Most homeschoolers are very frugal and must make their homeschool budget stretch as far as possible. My family is no exception and I think long and hard about investing in curriculum and tools for our learning experiences. My two youngest boys are very science oriented and are naturally inquisitive about the world around them so purchasing a quality microscope made sense as we entered the middle school science years.
Our family aims to get the most value for the dollar. So which microscope would we buy?
The decision was not easy but after much research and thought, we decided to purchase the Sonlight Ultra Microscope. With a price tag of $240 this was a decision not made lightly! We wanted to provide the best equipment for our sons even as homeschoolers. Taking into account the useful life (six years in our case), our cost per year would be $40. Our high school science plans would be greatly enhanced with this investment and could provide college-prep level lab work throughout the high school years.
Actual image we took through the eyepiece of river sand.
Now after using this microscope for many years, I can with confidence say that it was an investment that paid off in a growing knowledge of the world right under our noses. Our eyes were opened to a complete new dimension of study, fascinating and wonderful.
Features Our Family Have Found Valuable:
Sturdy, durable construction. This is not a toy microscope and from the moment you pull it out of the box you know it is built to last.
The ease of aligning the slides. The mechanics of the slide platform are easy to adjust with the up-down and side-to-side knobs positioned for easy use. Going from coarse to fine adjustment is easy and the object stays in your field of vision. This feature cuts down on frustration. View Sonlight’s YouTube.com video showing Features and Benefits.
The light does not get hot and we can use this microscope for a long time without the slides getting hot or drying out too fast. This is especially important when working with wet objects like those you find in a pond.
The eyepiece swivels around so we can show each other what we see in the microscope as we gather around the table.
The magnification has been plenty high enough that we can see amazing details of our subject (40x, 100x, and 400x lenses).
When it came time to start our veggie garden, my six-year-old daughter couldn’t wait to help. She was filled with questions about how things grew. I wanted a little book that would explain simple botany concepts, one step at a time. I found All About Plants, from Evan-Moor’s science series. It covers very simple botany principles on a K/1st grade level through hands on learning. It was lots of fun for my daughter.
All About Plants covers the following concepts:
types of plants
the parts of flowers
parts of a tree
seeds
plants that we eat
Many of the concepts are taught through coloring! When we finished in the garden, my six-year-old ran inside and did a page in All About Plants. She especially liked the cut and paste activities. I loved it when she showed me what she had learned in the garden the next day. Can’t get better hands on learning than that!
Benefits:
This workbook is written to the child.
The language is developmentally appropriate, clear and simply written.
It teaches through coloring, cut and paste, read alouds, and a simple experiment.
One day we planted corn seeds together. We planted the seeds inside to protect them from the cold weather in the early spring. Waiting for the stems to appear was almost impossible for my daughter. But she kept busy studying the parts of the plant in All About Plants! Soon the early leaves appeared in our corn plant.
“That’s just like my book!” she exclaimed.
And as our seedlings grew in our garden, she could identify the parts of each plant. There is nothing like gardening with children! And All About Plants made it even better for my family. It helped my six-year-old to understand the true miracle of the growing and appreciate it all the more.
If you are looking for a fun, simple approach to science for your young child, check out All About Plants. For more info on this series, go to Evan-Moor. This title is also available in ebook format. Watch for more titles in this Science Series by Evan-Moor, for young learners, in future reviews by this author.
~Betsy lives with her husband, daughter and two cats near Puget Sound in the northwest. A waldorf-inspired and unit study-loving homeschooler, she offers Homeschool Consulting to new families at Jane Sproger.
What a treat for the eyes and a delight to the heart! I LOVE this book and any mom who is looking for ways to build on play-based learning, this book is a gem. The book,Playful Learning by Mariah Bruehl, will help you create an atmosphere of learning by building spaces and providing activities that spark creativity and fun. Looking back over my years as a homeschooling mom, I realize the best learning takes place when I could build on my child’s interest in a relaxed and enjoyable way. The trick was to be prepared for those moments.
Sometimes it is as easy as creating a learning environment, introducing your child to the space, and then letting them explore.
Playful Learning is the kind of book that can be referred to again and again and you will always find some new idea to spark a creative activity. It is a visually appealing book that outlines areas of your home where you can set the stage for playing and natural learning. The author stresses the importance of free and unstructured time for children to explore their interests and Playful Learning gives specific ideas for building on your child’s natural inclinations to play and learn by organizing play spaces and materials to nurture the interest alongside your child.
