5 Essential and Engaging Learning-to-Read Books from Amazon

We are preparing for an amazing Christmas season by purchasing a few educational items for my little one. Here's a secret, we usually like to open one (or sometimes two) presents before Christmas to engage my little one when we are on a trip in November or December.

This post contains affiliate links to help you build your shopping list and travel list for your family. We are passionate about the product and the experiences listed in this post, but we also wanted to provide easy links you can click to purchase products for your busy lifestyle.

1 - Learn to Read with Tug the Pup and Friends! Box Set 2: Levels Included: C-E (My Very First I Can Read)
This seems like an amazing book to engage our preschooler in sight words and reading before she enters kindergarten!

 

2 - Bob Books: First Stories

Yes! There are 12 books in this pack and each of them are easy-to-read! I cannot wait to write a review after Christmas!

 

3 - Reading Adventures Sofia the First Level Pre-1 Boxed Set

Oh, my little one loves Sophia and she will definitely love the learning-to-read process from the Disney Reading Adventures!

4 - Si llevas un ratón a la escuela (If You Give a Mouse a Cookie)
We love to incorporate Spanish for my little one's "learning at home" sessions each week! She will definitely love the Spanish version of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"! This is a great easy tool for your children to learn Spanish!

5 - Movie Night Magic! (Shimmer and Shine) (Step into Reading) 
Oh, my little preschooler loves Shimmer and Shine! In fact, she sings the song almost every day! I like the fact that we can incorporate sight words with characters that she watches almost every day! This will be great for hotel nights away when our family travels throughout the year!

I cannot wait for these books to arrive! I plan to wrap them as soon as we receive them and place them under the tree (that I plan to trim as soon as possible). Surprise hubby! Have a great week and plan for the weekend!

Just in case you missed it, here's our "10 Ways to Read 1,000 Books a Year Before Kindergarten" infographic!

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Have a great week and plan for the weekend!

Sincerely,

The @WeekendsCount Family!

About Weekends Count - Weekends Count Magazine is focused on helping people navigate travel, build their family business, and manage their money. We provide tips, printables, and easy-to-understand infographics to help people learn amazing ways to make their lives easier.

We are located in the Dallas-Fort Worth and East Texas areas. based in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas and the Shreveport Metroplex area.

Authors - Jennifer and Tony Edwards

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Zipper Bag Activities - Two Reading and Math Activities for Your 3, 4, or 5 Year Old

My preschooler attends a university three days a week! You heard it correctly, she attend the local laboratory school for university students. Through this laboratory experience, my preschooler is able to learn key concepts from her peers, the teachers, and her college peers.

Each week, the preschool sends a large ziplock bag filled with a unique homeschool activity for our little one. These activities usually include several manipulative items and a set of directions. These are easy to incorporate for busy, working families.

This week, we had two activities! Both activities were mathematics-focused and one include some literacy as well! These activities were: Sharing Hot Dogs and Button Bingo.

These were exceptional activities and they definitely caused this working mom to think outside of the box...playdough canister. :)

Through this activity, we received a canister of green playdough and a popsicle stick, and amazing directions! We had to divide the playdough into eight hot dogs.

This activity involved mathematics, reading, music! 

She really enjoyed making the hot dogs as well. We had to make eight.

Since dad was not at home during the time of this activity, we had to make a stick figure with the "knife". So, we made a "Gran Gran". :) 

Here's a close up of Gran Gran. She wanted to eat hot dogs too! Plus, we needed her in our mathematical problem. For example, if Gran Gran had eight hot dogs and gave one to you and six to mommy, how many would she have left? She conquered these mathematical problems with ease!

Then, we had to assess the activity. She is accustomed to rating her books on Amazon and she was eager to rate this activity as well. Five out of five stars!

The Button Bingo activity was also amazing as well! It had nine colored buttons of different shapes. I had to place these on the board and my kindergartener had to remove them while telling me which items were beside the item she removed. This was time consuming, but she really had to think about the items before removing them.

Here are the close ups of the buttons! It is an easy activity to replicate and it would be a great travel activity as well!

Thank you to the Child Development Center at Tarleton State University for these activities!

Have a great week and plan for the weekend!

About Weekends Count - Weekends Count is a Millennial Family Travel, Fun, Food and Activities blog based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in Texas. We review hotels, travel and household items, and millennial family experiences!

