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Busy preschoolers are happy. Try some "Baby Duty"!
Hello,
How's it going teaching homeschool with a little one to distract and occupy you? Can be pretty crazy! I used to struggle with trying to teach the big ones while the little one seemed to carry on a constant disruption. It took a change of attitude, plus some planning to change that in my homeschool.
The change of attitude came unexpectedly as I was searching and praying for a way to keep my toddler or preschooler from messing up my homeschool. Sometimes a change of perspective is all that is needed. Have you read my article, "The Baby is the Lesson"? It has been the most popular thing I've ever written, and I hope it will help you see your little one from a different perspective!
Now, to the planning: if you plan ahead, your little one will be lots happier and busier while you are trying to get in some teaching time. Of course, you will involve your preschooler as much as possible in your homeschool: singing, pledge of allegiance, story time, checking the weather, etc. I began school with all my children together, and with an activity waiting nearby on the floor of our schoolroom, such as big legos, a sorting toy, coloring and crayons, or something else to pique my little one's interest when the teaching went over his head. Little ones want to be in the middle of everything, and having something to do close to us would give us time to get going in the morning.
As the morning wore on, my preschooler would get restless and need attention. Time for "Baby Duty"—my term for a 20 minute shift of interacting with the little one in your family. I would assign one child to take the little one outside or into another room and get out a special pre-packed box of delights reserved just for this time, and filled with educational games, puzzles, books to read, an educational toy, perhaps even a healthy snack for two.
"Baby Duty" blessed us in two ways. First, it gave our little one some much needed attention and focused time. But it was also very good for the child assigned to "Baby Duty". It gave him a playful break from study, enabled him to be the teacher for a little while, helped him practice his reading skills while enjoying a story, and created a wonderful bond of friendship and love between siblings. That was the bountiful and unexpected bonus! Both child and little one would come back from "Baby Duty" happy and refreshed!
I've gathered my favorite storybooks, educational games, and resources to stock your "Baby Duty" box! And with any purchase, I'll include 2 (one for each!) free dragonfly toys, a fun spinning-flying toy that will make your little one squeal happily!
Here's to the joy a little one brings to our life, and to our homeschool!
Diane
Shipping just $4.99—no matter how big the order!*
NEW! Need just one item? (books, CDs, DVDs, software only)—Just $1.99 shipping!*
(*plus $1.99 handling fee, and only for orders shipping to the continental US)
Pay no sales tax! (except in Utah)
view | Lace and Trace Animals 40% OffCute animal shapes snap in and out of their puzzle frame, and have lacing holes plus colorful laces for a very first sewing experience. Quality made. For ages 4 and up.
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view | Birthday Party Birthday Cake You are invited to a birthday party! Decorate with mix-and-match toppings that stick on with velcro. Add the "lighted" candles and your birthday cake is ready to slice and serve! Cake server and platter included. An quality wooden toy that will be played with for years! Ages 3 and up.
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view | Mazes Beginner Activity Book 30 very easy-to-solve large appealing mazes help your little ones think ahead, problem solve, and control a pencil to stay within the pathway (great future penmanship practice!).
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view | Farm Animals Softies 57% OffLittle ones will delight to feel the soft texture and see the colorful patterns of the fabric flaps that edge each page of this cute farm animal board book. Young readers can grasp the border of the page they want and open up to find bold photographs of farm animals. Make the animals sounds right along with the book. For babies to preschoolers.
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view | Preschoolers Color Game Question: What's more fun than Candyland?
Answer: Rolling the big color die and moving your stacker peg to the matching color space. If we both roll the same color, we'll just piggy- back! It's fun to poke the pegs in the dense foam mat that is vividly illustrated with characters from nursery rhymes and children's stories. Play just takes 10 minutes, and there are no instructions to labor over—just simple and fun game playing—making this a "squeal of delight" game for preschoolers! For ages 2 to 5 years.
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view | Stacking Pegs Sorting, counting, creating patterns, and developing fine motor skills are "get-me-ready-to-learn" activities—and they just think they are having fun with these brightly colored stacking pegs! Pegs nudge into rubber pegboard base and can be stacked securely on top of each other, higher and higher. Virtually indestructible plastic pegs are even safe for 2-year-olds. The pegboard set comes with base and 25 pegs. This is the "fought-over-toy" among toddlers! Age 2 years and older.
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view | Tall Stacker Pegs Building Set What could be more fun than our Stacking Pegs (above)? A stacking peg construction set! This is truly a child's first building set and everyone wants to play with it! Includes 100 pegs, a big 100-hole base mat, plus additional mats to build new levels on. For ages 3 and up. Four times as many pegs and action at an economical price!