“Playful Learning gives us as parents an opportunity to play again! It is wonderful to teach the way we wish we had been taught. I have rediscovered my own awe and wonder of the world.”
Do you want to nurture your child’s love of writing? Young writers will be encouraged to keep lists and notebooks, write stories and letters, and have a try at bookmaking.
Do you want to build an art area, a child’s science “lab”, or a cozy reading library? Images and resource lists are included in this book.
Has your child shown an interest in learning geography? Create maps together and learn more about the world we live in using suggestions in this section of the book.
Is your child a nature lover? Activities illustrated will help your child better connect the the natural world in your own backyard.
Mariah Bruehl will give ideas in pictures and words, making it easier to provide a richer learning experience at home by showing you activities to plan on and offer as you play through your day.
She explains that the key for parents is to stay “one step ahead”. I appreciate that this book assumes you want to identify an interest and then build on it, preparing yourself to offer up the space and ingredients for playful learning at home. She outlines in each main section the stages of learning, how to stay “one step ahead”, the process of building on interests, and then more ways to explore with your child. She suggests skimming the book with your child and then refer back to it when they become interested in a particular subject.
The book includes lots of printables in the back of the book as well as from the Playful Learning website. What a great way to get started with your Playful Learning experiences! You may also want to follow Playful Learning on Pinterest where there are many, many wonderful additional ideas for you to implement in your home.
Excellent resource for families with children from ages 4-8 (even older if you extend the ideas). This book will be a perfect supplement to any homeschooling curriculum and can be used with any style of learning. Big thumbs up for this sparkling gem of a book!
I am so excited to introduce you to a fabulous, award winning unit study, A World of Adventure.
Written for grades 4-8 by Dorian Holt, a mom who successfully homeschooled her own son, A World of Adventure is the first volume in the Learning Adventuresseries.
If you enjoy using unit studies, or have been curious about trying them, I hope you will find this review helpful and informative.
What A World of Adventure is:
A World of Adventure is a complete curriculum, covering every subject except math, with detailed, guided lesson plans for 180 school days. Dorian designed this curriculum to use books most of us can borrow from our local library, to help lesson our financial burdens while homeschooling.
When you visit the Learning Adventure site, you will be pleased to find lots of samples, encouragement and information. I was very struck however, at one thing I did not find, up-selling. There are a few things you can add, which I will discuss in a moment, but this company does not lure you in with a lower price point and then give you a mile long list of extras you can’t live without.
That was a breath of fresh air to me.
A World of Adventure is also very Christian. You begin your journey in Egypt, with the Bible. The story of Joseph and his brothers is a favorite in my home, and this section of the Bible leans well to soaking up the culture and story.
The lessons are written from a Christian perspective. Bible reading and Scripture memorization are a huge part of our family, and this curriculum has both.
What A World of Adventure covers:
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Greece
Ancient Rome
Middle Ages
Renaissance and Reformation
Age of Exploration
What the lessons look like:
I have tried to do this on my own before. Even after spending hours searching and combing the internet, library, and our homeschool library, I don’t come up with even a fraction of what this curriculum offers – and am left in tears.
The lessons are history based, but thread all of the other subjects into what you are reading. For example, in the story of Joseph and his brothers, you will be reading history from the Bible, but you will also learn from the guide-vocabulary, Greek and Latin prefixes, suffixes and root words. You will travel in books learning Ancient Egypt, discuss what a civilization is, learn about the culture of Egypt, and study life in the desert. You will also discuss elements of literature, memorize scripture and sing hymns.
The lessons are there for you so that you can teach confidently. You can make them flexible to fit your current needs. Just think of Dorian as your homeschooling friend, who has been where you are and is helping you on your journey.
You won’t be stranded at your school table, you will find this curriculum takes you to hands on projects, and you will spend time together in the kitchen as well.
This curriculum is packed with more to learn than I have ever seen. Everything is guided for you. There is even a game you can purchase that acts as a review.
The price:
You can get all 790 pages of detailed lesson plans for $90.00 That’s right, $90.00. What a blessing! The curriculum comes to you shrink wrapped, ready to go in a binder.
