If you like them, feel free to pass this link on to others. The more I can help, the better.

Also, feel free to comment on any that you would like more of or use the most. 

I will make more and share according to the comments I get. 

Have a great week. Be blessed!

Crecia