"The Reading Journal is 168 lessons recommended for grades 2-8. Comprised of 28 unique lessons that focus on vocabulary, word study, comprehension, and higher-level thinking skills, the journal cycles through each lesson 6 times throughout the year, providing just the right amount of practice without too much monotony.

So, as you may have noticed, it's been a little quiet around here...

I've started several blog posts, but I (sadly) haven't had a chance to finish any of them lately. We've been in school a month now and things have been unexpectedly hectic! Gosh, I can't believe it's been a month already! Well, while we've been busy trying to get back into the groove of things, something unexpected happened. I was offered a teaching position at the weekly homeschool class my son's been attending for the last two years. I'm not sure what you'd call it. I don't think you technically call it a co-op since we drop the students off? Whatever you want to call it, my son has been going one day a week for science and social studies/language arts since kinder. He LOVES it! It adds a fun/hands-on day to the mix while still doing our curriculum at home.

So with this said class, apparently the Grade 1/2 class roster grew larger than anticipated over the summer, so they decided to split it into two and needed an additional teacher. It came out of left field when I got the call asking if I'd be interested, but I'm excited about the challenge ahead! It's a good thing we started school early, because I don't think we did a single thing for a week while I was trying to prepare for this new additional aspect of our school year. Ha! I'm looking forward to it, though. I think it's going to be a great year for my son (who happens to be in 2nd Grade now) and the rest of the students!

So why am I writing?

With this new position, I'll be making various printables that we plan to use for our classroom activities. I thought I'd share some of them as they come. Today's post is a freebie and I hope others can enjoy it! It's simple, but fun enough to possibly motivate students. (I hope?!)

So without further ado...

Both of my boys LOVE Mo Willems. If he's written a book, you better believe we've read it -- especially Elephant and Piggie books!!!

With Tuesday being our first class of the semester, I decided to make it a fun one during our reading/writing block and do an Elephant and Piggie theme. We'll start the year with My New Friend Is So Fun! Considering it's the first day, with lots of new kids in the class, I thought this particular book was fitting...


My hope is that most of the kids can read this book, but if not, it's simple enough that we can hopefully get through it without much effort. I found a couple fun activities to do after we read it, but I also wanted to encourage some freewriting. If you've read anything I've had to say about Brave Writer, you know how big Freewrite Friday is in that circle! I love it! Not only do I want to encourage pressure-free, fun, writing, but I also want to see where each of my students are in their ability to write. My hope is that by allowing them to write whatever they wish, we'll see where to go from there.

This Elephant and Piggie printable can be used in a variety of ways. I'm going to use it as an intro during our transition to our writing block. There are three images of the famous pair. I'm going to instruct them to write whatever they want about what they see on the paper. If you think it might interested you, click on the image below for the free download...

Well, when life gets busy, or you just cleaned the kitchen and want it to stay that way, it's easy to forget this concept and focus more on keeping things clean or preventing madness with a big mess.

While on a playdate earlier today, I was talking with a dear friend about this concept. While we were talking, my younger son (just turned 4) took two cups of ice water -- both more than half-full -- and started experimenting. He started to pour one cup into the other and we both watched as water and ice started to slowly flow everywhere -- on the table, the chair, the floor, etc. His only response was a slow, soft, "Uh-oh," as he continued to pour the cup and watch the result. We couldn't help but chuckle as his reaction didn't cause him to stop. He just kept doing it, ha! In that moment (and many others recently), I've tried to make a conscious effort to just let him (and his brother) do what he's doing and see what happens. It's all in the name of science, right?! Ha!


All of this came about after seeing an inspirational video that's been floating around the internet lately. I saw it a month or two ago and it's been on my mind ever since. It was taken from a speech by Neil deGrasse Tyson about how kids are born scientist -- if we let them be, they'll explore...


Being a homeschool family, I feel that this video speaks VOLUMES and should be a reminder to us all to let kids be a kids and just let them explore the world around them. They learn so much by doing so!

Whether it's by taking a nature walk and letting kids play in the dirt while observing the animals around them and seeing what happens in the local creek, taking a toy apart to see what's inside, or making a mess in the kitchen and playing with ingredients...we need to step back and let them explore...

Nature Anatomy: The Curious Parts and Pieces of the Natural World

My Nature Journal~Kids Nature Log/Nature Draw and Write Journal: Draw And Write Nature Journal For Children

Little Backyard Explorer Insect Bug Viewer Collecting Kit 

There are many reasons we all choose to homeschool. For some, it's because of religion. For others, it's because of vaccine laws -- especially here in California. The list goes on and on. One of the original reasons we considered homeschooling is because of the flexibility. If we want to go explore, we can. We're never tied down by a school's schedule. With that comes the opportunity to go on a wide variety of "field trips!" I put that in quotations, because if you think about it, anything outside the home could be considered a field trip, ha. Either way, we can take our learning on the road and go deeper than reading a book and actually see/touch/feel it. When we do this, I try to tie in other aspects of school after we get home -- especially writing.



Because we homeschool through a Charter, we occasionally have to turn in work samples. These work samples are ideally writing samples for each subjects. Sure, you can turn in a photo of your student doing something, but to me, it's easier to just turn in something my son wrote. I typically try to use samples from things he learned while out on a field trip. Aside from the fact that it can show the unique things he's learning, knowing he's going to turn this in encourages him to put a lot of effort into doing a great job. With being a beginner writer, I love this! If there's anything I can do to encourage writing and make it fun, I'm all about it!

So between the excuse of creating a work sample, and trying to tie in other aspects of school to a field trip, I created a worksheet specifically for field trips. In the past, there have been times when I just had my son write a couple sentences in his journal (composition book), or I made a themed worksheet based on the trip (see here). This time, I decided to make a generic field trip journal printable for him to use that includes an area to draw a picture. As he has begun to show more interest in drawing, I want to be sure to include that in his journal entires. I love seeing his artwork!

Since we plan to use it tomorrow, there are no photos of my son working on it, but if you'd like to join in and use it with your students, click on the image below and it will take you to my Teachers Pay Teachers page...

As a way of introducing writing to my 1st grader, we have started doing a weekly journal entry. I generally have him do the journal entry one day, and then a rewrite the next. For the rewrite, I correct any grammar or spelling issues, so it's essentially copywork. Over time, I have seen his writing improve by doing this, which is awesome!


Even though we typically use a composition book for the entries, on occasion, I'll give my son a fun printable with a theme. Considering today was our first day back to school after Christmas break, that called for a fun printable! He has talked so much about how much fun he had over break, so I wanted to encourage him to write about it...