Authors - Jennifer and Tony Edwards

Here's a link to our press kit/media kit - http://www.weekendscount.com/p/our-media-kit.html

Mailing Address: 1030 East Highway 377 Suite 110; Box #145; Granbury TX 76048
Phone Number - 817-382-8475

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5 Innovative Ways You Can Use a Kids Cooking Set to Teach Your Children Science and Literacy

Our family is always looking for high-quality children's toys for a great price! The Little Chef eight-piece metal children's cooking set is one of the best toys (for a great price) for your 3-5 year old! This colorful playlet includes two pots, one pan, two lids, a set of utensils, and an oven mitt!

This post contains affiliate links to help you build your shopping list and travel list for your family. We are passionate about the product and the experiences listed in this post, but we also wanted to provide easy links you can click to purchase products for your busy lifestyle.

She has been in love with metal cooking sets since she discovered one in the childcare book fair last month. I promised her that we would find a great one or her and this one did not disappoint!

You can use the Little Chef cooking set for MORE than just dramatic play. You can use it in the following ways:

1 - Color Identification
Description - Have your child separate the pots/pans of a similar color to demonstrate the concept to color identification and separation. (1-3 year olds)

2 - Make Your Own Story!
Description - Enabling your child to make a story with a two item from the eight piece set.
*You can record this story by taking photos and copying and pasting them into a word document and then your little one can add words. THEN, you can print the items out for a story! OR you can video record the story! (3 year olds and older)

3 - Water Density for Preschoolers!
Description - Science Project - Will it sink or will it float?
*Purchase a large plastic bin from the Dollar Tree and fill it with water. Then, ask your child about the items they think will sink or float. Test the theory! (3-5 year olds)

4 - Balancing Dried Beans!
Description - Enable your child to play with dried beans and pour the beans from the pot to the pan, etc. You can also weigh the pot/pan that on a balance scale to demonstrate the concept of balance! (3-6 year olds)

5 - Forming Shapes!
Description - Have your three/four year old draw around the pots, pans, and their lids to create shapes.
*This is a great way for your child to refine their fine motor skills!

Please let me know if you develop any new ideas!

Have a great week and plan for the weekend!

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Participate in Our Evening Homeschool with the Creativity for Kids Plant An Emoji Garden Kit

Each weekday, we always try to do a project (or two) with our preschooler! This week, we had an Earth Day emphasis and we planted chia seeds as part of the Plant Happiness's Creativity for Kids Plant An Emoji Garden Kit! This was SO MUCH fun for her! First, you color the sheet, then you plant the seeds, then you water it and then you watch it grow!

This post contains affiliate links to help you build your shopping list and travel list for your family. We are passionate about the product and the experiences listed in this post, but we also wanted to provide easy links you can click to purchase products for your busy lifestyle.

Craft, plant, water, grow is the entire plan for this kit! These seeds grow in 3-4 days!

Here's a challenge! 

1 - Order the kit from our affiliate link - http://amzn.to/2oz07ml

2 - Craft, plant, water, grow!

3 - Capture a picture of your project and include the #weekendscount hashtag!

We will choose winners throughout the summer!

This kit includes: planting tray, color-in liner, markers, potting mix, chia seeds, scoop and plant mister.

About Weekends Count - Weekends Count is a Millennial Family Travel, Fun, Food and Activities blog based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in Texas. We review hotels, travel and household items, and millennial family experiences!

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Save Money for Easter and Halloween By Ordering a Personalized Fabric Easter Basket from Pottery Barn!

Guess what? It is time to plan for the Easter holiday! Easter, you ask? Yes, now you have enough time to order a customized basket for your little one! We've had a customized Easter basket for four years! Yes, the SAME ONE!

When I purchased an Easter basket for $30 a few years ago, I knew that it was going to be an investment! Each Easter and Halloween my little southern princess utilizes that SAME owl basket with her name beautifully embroidered on the side!

This is a money-saving move for your family that is also green and sustainable! Buy one basket and utilize it two times a year! So far, this means that we've spent $3.75 each holiday for our beloved basket. Just think, the number keeps shrinking and shrinking! :)

So, this year - order a "Fabric Easter Bucket" from Pottery Barn. Then, personalize it and utilize it for YEARS to come! Here's link to the buckets on the Pottery Barn website (not sponsored)!

Have a great week and plan for the weekend!

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Tune Into KERA Kids PBS - A 24 Hour Kids Channel for Families

Cartoons? All day? Sign our family up! We love to connect our antenna to the television and watch the over-the-air channels! In the past, we could only receive three to six channels and many of those did not include cartoons during non-morning hours.

So, our little one had to watch Netflix or YouTube during the hours that she could not access her favorite cartoons (i.e. - Wild Kratts, Nature Kat, Daniel Tiger, or Splash and Bubbles. Now, she has a chance to watch all of the shows at any time of the day (even if we have to watch up SUPER early one morning for a 6:00 am flight).

