Disclosure of Material Connection:

Some of the links on this blog are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and/or believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Review: Circle Time: Plan the Best Part of your Day! ebook (TOS Review)

Website logo photo circletimelogo2_zps58ab71e5.jpg Circle Time Book Logo photo CircleTimeLogo_zps63dd95c9.jpg 
I really enjoyed reading the book for this review!  Circle Time:  Plan the Best Part of your Day! from Preschoolers and Peace.  Having been a preschool teacher, circle time, is no foreign concept to me, however, this ebook shines new light on the concept!
It is a quick and easy read filled with lots of ideas to get your gears turning, and questions and answers to help you implement circle time in your own homeschool, regardless of how young or old your children are!  It also has printables to help with planning.
I have to be honest, since implementing circle time, our homeschool days have changed – and for the better! 
My kids are 2.5, 4 and almost 7.  With suggestions taken from the book, I was able to implement a circle time that works for all 3 of my children (though sometimes my 2.5yo wanders off before we are through, but that’s okay). 
We have been doing circle time at our Kitchen Table.  I set up a circle time wall, everything was stuff I already had but was under utilizing (or not utilizing at all). 
2013-07-07 20.23.00
Here is a picture of my kids enjoying circle time
2013-07-08 09.21.43
Our circle time starts at 9am and can last from 45-60min.  It consists of the following:
1.  Spiritual Song of the Month (coincides with our Family Home Evening lesson)
2.  Prayer
3.  Pledge of Allegiance
4.  Calendar (day of the week, date, weather)
5.  Virtue
6. Scripture of the Week (coincides with our Family Home Evening lesson)
7.  Art Appreciation (from Fine Art Pages)
8.  Read a story from Friend Magazine (LDS publication)
9.  C reads a story from the Storied Scriptures, Old Testament (LDS Publication)
10.  Chinese Song and Story
11.  Science – Read a story to go with science theme, 2 days a week we will do an experiment or lab.  We may watch a short video that goes with the topic.
12.  On the non-lab days, we have more time, so we will usually check out the video of the week on BrainPopJr.com or the video of the day at BrainPop.com 
13. If they are still interested, we will go ahead and do History, listening to SOTW, while they draw or color a page to go with the topic.  Otherwise just my oldest and I do History. 
At the start of the new school year I plan to institute calendar notebooks for each child, the youngest just doing a ABC color page. 
The Circle Time book is only 33 pages long and cost $4.99.  It’s in PDF format and is downloadable instantly.  It really is a great read, an awesome guide to organizing your own circle time and making it work for your homeschool.  I highly recommend it!  I am not exaggerating when I say it has changed our homeschool!  Days run so much smoother when we start this way!
Photobucket
 photo DisclaimerGraphic1_zpsf612f371.gif

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thank you for leaving a comment, I love to hear from my readers!

