Animals around the World Puzzle

Monster got this really neat puzzle for Christmas this year! He really loves playing with it and looking at all the different animals! This puzzle is very neat and I will show you why!

This is Monster putting the puzzle together.

 

Connecting the pieces.

 

Here it is finished... or is it?!?!

 

Nope! Here it is finished! This puzzle has this really neat boarder that you put around it. All of the pieces connect and if you turn them over it shows you what that animal eats! Monster loves looking and seeing what the animals eat! He has done this puzzle a few times now and he still gets into trying to figure out each animal and tries to guess what they eat before he flips the pievce over!

 

He got this for Christmas and we were told it came from Tuesday Morning. We have one near us and I have never been but now I am wanting to go to see what other fun stuff they have! This is very educational for kids! I was very excited he got such a neat puzzle!

Fun Homeschooling Products

Over the last few years I have always been on the lookout for products that are not only fun but educational as well! I guess that is the past teacher in me :). I taught Pre-K for several years! So, over the last few years on my other blog Living in a Monsters World I have had the pleasure of getting to review some great educational products that I would like to share with you here. These are all links to products I have either bought and reviewed myself or was sent a product from the company itself to review!

1. I LOVE Lakeshore Learning Store so this is a game we found that was perfect for matching skills, using focus and teaching patiences.

 

Don't Let the Bugs Fall!

 

 

2. This 2nd one is also from Lakeshore Learning Store, however this was sent (via email code) to me as a product review! They have software for ages Pre-K-6th grade! You can even buy single copies! Monster loved this one! We got it before he started Kindergarten and he can still use it!

 

Lakeshore Learning Software

 

3. I know several homeschooling parents know several great websites! I found this one a few years back and was able to do a review for them also. Monster was able to enjoy their Marble Maze and he still plays with it after almost two years! They have some great educational and FUN products!

 

Mindware Marble Maze

(he was so little in this picture! We were also getting ready to move so ignore the mess in the back!)

 

4. Another one of my favorites is felt boards! I love these for story time or even just center play! Betty Luken has some of the best ones! I was able to review three of them and I used these while keeping kids in my house. ( I used to watch 5 kids in my home so they needed fun products!) I love these boards because of the bright colors and they lasted! I just recently sent these three to Monsters school he is in now for his teacher since Monster out grew these themes! I am hoping to get some more when we begin homeschooling. She also has bible story ones which is first one my list!

 

Betty Luken Felt Boards

 

*Please note these links do not go directly to the product site. They are linked to my personal/family/craft blog. The direct links are on the pages you are routed too!

Mardels Shopping Trip!

I love Mardels! Great store for teaching needs! I stopped by the store to just browse while wasting some time yesterday and ended up finding two great products I can use with Monster!

The first is a DVD that teaches kids/teens how to draw Dinosaurs! He may not be into this right at this moment but I know one day it might come in handy! The other is a 1st grade creative reading book that has lots of great ideas in it that we can use! See those awesome red tags on them too! Yeah 75% OFF!!!

 

DVD was originally $2.99 I got it for $0.74 yep, not even a dollar! Talk about scoring on that one!

Workbook was orginially $3.99 I got it for $0.99! I mean you can not walk away from that! I had to spend the $2.00 cause I knew they would be worth it! Adding these to my pile of things I am already collecting! Never to early!

Homeschooling Items!

 

 

Today I found myself at Target (again) and then the Dollar Tree in our area. I love both of these stores! So the picture below is everything I got today for a total of $12! Everything I got is something I can and will use with Monster for homeschooling!

 

These books I found at Target in their dollar section! Total score on these! One book is Science questions about animals! I had already bought him one about the human body earlier this week! The other three books are books he can either write or draw in. They give you prompts and you go from there! So happy and they were each $1!

 

Next  I went to the dollar store and found three really neat games! They are adding, subtracting and clocks! Under each piece is the answer. It doesn't really explain the game so I thought we would use a dice and when you land on a space and can correctly answer the problem then you get the piece. If you have the most you win! The other two books are spelling puzzles and another addition book! I really want Monster to do great in Math since I hated Math in school so I use whatever I can find for Math! All of these products were $1 a piece also! Yay!

 

I also got these at the Dollar Tree! $1 for 4! Each set! $2 for 8 containters! Heck yeah! Excited to see where I can use these but I thought this was a great deal so I grabbed them! Whatever I use them for I want to add some chalk labels that look like the comic book bubbles (like when the people are talking) I think Monster would love that! :)

 

Hope everyone has a great day and don't forget to share any great finds you may find in the comments section below! And you can leave a link to your blog! I love following fellow bloggers!

Games for homeschooling?!

I believe every child needs to learn to play games other then what is on the ipad, tablet or kindle! Drives me crazy that my son would rather play a game on the kindle then the actual board game! So this mommy is doing something about it! Today while browsing shopping in Target I found they had a ton of toys on sale! So since Monsters birthday is coming up I found this fun little game that is also a learning game for him! We will be using this a lot because it keeps the mind turning! This is the junior version for kids! I have played the adult version and it is challenging so this should be great for Monster!

Plus it was on clearance so even better! :)

 

Have a favorite game you like to use for homeschooling? Please leave a comment with the name of the game! Would love some reccomendations!

Dollar spot at Target!

At Target the other night I found these in the DOLLAR section!! Talk about a great deal! The cards are for adding and the mat is for subtraction. The mat is dry erase so you spin the wheel write the numbers in the box then figure out the answer! I love this! The cards are just letting the child use them to make up problems then figure out the answers! This will be great because even though we are officially homeschooling yet Monster has been trying to do adding and subtracting so these will be handy both now and in the future for us!

Check out your local target. They had some great leapfrog pre-k to kindergarten work books and some other learning products!

New Beginnings

This year will start new journeys for my son, husband and I. We have decided that at the end of Monsters offical school year (in June) we will begin homeschooling! I am very excited about this. I have decided to share our experiences along the way. This blog will be from sharing how we get started to our daily lessons and maybe even some reviews and giveaways for whoever decides to follow along. I hope you will follow along and if you homeschool share your journey with us as well!

 

Because Monster is still in school right now I will be writing about how we are getting started, changing our single car enclosed garage into an area for learning for Monster, things we are doing to get ready and everything we learn to get started! Then as we begin homeschooling I will share with my followers weekly activites, curriculum, field trips and fun adventures we will take! I hope that you will follow along and if you have any suggestions please feel free to leave them in the comments! I love hearing other stories from people who homeschool!