Our local channel, KERA, just released a new 24 hour kids channel (KERA Kids 24/7) that families can access through air or satellite. It is amazing and we will definitely spend many hours during Saturday and Sundays watching her favorite shows!

Here are the KERA Kids Channels within the North Texas Area (KERA, 2017):
Over the Air - 13.2
Spectrum Dallas — Channel 1268
Spectrum Fort Worth — Channel 182
Suddenlink — Available in select areas. Contact your provider’s customer care center.
Northland Corsicana — Channel 114
Northland Stephenville — Channel 114
Northland Mexia — Channel 118

Also, check out the PBS Kids website for amazing resources for homeschool families and parents who teach their children after school! - http://pbskids.org/apps/

The KERA Kids Morning Schedule (as of March 2017)
Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood - 12:00 AM
Splash and Bubbles - 12:30 AM
Nature Cat - 1:00 AM
Ready Jet Go! - 1:30 AM
Wild Kratts - 2:00 AM
Wild Kratts - 2:30 AM
Odd Squad - 3:00 AM
Odd Squad - 3:30 AM
Arthur - 4:00 AM
Arthur - 4:30 AM
Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman - 5:00 AM
Cyberchase - 5:30 AM

The KERA Kids Afternoon Schedule (as of March 2017)
Bob the Builder - 12:00 PM
Word World - 12:30 PM
Super Why! - 1:00 PM
Sesame Street - 1:30 PM
Sesame Street - 2:00 PM
Dinosaur Train - 2:30 PM
Dinosaur Train - 3:00 PM
Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood - 3:30 PM
Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood - 4:00 PM
Splash and Bubbles - 4:30 PM

The KERA Kids Evening Schedule (as of March 2017)

Nature Cat - 5:00 PM

Ready Jet Go! - 5:30 PM
Wild Kratts - 6:00 PM
Wild Kratts - 6:30 PM
Odd Squad - 7:00 PM
Odd Squad - 7:30 PM
Arthur - 8:00 PM
Arthur - 8:30 PM
Super Why! - 9:00 PM
Sesame Street - 9:30 PM
Sesame Street - 10:00 PM
Dinosaur Train - 10:30 PM
Dinosaur Train - 11:00 PM
Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood - 11:30 PM

Also, if you are located in the central Texas area (Aledo, Benbrook, Fort Worth, Granbury, Stephenville, Waco, Weatherford), here is a list of all of your local channels!

Daystar (KDTN) - Channel 2

Fox (KDFW) - Channel 4

NBC (KXAS) - Channel 5

Cozi TV (KXAS-TX2) - Channel 5-2

CBS (KTVT) - Channel 11

Decades (KTVT2) - Channel 1102

PBS (KERA) - Channel 13

World (KERA-TX2) - Channel 13-2

My Network TV (KDFI) - Channel 27

CW (KDFW) - Channel 33

Telemundo (KXTX) - Channel 39

TBN (KDTX) - Channel 58

Ion Network (KPXD) - Channel 68-1

Qubo Network (KPXD-TV2) - Channel 68-2

Ion Life Network (KPXD-TV3) - Channel 68-3 (One of Our Favorites!)

QVC (KPXD-TV5) - Channel 68-5

HSN (KPXD-TV6) - Channel 68-6

Here's a great resource for finding over-the-air channels in your area! - http://www.tvtv.us/

Have a great week and plan for the weekend!

References

KERA (2017). Watch, play, learn, donate. Retrieved from http://pbskids.org/apps/filter/episode/

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8 Homeschool Science Experiments with the sepHbalance Digital pH Meter

We hope you are having a great week! Today is Science Monday for the Weekends Count Evening Homeschool!

This post contains affiliate links to help you build your shopping list and travel list for your family. We are passionate about the product and the experiences listed in this post, but we also wanted to provide easy links you can click to purchase products for your busy lifestyle.

Today, are integrating the  selpHbalance Digital pH Meter in our science experience focused on pH! Check out the video for today's experiment. Also, check out the 8 Ways to Use the selpHbalance pH Meter for Homeschool list below!

8 Ways to Use the selpHbalance pH Meter for Homeschool 

1 - Emphasize the Differences b/t

Acids and Bases.

2 - Learning the pH of Household Products

3 - Comparing the pH of Juice Drinks

4 - Comparing the pH of Different Types of Bottled Water

5 - Comparing the pH of Pond Water vs. Fresh Water

6 - Gathering the pH of Organic Products

7 - Utilizing the pH Powder Solutions available in the Kit

8 - Gathering the pH of Rain & 

Snow

Have a great week and plan for the weekend!

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