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view | Farm Sound Puzzle Of all the puzzles I tested on little ones, this was the hit! Lift the pig puzzle piece and hear "oink oink" or the kitten and hear "meow"! Fun and educational for toddlers learning their animal sounds!
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view | Uncle Arthur Storytime Books: Teach Character with Bedtime Stories! 44% OffEverybody loves a story! Evenings at my house are time for read-aloud, and my children's favorite stories have always been Uncle Arthur's Bedtime Stories. These charming, old-fashioned stories have incredible appeal because they are true! These tales really happened, and they sometimes turn out disastrously! Each story is just a few pages long, so it is easy to sneak one in here and there in a busy schedule.
The five-volume set has a publication date of 1976, and it is actually a collection of the best stories found in the 1964 version, so you know old-fashioned Christian values are alive and well. In addition to the real stories about real children, each book has a story from the Bible. Each book has 192 pages, a glossy picture cover, and wonderful color drawings throughout. The very best thing about these stories is that they speak right to a child's heart! I read my daughter Louisa the story "Two Carolines," a story about a little girl who was very pleasant and lovable when out of the house but not very happy to those at home. A day later, Louisa came to me to confess, "I am like that story, Mom." The best part was that I never said one word! I read the story out loud, then Louisa saw herself in it and strived to correct her own behavior. Ooh, hard to beat that kind of powerful teaching—teaching through parables!
One of the stories my grown children remember best is "The Hollow Pie." Seems a certain young man always grabbed the biggest piece for himself rather than watching out for others and saying, "You go first." After a very disappointing dinner, one very sorry boy learned that maybe the biggest isn't always the best!
If a set will bless the whole family for years to come, this is it! As always, your satisfaction is unconditionally guaranteed.
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view | Dot-2-Dot Lacing A-Z Alphabet Animals Connect the dots by lacing in alphabetical order with these colorful lacing shapes that build dexterity. Great A-B-C practice too! Six large charming animals are easy to hold and lace. Six long laces are tipped for easy "sewing". Excellent quality! For ages 3 to 7 years old.
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view | Lucky Penny (Matching & Counting Coins) 33% OffIt's pretty important to learn money's worth! Children ages 5 and up will match coins and name their values; show the same amounts different ways; count coins to find the total amounts; use coins to match written amounts; use coins to solve simple word problems with this fun hands-on way to learn about money. Includes: 94 realistic plastic coins, 8 two-sided full-color activity cards, and teaching suggestions all in a sturdy box.
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view | C-r-u-n-c-h Cutting Food Box Louisa loves to hear the realistic "crunch" as she slices through 8 healthful foods to serve her dolls! Quality wooden foods are smooth to the touch and vibrantly painted in non-toxic colors. Heavy-duty velcro gives realistic cutting resistance and sounds, plus lets the food slices be stuck to each other. All this stores neatly in a sturdy wooden storage case. A favorite kid-appealing toy for ages 3 and up.
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view | My First Bible in Pictures This picture Bible is fun for little ones to carry around and act grown-up. Lovely realistic, pastel chalk drawings are the work of artist Frances Hook. Each little story is one page long and has a full-page illustration and a thought question. One of the stories reads: "God's people were very thirsty, but they didn't have anything to drink. God told Moses to hit the rock with his stick. When he did this, God made water come out of the rock. Then everyone could have a big drink. What happened when Moses hit the rock with his stick?" 125 stories, 6 x 7", hardbound. Very popular.
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view | What's Wrong Beginner Activity Book My preschoolers think discovering "what's wrong" is exciting fun. I know that it helps them develop a sharp eye for detail, so vital to reading.
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view | How Are You Peeling? : Foods with Moods 33% OffThis charming book intrigues both young and old! Every unique character is truly made from food. Such interesting expressions and emotions make this book a delight to explore! Everyone can relate to the feelings these funny food characters are going through. Rhyming text makes it easy to relate to: "How are you when friends drop by? With someone new... a little shy?" This book is great for helping children explore their emotions and the words we use to describe how we feel (proud, understood, jealous, insecure, wired, amused . . .) Plus, kids can't resist making a few food creatures of their own—hey, your salad is ready for dinner! Paperback, 48 pages, full color photographs.
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view | Kumon Activity Books Here are the ideal activity pages on excellent quality paper with colorful graphics. Developed by an Asian company to give kids the cutting edge with an early start in education and skills. These thick workbooks are a preschooler's or kindergartner's mother's dream-come-true! One page is enough to keep your preschooler busily working and happy for 15-20 minutes—a bargain indeed! Kids love them, and you'll be amazed at the fine motor skill development you will see!
