I would say these gifts range from ages 4-10 and I’ve just compiled them in one place for ease! Some of these items I am gifting and some my sons already have and love!
It looks like most of these items would ship in time for Christmas! To see last years guides, with many more lists, click here!
Merry Christmas, friends!
Anyone that knows me knows that I LIVE in and love to be in comfy clothing. Jeans in the house?! Never! Well, y’all asked for it, so here are my comfy clothes recommendations! This is just a quick glance at some of my favorites but the items these shops come from are where I usually find my lounge wear and jammies! I hope this is helpful!
I’m excited to share a few gift guides that I put together for you all! I tried my best to link as many small shops as I could. I have linked several items but these are just ideas – many we own and several are items on our wishlist! I hope these are helpful and gives you some good ideas!
Homeschooling kindergarten – it feels like a HUGE deal! Maybe even more so than upper grades because our families have JUST made a brand new commitment to go against the popular choice and to homeschool. What curriculum should I use? Will it be enough?! Is it the right choice? AHHHH.
Ok, collective deep breath. You’re not alone. 
There are so many wonderful choices and whatever you choose will not make or break your child’s future! Rest easy.
This post is simply to share with you what I will be using for my sons kindergarten year. My intention isn’t to sell you on this specific curriculum but just to share what I purchased and maybe give you a jumping off point in your curriculum search. I know it’s so overwhelming.
I also want to acknowledge that you DO NOT need to use any curriculum and at age 5 
(typical Kinder age) schooling should be exceptionally gentle, in my opinion. These years are best spent following your child’s sense of wonder and interests, reading books, playing outside, bonding with family.. just being a kid!
My first time through Kinder, with my oldest, I way overthought the whole thing. I tried to do too much and realized a year later (when he was way more mentally ready) that I didn’t need to push him. He is on his own natural learning path that doesn’t require me to ask him to go above and beyond his ability. Or make him do a lot of things that he doesn’t enjoy. Let’s take it easy on those little ones! Kinder should be FUN and low pressure, in my opinion!
In our home we spend about one hour on anything formal at this age. My kinder son will join us for morning devotionals over breakfast, CC (more on that shortly) memory work, and easy formal lessons after that..
So, let me show you what we are using!
CLASSICAL CONVERSATIONS
Many of you know that we are involved in Classical Conversations and attend a weekly CC co-op. There is a curriculum that is followed but it isn’t a comprehensive curriculum, you still have to supplement math and phonics specifically. You can read more about Classical Conversations in this blog post! We use our CC curriculum to memorize facts in many subjects including math, science, history, timeline, latin, and english. We spend about 20 minutes, 4 days a week, on this. My son, who turns 5 this fall, will be joining his big brother in CC this year. We then expand our learning using Master Books..
Master Books is a company that publishes Biblical Worldview, faith-based, curriculum. We absolutely love this company and all of their resources! Master Books applies a gentle, mastery focused, method to their books. The lessons are short, not overwhelming, and continue at a pace that leaves ample time for the student to master the concept before moving forward. It’s fun and engaging as well!
I purchased this Basic K bundle for my son! It includes programs Math Lessons for a Living Education Level K and Simply K. I did not purchase the Teachers Companion.
MATH
My son has actually already begun the Math K program at age 4 and he has been able to do a lot of it. However, we are now half way through the book and he is beginning to be challenged by some of the work. When we complete MLFLE K I plan to go back and repeat it to a degree. I strongly believe that it’s ok to do work that is slightly below their ability at this age to boost their confidence! It also makes the work more enjoyable which is something I want to foster at this time – a love of learning!
Additionally to Math Level K we spend time playing number games like Uno and using our number tracing board from Treasures From Jennifer! We use our board to practice writing numbers, identifying numbers, and other fun ideas that reinforce numbers!
