Cornerstone Confessions

Preschool Week 25

Kathy Gossen — Fri, 17 May 2013 10:00:58 +0000

Preschool Week 25

Peanut finished up preschool in April but I am just now getting the time to play catch-up on my preschool posts. I don’t know about you but things just seem to get a little crazy this time of year for us. I suppose that’s why Goose and I decided it’s much easier for us to school from July through April instead of August through May. A little extra nice thing about homeschooling I suppose–you can schedule class whenever its convenient for your family.

This week Peanut totally ate up everything Princess-y and fairy tale. In fact, she still wanders around everywhere with her crown and wand–even to the hardware store, much to Goose’s chagrin. Loved it!

Month’s Theme	Tell Me a Story
Week’s Topic	Once Upon a Time…
Bible Verse	John 15:14
Character	Friendship
Poem	Once I Saw a Little Bird
P.E. Focus	Skipping
Letter	Y is for Yo-Yo
Number	Count by 5’s to 100
Shape	Diamond
Time	Review

A Few Pics from Our Week

Peanut enjoying being the princess of the house. She is also enjoying playing with her sister more and more as she is getting older. So cute!

Peanut making a 20 block tall mattress for Princess and the Pea and demonstrating her balloon yo-yo.

What have you been up to this week?

Encompass Preschool Lesson Plans and Printables Used This Week:

For more information about our home school and other lesson plans, you may also like…

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:16

Linking up to:

Freebie for Subscribers: 2013 Goal Planning Tools

Be sure to link up every Tuesday as Cornerstone Confessions presents the Titus 2 Tuesday linky party--an encouraging linky party for today's woman.

The post Preschool Week 25 appeared first on Cornerstone Confessions.

Age Appropriate Life Skills List

Kathy Gossen — Thu, 16 May 2013 10:06:37 +0000

A guide to planning chores for all ages with the intent of growing independent and responsible adults

When it comes to homeschooling, one thing I have put down on our curriculum checklist is an age-by-age life skills list (aka a list of chores with a purpose) as a guide to remind me as a mom to encourage my children to develop the skills they need to function as a mature and responsible adult when they get older. While my daughters definitely are not old enough to have completed this entire list, being the planner I am I decided to go ahead and make my goal list so I know that I’m on the right track. Maybe it will encourage you too as you prepare a chore chart for your child and/or prepare your child for adulthood. Believe it or not, those days will be here before we know it.

Preschool (by 4 years)

Undress and dress self

Comb hair

Wash face and hands

Brush teeth

Set and clear table

Put clothes away

Pick up toys

Kindergarten (by 5 years)

Feed the pets

Dust furniture

Empty Trash

Know address and phone number

Know how to make a 911 call

1st Grade (by 6 years)

Clean and trim nails

Sweep patio and dining room

2nd Grade (by 7 years)

Clean drawers and closet

Water house plants

3rd Grade (by 8 years)

Vacuum

Mop floors

Do dishes

Put away groceries

Measure correctly when cooking

Basic sewing skills (possible books to consider when teaching: My First Sewing Book: Hand Sewing by Winky Cherry or My First Hand Sewing Book by Alison McNicol)

4th Grade (by 9 years)

Follow a recipe

Fold/separate clean laundry

Polish shoes

Basic Machine sewing skills (possible books to consider when teaching: My First Sewing Machine Book by Winky Cherry and Sewing School: 21 Sewing Projects Kids Will Love to Make by Amie Plumley)

5th Grade (by 10 years)

Clean bathrooms

Hang clothes on clothesline

Change bed linens

Wash cards

Clean interior of car

Weed garden

Basic crocheting skills (possible book to consider when teaching: Kids Crochet: Projects for Kids of All Ages by Kelli Ronci)

6th Grade (by 11 years)

Plan a balanced meal

Make a savings account deposit

Create and use a simple budget

Basic woodworking skills (possible book to consider when teaching: The All-New Woodworking for Kids by Kevin McGuire)

7th Grade (by 12 years)

Iron clothing

Hand wash clothing

Simple mending and sewing

8th Grade (by 13 years)

Mow lawn

Trim shrubs

Replace light bulbs

Change vacuum bag and belt

9th Grade (by 14 years)

Wash windows

Unstop a drain

Clean refrigerator

Sew an outfit

10th Grade (by 15 years)

Change AC filter

Understand breakers

Wash all laundry on own

11th Grade (by 16 years)

Plan and shop for a week’s worth of groceries

Basic car care

How to change a tire

How to change car oil

12th Grade (by 17 years)

Life experiences via a part-time job or entrepreneurship, a personal checking account, local vocational school course, etc.

Manage and pay family bills for one month

What would you add to your child’s life skills list?

Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. Exodus 20:12

Linking up to:

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links such that if you click on the link and purchase the item, I may receive a small commission. However, this link should not affect your purchase price and as such, is provided primarily for your convenience. As always, all opinions expressed are 100% my own; I only recommend products or services that I feel are beneficial to my readers and my family. For more information on Cornerstone Confessions affiliates, please see my full disclosure policy.