My First Book of Tracing
This beginning-level book provides children with opportunities to learn to manipulate a pencil skillfully. Simple and fun drawing exercises start with vertical straight lines, and then gradually shift to more difficult lines, such as curves, zigzags, and diagonal lines, providing children with an ideal preparation for learning to write letters and numbers. Ages 2-4 years. 80 pages, 8 1/2" x 11" on high quality paper.
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view | My First Book of Mazes Learn to control a writing implement by navigating these easy mazes without touching the lines! One a day is lots of fun and excellent get-ready-for-handwriting practice! Quality paper and illustrations! Ages 3-5. 80 pages, 8 1/2" x 11" on high quality paper.
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view | My First Book of Cutting I was thrilled to discover this book, because it is exactly what I had been hand-drawing in my homeschool for my preschoolers to help them practice manual dexterity through using scissors. Little ones will gradually learn how to control scissors through step-by-step projects that advance from easy shapes to more complex cutting patterns. Excellent prep for handwriting, plus wonderful fun for preschoolers! Ages 3-5. 80 pages, 8 1/2" x 11" on high quality paper.
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view | My Book of Pasting Ooh, good stuff for young ones! Projects start with cutting out parts and pasting them on their places on each page to complete a picture. Excellent practice for manipulating scissors, plus the joy of creating things with their hands. A wonderful book! Ages 4-6. 80 pages, 8 1/2" x 11" on high quality paper.
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view | Early Learning Workbooks Set I love these delightful Christian workbooks for the variety of activities they provide for beginning writer/readers and their nice illustrations and crisp white paper (not the normal newsprint workbook paper). Brief parent instructions are included in the back of each book to help you lead your little one along in cutting, coloring, pasting, following directions, and working neatly. Set of 6 books
Adventures with Books teaches colors and shapes through fun activities.
Bible Pictures has realistic line drawings of Bible stories—a special coloring book. Each page has a title describing the Bible story plus the scripture verse numbers.
Counting with Numbers helps little ones learn numbers 1-10.
Do it Carefully, tracing lines progresses into writing the letters and learning the sounds of the alphabet letters.
Everywhere We Go includes colors, counting 1 to 10, letter writing, and learning alphabet sounds.
Finding the Answers teaches the use of thinking skills such as identifying sequence and making comparisons, along with teaching rhyming words.
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view | Same and Different Beginner Activity Book They may all look the same, but one rocket ship is different! Building discernment and attention to fine details will later enhance reading. Paperback, 30 pages, black and white illustrations for little ones.
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view | ABC Beginner Activity Book Teach the alphabet letters with large illustrations of animals and objects starting with each letter. A fun coloring book.
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view | Farm Maze Puzzle Glide the chunky wooden animals along the slotted track in this easy maze to find their own homes. The chicken wants to go to the henhouse, the duck to the pond, the horse to his pasture. Great for matching skills and building dexterity, plus the pieces can't get lost! Ages 3 and up. 13.25 x 10" size.
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view | Tracing Skills A great beginner book that will help your little one learn to write! Trace the lines in each activity page.
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view | Magnetic Foam Letters and Numbers Large, flexible foam letters are coated with a magnetic backside, making them fun to handle and even more fun to use on any magnetic surface: fridge, bathtub, cookie sheet, etc. Red, green, blue, and yellow 1 1/2" letters and numbers come in storage bucket. Set of 154.
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view | Let's Make a Sandwich Packed in a sturdy wooden crate are all the "fixins" to make up delicious sandwiches! Quality wood pieces have velcro attachments so they stick to each other, making a nice stacked sandwich. Cut them apart and hear realistic cutting sounds. Superior craftsmanship makes this a toy that will last, and last!
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view | Pound-a-Peg Great value and superior craftsmanship make this toy a childhood favorite. Brightly colored, smooth-sanded pieces help build early shape, color and size differentiation skills. Pound the eight wooden pegs into the wooden bench, then flip it over to repeat again and again! Wooden hammer included. Measures 11" x 5" x 3.5". Ages 2 and up.
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view | Let's Go Fishing! Wooden sea life puzzle pieces have magnetic pegs so the magnetic fishing pole can fish them right out of the water! Bright and cheerful illustrations, for preschoolers to 6 years, 9 x 12" size.
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view | Latches Board Beautifully crafted wooden board has polished brass locks, latches, hooks, and clasps for little hands to learn from. Colorful pictures underneath reward the child for managing to open each latch! Excellent fine motor coordination practice for ages 3 and up.