Simply K focuses on life skills, letters, rhyming, and Bible – it’s a beautiful mixture of early essentials! We have not yet begun this book but it looks like so much fun. Lots of beautiful pages to do and hands on ideas and promptings! The back of the book says this – “Too often, our littlest learners are expected to achieve, despite not having reached critical levels of readiness. It is so important that they are taught with an approach that assesses and addresses their stage of development. This course includes helpful tips, games, a biblical focus on lessons from God’s Word and how we can live for Him, ideas for extended learning, and activites, all based on skills developed through play and interaction.” Excited! Zoom in to read the full Scope and Sequence in the photos below!
In addition to those Master Book selections, my tried and true favorite recommendation for learning letters, letter sounds, and blends is ABC See Hear Do! This has been by far my favorite way to teach letters and my children’s favorite way to learn! ABC See Hear Do uses auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learning styles to teach early reading skills. Basically, for every letter there is an image, a sound, and a motion! This has been profoundly helpful for my children. It has made learning blends so much easier as well.
STRUCTURE
Over breakfast we do our devotional, our traceable calendars, a few minutes of CC memory work, and maybe a fun tracing activity (or any kind of activity I decide I’d like to incorporate). We do this together as a family. Then they usually run off to play. After I clean up breakfast we gather again for formal lessons. I generally do our lessons upstairs in our homeschool space near the playroom. This allows whichever child that isn’t doing a lesson to play with toys.
This will be my first year really teaching two at once. I visualize working with each, one on one, while the other plays with the toddler. Honestly, I’ll have to report back on how we end up structuring everything! It would be lovely to teach both at once, and I think 
we will do that for some subjects (especially in the future), but since lessons are still fairly brief, I think we will try this. Who knows – but again, thats the beauty of homeschooling! We can change it as much as we need to until we find our groove.
I think it’s so important to not let these unknowns scare us or overwhelm us. God has equipped us as mothers and given our children to us for a reason. He cares for them more than we ever could – their education isn’t going to be destroyed because there was a toddler needing to sit on mommy’s lap or a baby that needs a nap. If anything, these are important lessons too. Life is learning.
Xo
Allison
What homeschool mama doesn’t love a beautiful wooden learning tool?! I know I do! Are they necessary? Absolutely not! So before I begin, please understand that you can effectively homeschool without a single one of these items! All that your child truly needs from you is your love, willingness, a pencil, and a library card!
If you are in the market for some beautiful pieces to compliment your homeschool, then I would love to share my favorites with you! We have a few pieces, some used more than others. I’m frequently asked which one I’d recommend if you could only purchase one – so let me share my top 5 favorites and hopefully that will help!
1. Number Tracing Board
We absolutely love our Number Tracing Board from Treasures From Jennifer! It’s probably our number one most used wooden resource! We have the reversible board that has number tracing on one side and counting on the other! The board comes with 
wooden balls to count and a wooden dowel to write with! We use ours most often to practice writing our numbers and building up muscle memory. If my son is working in a work book, and just cant seem to form the number, he traces it multiple times and then is able to better form the number with his pencil in the book. Tons of creative ideas on how to use your board on the website!
2. Wooden Number Line
Our Wooden Number Line is the tool that is most frequently used by my oldest son. This awesome line is made by Crystal’s shop called Bless This Homeschool. This line goes up to 20 and also comes with wooden balls that fit in the grooves. My son is really good at mental math but we are now working with larger numbers. The line comes out every time we work on a math lesson and has been very very helpful for him. He uses it while he’s working through larger math problems. I love it so much and I think it will be used for years to come! Here is a basic list of uses:
3. Shape/Prewriting Tracing Board
We love our reversible Shapes and Prewriting Tracing Board , also from Treasures From Jennifer! This is a great tool for those early years and we use it any time we are talking about shapes! Shapes are on one side and a variety of lines on the other! This board has so many uses:
4. 10 Frame
This 10 Frame is a relatively inexpensive, but a super useful, little tool. We have been 
using this frame since my son started “kinder.” Ten frames are used to help kiddos learn counting to 10, as well as addition and subtraction. Its a great visual aid. Every curriculum I’ve used has used ten frames, and while a paper frame is just as effective, we love pulling this beauty. We have used it almost every lesson for the last 2 years.