Other than the game ($39.00) the other useful extras offered are printed student pages ($20.00) and the customer requested Supplement for Little Adventurers ($15.00 each time period) which gives you lesson plans for children K-3. (Supplement does not stand alone.)
This curriculum has it all, I really have enjoyed reviewing it. We will be using A World of Adventure in our homeschool in the future, and I can’t wait. I hope you’ll check it out and find it as fascinating as I do.
**I received this curriculum at no cost to me, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.**
Formal science is always a bit iffy around our place. Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn’t. It’s the experiments that get me–we read lots of science-related books–but science experiments can be troublesome. There are all of those ingredients to gather; there is all of that mess to clean up.
We have two volumes of this series. There are thirty experiments in each, which are titled with a question.
For example, Volume 1 asks . . .
Do hot molecules move faster than cold molecules?
Are gas molecules farther apart than liquid molecules?
Can molecules be broken into smaller molecules?
And Volume 2 asks . . .
Do like charges attract or repel?
Can salt remove water from the air?
Can molecules move through a membrane?
The title question is followed by:
a list of materials, most of which are easy to gather in your home (yes, really, they are easy to gather in your home)
a procedure to follow
questions for observation
an explanation, which they call the discussion.
There are also variations of the experiment to try for further study.
When we asked the question “Do molecules move?” we used a glass of water and food coloring to reveal that, yes, molecules do move, as evidenced by “the collection of food coloring molecules spread(ing) throughout the glass of water” (7). We also got to play with food coloring.
When we asked the question “Are rubber molecules less bouncy when cold?” we used two identical rubber balls and the freezer. It was easy to see that the answer was yes, since the flexible polymers in the rubber “changed from being flexible and stretchy to being stiff and rigid” (38) due to the cold. We also got to play with bouncy balls.
There are many questions and many answers to be found in these wonderful little books.
We are studying chemistry in our home school using a method of experimentation and discussion. It has been a treat to ask a science question, prompted by Mr. Mebane and Mr. Rybolt, and to follow their simple instructions to find the answer. The ingredients have been easy to find–lots of vinegar and baking soda and fruit–and the clean up has been a breeze. Best of all, the kids and I have learned about the properties of atoms and molecules!
There are five volumes in the series, each named Adventures with Atoms and Moleculesfollowed by a volume number. We are using volumes I and II, completing simple home-made experiment pages, reading science-y books, and having fun!
Susan is a homeschooling mom of three—a preschooler, a first grader, and a third grader. They spend their days reading on the couch, playing with numbers, and making big, fun messes in a Spirit-led, Well-Trained Mind-inspired classical-Charlotte Mason-traditional model of home education.
“Let them once get in touch with Nature, and a habit it formed which will be a source of delight through life. We were all meant to be naturalists, each in his degree, and it is inexcusable to live in a world so full of the marvels of plant and animal life and to care for none of these things.” – Charlotte Mason
My family and I were privileged to enjoy this Easter study last year. We plan to enjoy parts of it again this Easter.
You can focus on the Easter story over the course of a week, a month or longer – using this ebook study in the way that best suits your family. Authors Cindy West and Melissa Leach say, “Our hope is that you will read a selection from the Bible…then get outside to find sweet signs of the Author.”
Included are:
Bible references for the Easter story
Hymn list for the Easter season
Nature ideas/walks organized to compliment:
Palm Sunday
Sweet Fragrances
The Passover
Mount of Olives
Black Friday
Burial
Resurrection
Traditional Easter Studies
Within each section above, the following is included:
Suggested books to accompany the topic study.
Ideas and suggestions for nature study. (For example, while studying the mount of olives it is suggested you go on a hike over a hill. On a scavenger hunt based on the jelly bean prayer – you and your children spend time finding something in nature to represent all the colors mentioned in the prayer.)
A notebooking or sketching page to complete a follow up activity.
Bonus features:
Where to Study Nature: offering encouragement for those living in cities to find parks plus simple ‘get out in your own backyard’ motivation.
Gearing up and Being Safe: From using common sense and having a healthy fear to ‘leaves of three let them be’ and a list of suggested backpack gear.
As a teacher I found this Easter Nature Study through the holidays to be easy to reference and use right then. All the ideas were compiled for me in one spot. The notebooking pages – I only had to print out. All I needed to do was add some books – and for the children to catch my enthusiasm.