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view | Alphabet Bingo Play your way to mastery of the letter sounds with this fun game for beginning phonics students. Spin the alphabet wheel and say the letter sound your spinner lands on. Cover three alphabet pictures in a row and you win! Lots of great letter identification and sound practice. Sturdy plastic-coated game boards and spinner. For two to four players, ages 4 to 6.
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view | Lauri Perception Puzzles 10% OffLittle ones need practice in perceiving slight differences so they will be prepared for reading. My 2- to 5-year-olds have preferred these puzzles! Each piece looks much like the other, holding their interest well. At 2 years, my children enjoyed fitting in the pieces with my help. At 5, they still found it challenging enough to engage them. Made from durable, brightly colored crepe foam rubber, these puzzles are a tactile delight. It isn't hard to nudge the flexible pieces into place. Lauri puzzles will never be obsolete because of lost pieces—they have a replacement service and guarantee! I consider these 8" x 11" puzzles to be a very worthwhile investment for pre-readers. The Fish and Butterflies puzzles are the easiest, then Cars 'n Trucks, and finally, the Kids puzzle is the most challenging.
Lauri Perception Puzzle, Kids
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view | Lauri Perception Puzzles, Fish 10% Off |
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view | Lauri Perception Puzzle, Cars 'n Trucks 10% Off |
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view | Lauri Perception Puzzle, Butterflies 10% Off |
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view | All 4 Lauri Perception Puzzles 18% Off |
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view | Oball Want to teach your wee one to catch a ball? It doesn't get easier than this! 4.5" in diameter and full of 32 finger holes, make it simple to catch and a breeze to throw! Sparkly, springy and flexible—all ages love to play with it! Kick it, hit it, run over it with a car, and it still bounces right back into a perfect sphere!
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view | Do-A-Dot Art Markers Kids love these fantastic paints! Just dot and dab and a controlled amount of color flows onto the paper—no brush needed! Paints won't even dry out if the cap is left off. Six bright washable colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue purple in a carrying case.
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view | Play and Learn Coloring Book Preschoolers can dot their way through the ABC's, numbers, and shapes with this fun book. A very fun way to reinforce letters for beginning phonics using the dot markers above. Paperback, quality art paper, 28 pages
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view | Stay-put Pattern Blocks Set Oh, what a great product! Magnetic backed foam pattern blocks won't shift while children place them. Lay a Patternables page on top of the white magnet board, and the magnetic pattern blocks will stick right on the puzzle page! A very fun way to enjoy pattern blocks! Set includes 200 standard sized magnetic pattern blocks, magnetic playboard, and the Patternables book.
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view | Geoboard Pictures Great fun and a good introduction to geoboards. Includes one plastic geoboard with 16 sturdy, colorful picture cards (boat, ice cream cone, airplane, house, etc.) for young ones to copy with rubber bands on their geoboard. Includes 400 rubber bands. This was fun and challenging for my 5-year-old! Ages 4-7 years.
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view | Geoboard Geoboards teach all sorts of geometric concepts (such as shapes, polygons, angles, area, perimeter, and fractions), but I must confess why I really like them: they keep preschoolers happy for a long session! There is definitely something exciting about stretching colorful rubber bands and hooking them on the pegs to create shapes and designs. This geoboard has an 11" x 11" peg configuration, making it possible to create lots of intricate designs. I keep our geoboard in my bag that goes to church with us, as they are remarkable for keeping preschoolers occupied for the entire meeting! (Quiet = reverent, I hope).
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view | Giant Magnifying Glass Here is a great tool for examining things closely! Nearly 5 inches in diameter, this magnifier will enlarge things to at least three times their normal size. For ages 5 and up.
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view | Why Don't Haircuts Hurt? Here's a very good place to start for young one's learning about the human body. This picture book asks 80 questions and includes a simple scientifically correct answer. What makes blood red? What are hiccups? Why do you need two ears? Great drawings show you the inside and outside of the human body in detail. Paperback, 48 pages.
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view | Glitter Bumpy Skushi Ball Little hands find it hard to catch a ball, that is unless is a "skushi" ball! It's surface is pinch-able, making it easy to get a grasp! Bouncy, brightly colored and easy-to-catch ball can be inflated softly to make it easy-to-grasp, and more firmly as your child's skills develop. Inflates to 9".