5. Reversible Alphabet Tracing Board
The Alphabet Tracing Board is definitely a pricier investment but extremely beneficial for little learners! There is an option for one sided or reversible – the reversible has uppercase letters on one side and lowercase letters on the other. Cursive boards are available too! I will say that I don’t grab for it as much as I’d like because it’s quite large and heavy. I think these Tracing Cards would be another great option. Anyways, back to the board, there are soooo many creative ways to use it!
Not listed, we also have a wooden 100 Frame that hasn’t been used much yet, maybe someday soon. The last item I have is a beautiful Spelling Board that I’m excited to start using with my son as he learns to spell!
It’s important that we spend our money wisely, so if something like this is in your budget, I hope this list was helpful! Happy learning!
Xo,
Allison
“Curriculum.” The word that triggers overwhelm in any homeschool mamas’ heart! With all of the choices it can feel nearly impossible to choose. How do we know which 
will be a good fit? Which one aligns with my beliefs? What will my child enjoy? How much does it cost? And the questions go on..
My intention for this post is to simply share what we used this year. It may or may not be a good fit for your family, but maybe it will be a good jumping off point as you’re considering different options!
CLASSICAL CONVERSATIONS
Many of you know that we are involved in Classical Conversations and attend a weekly CC co-op. There is a curriculum that is followed but it isn’t a comprehensive curriculum, you still have to supplement math and phonics specifically. You can read more about Classical Conversations in this blog post! We use our CC curriculum to memorize facts in many subjects including math, science, history, timeline, latin, and english. We spend about 20 minutes, 4 days a week, on this. We then expand our learning using Master Books..
This year we switched almost exclusively to Master Books. I purchased the older version of this bundle. Last year we used a wide variety of resources for phonics (never really finding a good fit) and The Good and The Beautiful Math K. We enjoyed kindergarten 
year but I knew we needed to make some changes. What we had been using felt overwhelming and too fast paced. Overwhelming for my son because of the amount of fast moving information, and overwhelming for mommy because of prep.
I spent a lot of time researching curriculum options 
and kept coming back to the gentle, Biblical worldview, approach of Master Books. In this video I show the differences between The Good and The Beautiful Math K and Master Books Math Lessons for a Living Education Level 1. So I suppose that brings us to math..
MATH
This year we started out using Math Lessons for a Living Education Level 1 and right off the bat my son was so pleased with it! The lessons are gentle and quick. Master Books is 
a Biblically sound curriculum that is focused on Mastery. It uses various techniques to help the student take in the concept and master it before moving forward. We completed this math book within 6 months. My son does have a knack for math and found some of the lessons quite simple, but that was no problem, we simply did more than one day of lessons at a time! I often get asked if its ok for our children to do work that is “beneath” them and my thought is that it benefits the young child because it boosts confidence! And truly, thats what we want in these early years!
PHONICS
I was pretty unsure going into the school year regarding phonics because this is an area that my son thoroughly dislikes. He would basically shut down with all phonics curriculum prior. The one thing he loved, and still loves, is ABC See Hear Do. We used Book 1 to learn letter sounds and basic blending. We ended up using it exclusively until this past fall (2019). It is SO fun! We are continuing to use it as a fun supplemental activity for phonics.
overwhelming to him. It was the perfect next step from ABC See Hear Do. We did one lesson, 4 days a week, and finished up in 6 months. He began the book with very limited ability to blend words and by the end of the book he was able to blend large words with confidence. He is still NOT a fluent reader but has made incredible progress.
For Foundation Phonics I simply tore out the student worksheets and put them in a folder for my son and then I used the book as my teachers manual. It worked out great.