Freebie for Subscribers: 2013 Goal Planning Tools

Be sure to link up every Tuesday as Cornerstone Confessions presents the Titus 2 Tuesday linky party--an encouraging linky party for today's woman.

The post Age Appropriate Life Skills List appeared first on Cornerstone Confessions.

Titus 2 Tuesday–Linky Party #51

Kathy Gossen — Tue, 14 May 2013 10:00:43 +0000

Welcome to another Titus 2 Tuesday Linky Party! Come join us as we link up our encouraging posts. No week is ever the same but the encouragement and inspiration is like no other as we spur each other on as sisters in Christ.

This Week on Cornerstone Confessions:

I loved reading everyone’s posts last week. In fact, I think it was one of the best Titus 2 Tuesdays this year. Thank you so much for sharing! This week on Cornerstone Confessions, it was definitely a fun, get outside, and enjoy the weather week. I think Spring is finally here! As such it was very appropriate that this week share our final results of our Home Depot Green Lawn Project.

Tips and Tricks for a Green Lawn Part 2, 3, and 4.

I also had fun sharing our Top 10 Toys that Have Lasted in Our Home as part of a link-up with iHomeschool Network and Many Little Blessings.

10 Toys That Have Lasted in Our Home

Most Viewed:

This week we had two most viewed posts! The first is by Laurie who compares God’s rich blessings of oil and water as revealed in scripture. I knew my scale always told me how much water and body fat I had but I never thought to compare it to scripture! Pretty neat.

Water and Oil on Saved by Grace

The second by Paula, in which she shares 8 ways she has saved at the grocery store WITHOUT using coupons. Needless to say, with two little ones my coupon clipping has been putting on hold and I’m all about learning new tricks like this.

Ways to Save of Grocery Bills on Beauty Through Imperfection

Personal Favorites:

Teaching Little Ones has put together a great resource of Favorite Alphabet Coloring Pages found across the web. If you have littles ages 3-6, you may definitely want to pin this one for future reference.

10 Top ABC Coloring Pages Rides Again on Teaching Little Ones at Home

This next idea would be great for a Mother’s Day gift, Grandmother’s Day gift or a new mom gift. It’ s simple and yet so sweet–a DIY Thumbprint Necklace! Ca-ute! I so should do this with my girls.

DIY Thumbprint Necklace on Momasaurus

For all of us homeschoolers out there, this next resource is a pin it must. Thaleia has spent a great amount of time to prepare one of the most complete lists of handwriting and copywork resources available. Thank you Thaleia!

Free Handwriting, Copywork, and Writing Resources on Something 2 Offer

The end of the school year is quickly approaching and several moms are thinking how they can show their child’s teacher how much they appreciate them this year, either for Teacher Appreciation Week or as an end-of-the-year thank you. If this is something you are thinking about Crystal has some great ideas for a gift basket and some super cute printables to make your basket one of the cutest in the class.

Teacher Gift Basket on Faith Grace Motherhood

For those featured, feel free to grab a feature button:

Linky Party Guidelines:

Post topics can include the topics of marriage, parenting, homemaking, homeschooling, devotional thoughts, time management, money management, organization, home decor, book reviews, recipes, DIY, tutorials, and more. If it would encourage another to be a Titus 2 woman, let us hear about it, but please refrain from including giveaways, sales, Etsy, or linky party posts. To link your party, please add your button to the Blog Party Directory.
Link as many posts as you like that have not been linked to Titus 2 Tuesdays before. Remember, link to a SPECIFIC post, not your whole blog.
Add a party button or text back link to your post. My personal favorites always do. ;) Html for a text link back: Cornerstone Confessions
Visit at least two other links and share some encouragement.
Although not mandatory, I’d love it if you’d follow me in some way, shape or form. I always enjoy making new friends. And, if you follow me via RSS or e-mail you’ll receive a link to my 2013 Goal Planning Pages FREE as a thank you!

*By the way, I also post a lot of my favorites (those featured as well as not-featured) on my pinterest boards. If you are not currently following Cornerstone Confessions on Pinterest, I’d love to have you along.

**Don’t forget to grab your copy of iBlog (the Ultimate Blogging eBook). If you are a regular blogger or interested in becoming a blogger, this is a must for your e-shelf.**

Loading InLinkz …

Freebie for Subscribers: 2013 Goal Planning Tools

Be sure to link up every Tuesday as Cornerstone Confessions presents the Titus 2 Tuesday linky party--an encouraging linky party for today's woman.

The post Titus 2 Tuesday–Linky Party #51 appeared first on Cornerstone Confessions.