Labels

31 (2) 31 Days of Field Trips (31) 5 senses (6) abcmouse.com (1) adult education (1) advent (1) all about me (1) Alpha-Phonics (1) Alphabet Box (1) amphibians (1) animal trackers (10) ants (3) Artist Study (9) arts and crafts (16) Australia (2) award (4) baby (5) baby bird (2) baby food jar crafts (1) Back to Homeschool (6) balance (1) banyan tree (1) beach (1) bees (3) Being a Mom (2) birds (5) Birthdays (2) Blogging the Alphabet (28) bloom (1) boats (2) Book List (3) Book Nook (1) Book review (62) book sneeze (3) Boost your blog (1) Brag Time Hop (31) Broccoli (1) butterflies (5) butterfly (3) Butternut Squash (1) Campus Book Rental (2) Capybara (1) Capyboppy (1) Charlotte Mason (1) Cherry Tomatoes (1) Chestnut Grove Curriculum (22) Chinese Language (7) Chinese New Year (1) Chinese Worksheets (1) Chore Chart (4) Christmas (28) classical approach (3) cleaning schedule (1) close to my heart (7) co-op (2) Color Tablets (2) computer games (2) Continent Boxes (5) crabs (2) cricut (2) CSA (4) Cub Scouts (1) culture swap (2) currclick (2) curriculum (23) cursive (1) daily schedule (3) Deep Covered Baker (1) Digital Scrapbooking (5) dinosaurs (18) Dissection (1) diswasher detergent (1) dolphins (2) donuts (1) Earth Science (5) Easter (8) Easy Readers (1) education cubes (7) educents (2) Eggplant (1) Emeals (5) emotions (2) exploring Hawaii (127) fairy tales (1) fall (15) family (1) Family Home Evening (5) farm (3) Father's Day (1) feelings (2) felt board (1) FHE (5) field trip (278) Fifth Grade (1) first grade (37) fish (3) flowers (4) Free Printables (13) freezer meals (1) frogs (3) Fundraiser (1) games (5) garden (1) General Conference (9) geocaching (3) Geography (37) Getting crafty (20) gift ideas (4) Giveaway (101) guest blogger (13) HALLELUJAH (3) Halloween (14) handwriting (2) hanukkah (2) Health (6) health curriculum (2) Heart (1) heart parenting (1) hermit crabs (2) History (48) Holidays (26) Home School (55) Home school mother's journal (7) Home School Room (10) Homemaking (15) homeschool (1) Homeschool Blogging Network (5) Homeschool Swap (1) How to (1) Human Body (5) ice cream (2) informal learning (2) insects (6) IPAD (37) Japan (2) jellyfish (3) Jesus Christ (1) karate (1) Kauai (2) kids in the kitchen (16) kindergarten (36) kindle (11) Kwanzaa (1) ladybugs (2) Language Arts (6) Language Program (2) lap books (5) Latter Day Homeschool Blog Posts (3) lds (18) lego (3) lego club (3) lesson help (1) letter a (2) letter b (4) letter c (3) letter d (1) letter f (2) letter I (4) letter j (2) letter n (1) letter o (2) letter p (1) letter s (2) letter t (1) letter u (1) Library (1) Light box (4) Lighthouses (7) Little Passports (22) Mamapedia (1) mammals (2) Mango (1) Map Display (1) Marriage (1) Massachusetts (1) Math (44) meal planning (1) Memorial Day (1) Mexico (1) minecraft (1) Montessori (145) Montessori At Home Book (2) Montessori Print Shop (24) Monthly Subscription Program (1) Mormon (32) morning routine (1) Music (9) My Father's Dragon (1) My Groovy Planet (1) My Memories (8) Nature (23) nests (2) New Year (1) New Years Resolutions (1) Ocean (15) octopus (2) olympics (1) Operation Smile (2) Organization (14) Owl Pellets (1) P.E. (3) Paleo (5) Pancake Day (1) pandia press (23) parenting (1) Patterns (1) penguins (2) phonics (7) physical education (1) Picasso (1) pinterest (4) pirates (4) playdough (6) Pollock (1) pond animals (3) popcorn balls (1) Poppins Book Nook (35) pornography (1) preschool (95) President's Day (2) puffins (1) pumpkin (3) pumpkins (2) rain forest (1) Read Alouds (3) Reading (14) Real Life (1) Recipe (34) reptiles (1) Reverence (1) review (239) road trip (1) rockets (2) Sacrament Bag (2) safety (2) Saturday Adventure (1) schedule (3) scholastic books (1) Science (63) scissors (1) Scriptures (1) sea urchins (1) seasons (6) Second Grade (7) seed (1) sensory bin (5) Share it Saturday (84) ships (2) SimplyFun (3) skin care (2) snow (1) snow globe (1) Space (11) spelling (16) spiders (4) spineless sea urchins (1) sponsor (9) starfish (3) stitch fix (9) stocking stuffers (3) Summer Fun (2) Tell me more (1) Thankful (5) Thanksgiving (5) The Friend Magazine (1) The Giggler Treatment (1) The Road Not Taken (1) Third Grade (6) Thirty-one (2) thumbsucking (1) Titanic (1) tools (1) Top 10 (2) TOS Blog Cruise (83) TOS Review Crew (136) tot school (65) Totsy (1) Traditions (1) turtles (1) Unit study (18) unschooling (2) Usborne Books (21) Valentine's Day (8) virtual book club (1) We choose virtues (1) Week 1 (2) week 2 (2) week 3 (2) week 4 (1) week in review (62) Well Trained Mind (1) whales (3) What my child is reading (48) Whole 30 (9) why we homeschool (5) winter (3) Word (1) wordless wednesday (7) work boxes (104) Workbox Wednesday (49) world as classroom (3) worms (3) Wrap-up (3) writing (4) young women (8) Zero Grandparents (1) zoo (2)