Lastly, in addition to these resources, we have been absolutely loving our Dash Into Learning readers! These little readers are beautiful and so engaging. I love that the adorable illustrations don’t give away what the sentence is saying! My son reads me one reader almost daily just as a way to practice. BUT Dash Into Learning can be used as an exclusive reading program. There is parent handbook for each set AND a lesson at the beginning of each reader! Please feel free to take advantage of my discount code that will save you 25% – use code ALLISON25!
Even though our first grade bundle from Master Books came with a science and history curriculum, it proved to be a bit too much for my son. He simply wasn’t ready to focus for that long on so many subjects this year, so we didn’t push it. PLUS children should be playing most of the day and they are inadvertently learning SO much just by being outdoors! I count that as science! Boom, done! We will be trying to ease into these two additional curriculum this coming year!
As far as actual curriculum, that about sums it up for our First Grade Year! We really loved how smoothly this year went and I wholeheartedly believe that had to do with the
open and go, simple, and gentle approach of Master Books. I have no plans at this time to switch curriculum companies – but again, thats the beauty of homeschool, nothing is written in stone! If it’s not working, change it!
I hope this was helpful for you! Please keep an eye out as I share what I’m planning to use for my rising Kindergartener and my son who will be moving up to “second grade” curriculum! I’ll also be sharing our daily rhythm and what homeschooling looks like for us day to day!
Xo, Allison
Our fourth son was born at home on February 29, 2020. Here is our home birth story!
At 26 weeks pregnant my husband and I switched gears to pursue a midwife assisted home birth. A decision that was difficult but felt right. So many factors went into this choice, and as unknown as the path felt, there was peace.
On Friday, February 28, I was 40 weeks and 2 days pregnant. It was a pretty average day. I napped, played with the kids, and that evening we went out to dinner with my parents. After dinner we took a walk around the neighborhood before putting the boys to bed. I remember saying to my family that I was feeling fine and that tonight was definitely not the night..
Around 3 am, on the 29th, I was startled awake by the sensation of something leaking out of me. I jumped out of bed and went to the restroom. There was a substantial amount of fluid but not enough to be a full break of my water. I woke up Joseph to tell him and we exchanged excited smiles. I then spoke with my midwife and she confirmed that it was a high leak and then asked me to let her know when my first contractions began. My past 3 labors progressed rapidly so we were certain it would be off the races – but we were definitely wrong!
For the next few hours I sat anxiously bouncing on my birth ball, in the dark of my room, waiting for contractions to pick up. They were very sporadic and not terribly intense.
At around 7am I was still bouncing away and letting my husband get some last minutes of rest before things really got started. Excitement, adrenaline, and nerves coursing through me. By the time our midwife arrived everyone was making their way downstairs for breakfast and learned of baby’s impending arrival.
Our home was buzzing with excitement. Our midwife arrived and began to get everything set up. My sons peering over everything she was doing and she happily gave them a little walk through of all of her equipment! She then suggested I try walking the stairs to see if that would help things along..
I walked the stairs, sat on the birth ball, diffused Clary Sage, etc before things started to pick up. Around 9am I let my photographer know to make her way over. She arrived and by this point I was getting quite uncomfortable, though not unbearable, and decided to sit in the bath. Unfortunately, the bath seemed to stall out my contractions a bit so I climbed out after not too long. I requested my midwife to check me (around 10am) because I was feeling a tad defeated. She found that I was 8cm but just needed to get in a strong labor pattern. She said she thought I was distracted by everyone around me and suggested my husband and I labor alone for 30 min..
As everyone left the room my second midwife told me that sitting backwards on the toilet was an excellent position to stimulate contractions. My husband sat behind me and rubbed my back as I sat on the toilet. I’m telling you, the second I sat backwards on the 
toilet I had a MASSIVE contraction! I actually stood up to regroup, haha! My husband and I really enjoyed laboring alone for those 30 minutes. The contractions were super intense, but I was able to breath through them as he rubbed my back, and he was making me laugh so much in between each. For instance my husband was trying to get our Echo to play my birth playlist and it started playing the Harry Potter theme music. HAHA. I’m glad we had those few minutes alone..