10 Toys That have Lasted in Our Home

Kathy Gossen — Mon, 13 May 2013 10:00:04 +0000

Once again I’m teaming up with my fellow iHomeschool Network buddies to share with you 10 things about me in 10 weeks. Today’s topic: 10 Toys That Have Lasted in Our Home. I teamed up with the whole family to come up with this list so together here are our top 10 favorites that have stood the test of time.

What are your family’s favorite time-lasting toys?

Want to link up your own top 10 list for this week’s topic? Learn more about the Ten Weeks of Top Ten Lists and how you can link up on the iHomeschool Network. While there be sure to visit some of my fellow IHN friend’s Top Ten lists to gain even more insight on this week’s Top 10 Topic.

But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 19:14

Linking up to:

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links such that if you click on the link and purchase the item, I may receive a small commission. However, this link should not affect your purchase price and as such, is provided primarily for your convenience. As always, all opinions expressed are 100% my own; I only recommend products or services that I feel are beneficial to my readers and my family. For more information on Cornerstone Confessions affiliates, please see my full disclosure policy.

Freebie for Subscribers: 2013 Goal Planning Tools

Be sure to link up every Tuesday as Cornerstone Confessions presents the Titus 2 Tuesday linky party--an encouraging linky party for today's woman.

The post 10 Toys That have Lasted in Our Home appeared first on Cornerstone Confessions.

Tips and Tricks for a Green Lawn, Part 4

Kathy Gossen — Fri, 10 May 2013 10:06:43 +0000

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Home Depot. However, all opinions expressed are 100% my own. As always, I choose to only review products that I feel are beneficial to my readers and my family. I am thankful to the Home Depot for this opportunity to green up our lawn. I can already envision the many enjoyable days we will be spending barefoot in our backyard enjoying the new bed of green carpet.

Part 4 of a 4 part series on creating a greener lawn by summer

This is it! The big reveal day! When we began this project several weeks ago we had no idea how the results might turn out. As the weather would have it we had two more unexpected hard freezes making our initial new grass planting project a complete loss. In fact, we had to go back and re-work the soil and re-plant all over again last week making this Home Depot project makeover less than ideal.

Goose watering the seed with the Melnor Shower Head Water Wand after replanting.

Goose showing Peanut how to rake the dirt over the seed after planting.

Peanut practicing raking by herself.

That being said, when comparing before and after pics I was still amazed at what was accomplished. As Peanut said, “Mom, I want some flowers of my own because Daddy is killing all of my flower weeds.” I love it! Only a 4-year old would come up with that but yes, her flower weeds (aka dandelions are quickly disappearing). For instance, take a look at this before and after pic:

I can’t believe that is the same patch of grass! That Scotts Turf Builder Start Fertilizer has thickened up our lawn amazingly well. In fact, yesterday Peanut, Teacup, and I all went outside barefoot to swing and play in the yard on a quickly thickening bed of green grass. It was wonderful!

And what does our big bare dirt spot look like now? Well it’s not perfect. We do have some grass growing but with only a week to grow it in it still has a long ways to go.

All things considered with two freezes and no mulch covering, it’s still doing pretty well. Soon and very soon I am sure these little grass sprouts will grow and take over that dirt patch such that we will never remember what it really looked like at the beginning of this summer.

Patch of new grass coming up

My favorite take-aways from this project?

Learning the in’s and out’s of growing and maintaining a lawn.
The joy of getting to create several blog posts with the collaboration of my dear hubby, Goose.
The fun of getting to educate our daughters in the fine art of raking and planting seed. It was so fun to get the whole family involved.
And of course, the green grass! It’s so beautiful to look out on and so much fun to play in. It’s going to make for a wonderful outdoor summer break.

Our New Bed of Thick Green Grass!

And one other bonus I received from this project (you remember, how we filled our cart up with a few “extra” items)–we got to get a wall mounted garden hose hanger cabinet which provides a great place for our new shower wand and accessories as well as our garden hose.

Garden Hose Hanger Cabinet with Shower Wand

Now we won’t have to trip over the garden hose strewn all over the lawn all summer because it has a place to go. Talk about a win-win! Let the summer begin!

Miss another post in the series and want to know more? Click below to read more:

It’s home improvement time, and The Home Depot has everything you need to #DigIn for Spring. No matter what projects you want to tackle, they have great values on all you need. They’re ready to help you with renovation ideas and expert advice, too.

Get over $300 in email exclusive savings each year, sneak peeks on new products, monthly lawn & garden ideas for your region and access to The Home Depot’s gardening experts. Click here to join the world’s largest garden community today! Or go to homedepot.com/gardenclub to see some of the many benefits of membership.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Home Depot.

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters… Psalm 23:2

Linking up to:

Freebie for Subscribers: 2013 Goal Planning Tools

Be sure to link up every Tuesday as Cornerstone Confessions presents the Titus 2 Tuesday linky party--an encouraging linky party for today's woman.

The post Tips and Tricks for a Green Lawn, Part 4 appeared first on Cornerstone Confessions.