Easter Nature Study Through the Holidays is a mini unit study available for $5.00. Visit Shining Dawn Books to learn more about any of the full-length nature studies.
Nature Study Through the Holidays Easter Mini Unit is 32 pages with seven full-color notebooking pages.
You can view a sample of this ebook at Shining Dawn books here.
A seasonal unit study such as this is a refreshing change up in routine for us. This mini book of nature studies for Easter helped us hone our senses, prompted us to get outside – and opened our eyes to His love for us!
What better way to welcome the Easter season?
Now for the giveaway!! Cindy West, owner of Shining Dawn Books and review author here at The Curriculum Choice has kindly offered five (5) copies of her ebook to give away!!
~Tricia has been homeschooling for over a decade. She faces a daily dose of chaos teaching five children. She contributes a blend of writing at parenting, frugal living and homeschool sites as well as her own daily Hodgepodge.
“When I see the monarch butterfly I’m reminded that there is a God…There’s no way a monarch butterfly could happen by random chance.” ~ Jules H. Poirier, Creation Scientist
Pointing to the Creator: I was struck with the incredible detail of the monarch butterfly, the exquisite design. The beauty of the Creator’s plan. Just one example of His plan is the beautiful image, above, of the milkweed plant. Crowe’s Nest explains that the journey of the monarch coincides with spring and the emergence of milkweed.
“Are you ever simply amazed at God’s goodness? Down to the very last detail. Everything. So beautiful. So purposeful and so orderly.” ~Samuel Crowe
Seeking to learn from experts: What better way to learn than from those who have devoted their life’s work to learning all they can about the monarch butterfly? Taylor, Samuel and Grace visit with Destiny Phillips who teaches the Crowe children how to find monarch eggs in a field of milkweed and other nectar sources. Ms. Phillips also:
takes the Crowe children on a field trip to the nature center where she raises hundreds of butterflies.
shows viewers how to tag monarchs and participate in monarch watch via University of Kansas.
points out the differences in male and female monarchs.
The Crowe children also include the viewers on a visit with Mr. Poirier – a Creation Scientist, author and musician. From the Crowe’s Nest Media site: “87-year-young Mr. Poirier is such a delight! With a career that includes designing the radal pulse altimeter used in the Apollo 11 moon missions, Mr. Poirier’s fascination of the monarch’s incredible navigational ability led him to do extensive research, writing several books about the amazing monarch!”
Teaching with beautiful video: the quality of the filming is impressive. We stopped the time lapse of the life cycle several times because we were simply amazed at what we saw! “Would you like to see a magnified view of the butterfly emerging?” ~Samuel Crowe
Music that praises the Father: This is My Father’s World, other hymns and classical music play gently in the background.
Fun Facts: Animated Professor Solomon, the Owl, pops in for a visit throughout the DVD, sharing the wisdom of God’s design plus simply amazing facts about the monarch butterfly. He often uses his ‘Owlvision’ TV screen to teach.
Humor! We enjoyed the clever choice of sound effects throughout. Samuel’s description of his ‘famed’ monarch netting is fun – complete with slow motion.
A homeschool unit study! You can build an entire unit study around the Life and Journey of the Amazing Monarch Butterfly DVD – right in your own backyard! Watch the DVD several times to learn not only the life cycle of the butterfly but migration, all about the milkweed plant, raising butterflies, netting and more.
“God designed the monarch to have four distinct stages of life.” ~ Taylor Crowe
Inspiration: You might even be inspired to raise monarchs. You can learn how in the bonus features of the DVD. You may even wish to create an environment in your own backyard to welcome butterflies. A backyard butterfly haven!
See what all we learned and enjoyed? Just a sampling of what is included:
Time elapse of caterpillar hatching from egg
Experts showing how to find monarch eggs and caterpillars – which plants to search and how to look on the underneath of leaves
How to net and gently hold butterflies. Plus a fun instant replay of Samuel netting a monarch!
Differences and comparison between butterflies who mimic monarch butterflies
The complete life cycle of a butterfly
Tips for tagging with 1, 2, 3 steps
After watching the DVD, my children and I were excited. They asked if we could do a study of the life cycle of the butterfly again. My daughter found paper and pencil and sketched a butterfly right then!