Around 10:30-10:45 I decided to get back in the tub and we let everyone back in. Labor didn’t slow at all this time and body was well on its way to bringing our son earth side. My husband and older sons rarely ever leaving my side. Their hushed words of affirmation, gentle reassuring touches, and the soft worship music playing, brought me so much peace..
Over and over I repeated in my head, “I am not afraid,” “there is no fear in love,” rebuking the pain and only considering it as power coursing through me. Never have I wanted to be in such discomfort, but knowing holding our son would be the reward, I welcomed each surge. I was able to maintain my composure with low moaning – which was so important to me, as my young sons were in the room. I could tell I was getting 
close to the end but baby did not seem to be dropping down into his final position. I felt something was wrong or hindering his descent..
I asked my midwife to see if I had a cervical lip. I did. At about 11:15-11:30 we decided it would be best for me to get out of the tub. We made our way back over to the bed and the contractions were fierce. I desperately did not want to lay down so I leaned over the side of the bed. While I was in this position my water fully broke. I had SO much fluid (floors were protected, lol). Fortunately, it was clear and then of course everything kicked into high gear..
I could not hold myself up at this point. The intensity of the contractions were a lot and my legs were feeling so weak. They were shaking and giving out. Though it wasn’t my ideal scenario we chose to move up to the bed, laying on my left side..
Our son still was stuck on the cervical lip so my midwife assisted me in holding it back while I gave one good push. His head immediately descended and wedged the cervical lip out of the way. He was well on his way..
I had my right leg on my first midwife’s shoulder, my second midwife was holding my left foot to push against, I was gripping my husbands shirt (it’s a miracle I didn’t rip it 
clean off his back 🤣) with my right hand and the bed sheets with my left. I used all of the power within me and his head was out. I hilariously said “DONT LET HIM GO BACK IN!” To which everyone responded, “uh, his whole head is out, he’s not going back in!” LOL
Those last moments before he was born into his fathers hands panic threatened to overwhelm 
me. Those last moments are indescribable, no words could accurately explain it – it feels as though it is the sheer pinnacle of what the human body can endure. Things definitely got a bit primal and low moans were no longer cutting it. I wish I could have held my composure a little better for my sons, but we have talked extensively about how thoseloud sounds represent the power it takes for a mommy to birth..
At 12:09pm, on February 29, our son was born and I am forever changed. The making of a mother, absolutely never the same. He cried, we cried, the relief of having him here, having labor behind me, knowing we are okay. My first natural birth, first home birth, longest labor at 9 hours, and largest baby at 8lb 15oz.
After he was born he immediately nursed and we let the cord remain in tact until it stopped pulsing. My placenta separated and I pushed it out with one push within minutes of his birth. I was bleeding quite a bit so we asked everyone to leave the room while my midwives accessed the situation. They were able to manage my bleeding with herbs.
Once they had me all taken care of and tucked in bed our family came back in. The boys got to snuggle their baby brother and our photographer captured it all. Our midwife showed us all the placenta and taught the boys all about it – it was fascinating and such a cool experience!
My midwives stayed with us for about 3 hours post birth and were absolute angels. I’m so grateful for them.
And now it’s been 11 weeks of holding our boy and I feel like time is an absolute thief. Oh but I wouldn’t change a thing. Freshly born at home right into the midst of his adoring family.
This experience was beyond words. I’m deeply grateful for it.
Every morning we gather around the breakfast table, and as the children eat, I read from our daily devotional! This has been such a life giving way to begin each day. I frequently get asked which devotionals I recommend, so I made an entire video reviewing some devotionals we love and what ages I’d recommend for each! The age recommendations are my personal opinion. My little ones sit in and listen even though my older son is the one who is really grasping what I’m reading. But that’s ok, His word doesn’t return void! Devotionals should never replace the Word but they certainly are such a wonderful tool for little ears. I love to read over breakfast when my boys are sitting quietly and their hands are occupied with their food. We wrap up our devotional time with prayer and then move into our morning time lessons (a post I’ll soon write)! We are currently reading through several new devotional books and I’ll be sharing on those later! Below are two quick images of the books I review for your reference but you can find them linked in my Amazon shop by clicking HERE!