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view | Bulls-eye Skushi Ball
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view | Wedgits I dumped these brightly colored and inviting Wedgits building manipulatives out on my living room floor in the midst of my children, young and grown, and sat back to watch. Instantly, unique structures sprang into shape accompanied by squeals of enjoyment and amazement. These geometric nesting shapes wedge together so soundly and stack and balance so easily that there is no need for an interlocking device—the structures stand sturdily. You'll be developing your child's dexterity, spatial skills and creative thinking ability. . . but from a child's angle, they are just having a lot of fun! Includes a clear plastic storage stand and a design booklet. Ages 3 to adult. This award-winning educational building set is intensely kid-intriguing!
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view | Wedgits to Go: Jumbo Set (Wedgits to go!, 35 pieces) Loving Wedgits? This jumbo set includes the equivalent of two Wedgits sets, two super-fun expansion parts that create new structure possibilities, plus Advanced Design Cards (for 20 designs that use more pieces) all in a sturdy plastic carrying case.
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view | Zingo Yes, just like Bingo but lots more fun! Push down on the tile dispenser and out pop 2 picture tiles. Race to fill your picture card and you win! Energetic and exciting for young ones, ages 3 to 8 years. Zingo helps you think quick and identify shapes and patterns. A wonderful, fast-paced game that young kids love!
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view | Zingo Bilingual-Spanish Zingo is a great game on its own, but team it with Spanish vocabulary words and it's really a winner! Contains both English and Spanish picture/word tiles. Fast playing fun for anyone trying to master basic Spanish vocabulary words.
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view | Xylophone Brightly colored xylophone creates mellow tones with the 2 included mallets. Notes printed on metal plates for easy play. Quality wooden frame, 10 1/2" long. Ages 3 and up.
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view | My First Magnetic Kit Explore the world of magnetism with this fun-to-play-with kit! Includes 2 strong magnet "wands," 10 magnetic marbles, and lots and lots of magnetic chips—plenty enough to experiment with—plus an activity booklet to get you going. Add your own handful of paper clips, nuts, and bolts and you'll have an excellent magnet kit at an economical price! We've had fun with this! For ages 4 and up.
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view | Dragonflies, set of 2 FREE with any order!No one can resist sailing this spinning dragonfly off into the air! A quick spin of the stem between the palms of your hands can send it over the roof top! Your kids will learn how to do curve shots and juggle them back and forth between each other. Made of flexible, brightly colored plastic, 8" long. Set of 2. Please add to cart if you want this free gift!
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| Diane's Blog Come enjoy some new ideas, encouragement, homeschool support, recipes, craft ideas, parenting wisdom . . . and more with my popular Heart-to-Heart emails, new and continuing in blog format!
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Shipping just $4.99—
no matter how big the order!**
NEW! Need just one item? (books, CDs, DVDs, software only)—Just $1.99 shipping!**
(**plus $1.99 handling fee, and only for orders shipping to the continental US)
Pay no sales tax (except in Utah).
Hot off the press!
Love to Learn!
Homeschool Handbook
Your Guide to Setting Up a Homeschool, Selecting Resources, and Joyfully Educating Your Children
Need homeschool help?
Diane Hopkins has been reviewing and testing homeschool products for over 20 years and you can benefit from her experience. In this comprehensive guidebook, each grade of school is detailed with the best-on-the-market in curriculum for your homeschool and notes added on how to use these resources! Set up your school schedule, learn how to get your kids to take charge of getting their schoolwork done, and how to make your homeschool fun and meaningful. Reproducible forms are included.
Large, spiral-bound book introduces you to the 7 Hopkins children, and shows you how she taught and raised them homeschooling: the mistakes she made along with the successes. Full of family photos, personal stories, and wisdom—this volume will give you the help you need to get enthused, get organized and get going! More details and sample pages, click here!
order here
Our Price $16.99
100 Hour Candles, Set of 3
This handy "candle" will outlast a 3 day emergency. Burns liquid paraffin for over 100 hours of light. It is also odorless and smokeless, making it a great emergency light source. Keep one handy with a book of matches taped to it for your next power outage. The liquid fuel is sealed inside, with only the wick exposed. You can extinguish, and use again and again. A very safe source of light! Set of 3 100 hour candles. Our Price $14.97 Going Fast! Click here
Hi!
I am Diane Hopkins, mother of 7 children (ages 12 to 32) whom I have had the privilege of homeschooling over the past 18 years. I'm a mom, just like you, and have those fabulous days and those not-so-good days like we all do. My hope in writing is to share experiences, and hopefully we can encourage one another in this wonderful, intense adventure of childraising--that is really what homeschooling is, after all.
Hoping to help, if I can!
Love, Diane
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