Here are just a few reactions from my children while we enjoyed Your Backyard: DVD
“Oh my! That’s awesome!” ~ 14-year-old
“The butterfly’s heart reforms, Mama!” ~ nine-year-old
“Mama! It turned into a butterfly!” ~ four-year-old
We decided we’d like Crowe’s Nest Media shirts like the Crowe children wear in the DVD!
We then enjoyed the nearly 45 minutes of bonus features, including:
How to raise monarchs
Ordering tags
Mr. Jules Poirier’s testimony
Behind the scenes
About the bottom shelf
Professor Solomon’s quiz
Your Backyard Trailer
This is My Father’s World
Bloopers
In summary, I am grateful to Crowe’s Nest Media for finding, researching and pointing out how much there is to learn about the monarch butterfly. This God-honoring production left us excited to learn more, smiling at a family enjoying working together and teaching, and thankful to a God who designs the heavens and the earth.
Crowe’s Nest Media is a family venture. The Crowe family created, edited, animated, starred in and produced this DVD. They are offering more exciting details for you!
Crowe’s Nest Media is offering The Curriculum Choice readers, not only a giveaway of a DVD but a discount code when you order.
A companion, downloadable, study guide will be released. If you purchase the DVD now, you will receive a discount code for the study guide. (So you can easily enjoy that unit study!) The study guide will include the following: content review, discussion questions, fill- in-the-blank questions, true & false questions, diagrams to label, opportunities to draw, essay questions, copy work selections, copy work pages for various ages, coloring pages, and opportunities for further study. In addition, the study guide will provide note-booking pages for various levels so that children will be able to create a “monarch” keepsake notebook.
Special Offer!! You can purchase Your Backyard: The Life and Journey of the Amazing Monarch DVD from Crowe’s Nest Media now for $19.95. Crowe’s Nest Media is offering Curriculum Choice readers a coupon code that will entitle you to the FREE DOWNLOAD of the study guide just as soon as it is complete. This coupon code will also give you $1 off your DVD purchase. The below coupon code is good until Friday, February 3rd:
Just use Coupon CodeCurriculumChoice at check out.
Please note: I received this DVD and the giveaway copy in exchange for a review. I always give my honest opinion and love to share our family’s experiences when reviewing a product. I also will receive a small affiliate commission if you purchase the DVD using the coupon code listed above.
Won’t you join Taylor, Samuel and Grace on another learning adventure? We did! “Be encouraged by the amazing displays of our Creator…It’s an incredible journey of discovery, all right. And we’re especially glad you are coming along with us.”
The Curriculum Choice is joining in with these great blogs, listed below, in offering a giveaway of Your Backyard DVD. You will want to visit each site and enter for a chance to win a Crowe’s Nest Media Monarch DVD!
~Tricia faces a daily dose of chaos homeschooling five children. She contributes a blend of writing at parenting, frugal living and homeschool sites as well as her own daily Hodgepodge.
My five-year-old son received My 1St Science Kit – The Science of Color from his grandma and grandpa for Christmas. We were both excited but I had no idea it would be “the” source of motivation for school every single day for a week!
What was so motivating? The goodies my son found in the box. Hands down. Giant, plastic test tubes, pipettes, little plastic cups, a mixing tray, a (tiny) magnifying glass, color tints and growing crystals made him feel like a real scientist!
The kit includes enough materials for 10 experiments relating to color. Most experiments allow your child to observe the effects of mixing primary colors, while a few involve water-absorbing crystals. All the experiments are very elementary, but we’re talking about using them with children who are under 2nd grade, so they should be elementary. After so many engaging experiments about color mixing, my son has a very good grasp on primary and secondary colors.
Could I ditch the fun test tubes and do most of the experiments with materials found at home? Yes. But, I’m telling you, something about the kit turned my son from a mildly-interested-science-experiment-kid into Eli, Super Scientist Extraordinaire! Plus, the supplies can be used over and over again as long as you have some extra food coloring on hand.
Have you ever pictured the perfect curriculum, and then searched high and low for it, only to come up with nothing? That was me, looking for a Bible-based, unit study approach curriculum that was Charlotte Mason friendly.
There are living book approach curricula out there, but I always look at them and feel SO overwhelmed! And then at long last, I finally found it! I had the pleasure of reviewing Paths of Exploration, the first book in the Trail Guide To Learning series byGeography Matters.
Written by homeschool veterans Debbie Strayer and Linda Fowler, not only does this curriculum use living books, but it tells you exactly which books you will need. The book list is not left up to my imagination, which can run wild.