Please watch my Children’s Devotional Review in it’s entirety by clicking HERE! I hope this is helpful to you in selecting an age appropriate devotional for your family! God bless!
As many of you probably know, I am a licensed cosmetologist and worked in the salon for 7 years before staying home full time 5 years ago! Now I like to call myself a “kitchen beautician!” I do hair out of my kitchen and cut my sons hair monthly, and my husbands hair every two weeks. A lot of mamas were in need of tips for cutting their sons hair during this stay home order, so I put together a little tutorial! I hope you find it helpful! You can watch it in it’s entirety by clicking HERE!
I love love love Christmas books and our collection is ever growing. In fact, I just ordered 7 new ones (thanks to 3 Barnes and 
Noble gift cards and a coupon code)! I pulled out our stack the other day and felt giddy with excitement for the season to begin. If I were to list all of my books, this would be a crazy long post, so I’ve decided to just share some favorites!
In our home we do not “do” Santa Clause, but we do have some books that contain Santa. (I’ll be updating this post soon and I am eliminating some Santa books). That subject could be a whole other blog post, am I right? Hah! So, if you’re on the hunt for faith centered books, here are 10 that I think you’ll enjoy!
2. Song of the Stars by Sally Lloyd-Jones – This sweet sweet book excitedly follows the rumor that the long-awaited son has been born, spreading throughout creation.
3. Room for a Little One by Martin Waddell and Jason Cockcroft – The illustrations in this book are beautiful, and so is the message. Various animals come to the stable, seeking safety and warmth, and the kind ox invites them in. Finally, donkey arrives at the stable carrying Mary, is invited in, and baby Jesus is born in the night.
4. Humphrey’s First Christmas by Carol Heyer – This adorable and funny book follows the adventures of Humphrey the camel as he carries one of the wisemen and his feelings as he comes into the presence of Jesus.
5. The Pinetree Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs – This darling parable is about a family who grows Christmas trees. They plan to keep the most beautiful one for themselves until a poor child teaches them what Christmas is really all about. I especially love that each page has corresponding scripture!
6. Why Do We Call it Christmas? by Phil Vischer – This excellent book breaks down the real meaning behind our favorite Christmas traditions, and the story of Christmas, in a super fun way. It is so informative and helps ease confusion that kiddos may have surrounding the holiday! I highly recommend it, but keep in mind that this book does talk about how the character of Santa came to be, so it wouldn’t be good for children who believe in Santa.
7. The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston – This touching story takes place in the mountains of North Carolina. It’s about a family who finally has the privilege of selecting the church Christmas tree. It is touching and meaningful, an absolute winner.
8. Christmas in the Country by Cynthia Rylant and Diane Goode – Tossing this one in for those who are doing Santa because this is such a sweet story. It’s about a little girls memory of Christmas, with her grandparents, in Appalachia. Adorable illustrations and a focus on the love of family.
9. Mortimer’s Christmas Manger by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman – Mortimer is a mouse who tries to make his new home in the nativity scene a family has set up in their living room. Each time he leaves and comes back everything has been put back in it’s place. He soon learns the story of the nativity and decides to move into a Gingerbread house instead. Cute and fun!
I hope you’ll find a book or two that you love from this list! We have many more, and obviously there are countless amazing Christmas books out there, but I wanted to share specifically what I own. Like I shared earlier, I did purchase 7 new faith-based Christmas books, this year, that I believe are going to be new favorites. Definitely take a look at these as well, though I cannot review them from personal experience yet!
Merry Christmas, friends!!
Xo
Her Hearts Homeschool 