The age range for this curriculum in grades 3-5. However, I am using it with my 7-year-old, who is in second grade, and she is doing well. I also have added the optional Middle School Supplement for my 6th and 8th grader.
We just finished up the first six-weeks, which were all about Columbus. The lessons didn’t get into the darker side (consider the age range) but we did discuss as a family some of the things we didn’t agree with as the study progressed.
What’s included-
Two, beautiful hardback books- filled with guided curriculum, including History, Geography, Science, Grammar, Reading, Art, Nature Study, and Spelling which cover an entire school year, with CD-ROM of different levels of student notebook pages.
What I love about Paths of Exploration-
There are extras that you can add-on for even more learning like lapbooks, Bible supplement, Middle School Supplement.
It is rooted in the education philosophies of Dr. Ruth Beechick.
POE marries nicely with Charlotte Mason.
Encourages engagement with dictation, discussion, and writing.
The kids love it. There have been no complaints about school with Paths of Exploration. They love the readings, enjoy the maps and activities, and clamor for the Nature Study. They even enjoy the copywork and dictation! And, they finally get regular art in each week.
The living books chosen as the base for this curriculum are wonderful. You even get to cook, using the cookbook, Eat Your Way Around the World, by Jamie Aramini.
I finally have a guide to incorporate Nature Study into our homeschool.
Geography Matters is a home-based company, located in Kentucky.
The cost- If you have a good library, you can spend as little as $150.00 {which is for the textbooks and CD-ROM}. You can also buy the Paths of Exploration curriculum, and all of the books you will need for the year for $375.00. That is for all subjects except Math, for an entire year. For me, I am using POE with 4 children this year, which is an amazing deal in my book.
This curriculum is non-consumable! The student pages are printed from the included CD-ROM, so everything else is reusable year after year. }
What I don’t love-
Nothing! This curriculum has been an answer to prayer!
Right now, there are two more titles in the Trail Guide To Learning series, covering American History, with three years of World History planned. The World History is going to be geared for grades 6,7, and 8.
You can also preview the other two years that are available, Paths of Settlementand Paths of Progress. Other helpful information, and families who are using the Trail Guide To Learning series, as well as an updated reading schedule can be found in the Yahoo Group.
If you are still looking for “the one”, I hope you will give this curriculum a try!
With two little ones – a Kindergartner and a toddler, science needs to STAY simple. Both of my girls are hands-on learners, so that makes science REALLY fun in our house!
Because my girls are young, and because I believe exploration and hands-on activities (especially science!) is best, Science Is Simple is a great book for us!
Written by Peggy Ashbrook and having won the Learning Magazine’s Teachers’ Choice Award, Science Is Simple divides its experiments into lessons.
What Kinds Of Lessons Will My Child Learn From This Book?
Of course, just like with any tools or curriculum, it really depends on how you present the material and their curiosity, but here are a few of the great “lessons” listed in the Table of Contents:
Magnets and Testing Hypotheses
Year-Round Gardening
What Do Seeds Need To Grow
Why Do Some Tree Leaves Change Color?
Stretch Your Senses on a Walk To A Nearby Park
Compost Critters
Spring-Flowering Bulbs…Are Planted In The Fall
Corn and an Introduction to the Globe
Winter Birds
What is Melting
What Can the Wind Do?
Why Is This Book Different From Other Science Textbooks?
Well, first off, it isn’t a textbook! Second, it’s written for Preschoolers and Kindergartners (although the activities can definitely be altered for older kids if you have siblings involved).
Science is Simple contains over 250 Activities and each Lesson is divided into different sections that give you tips for presenting the material to your child. And, if you struggle with what to say or the questions to ask, this book covers that too! Also included in each lesson is a section on other activity ideas and book ideas beyond the experiments to help supplement what they just learned.
Would I Recommend This Book?
Definitely! This is one of those resources that we’ll continue to use with all of our children. Whether you are a home-educator or you teach in a classroom, it’s great!
PS – Want to see one of our experiments from the book? Check out our mantis babies!
-Written by Ashley. Find more of Ashley’s writings and reflections on motherhood, marriage and life on her blog.
from his grandma and grandpa for Christmas. We were both excited but I had no idea it would be “the” source of motivation for school every single day for a week!
