We have a brand new set of Heart Coloring printables for you! These are great for adults who like to color as well as children. Just perfect for Valentine’s Day!

The idea behind “Just Color!” is simple ~ theme packs all focused around coloring. The coloring pages are all in one download to make it easier to download and print all at once, in case you have coloring monsters like I do!

If you want to make a mini coloring book, you can scale down PDF files.

Here’s a peek at the different pages in this free printable set! Pick the ones you like and enjoy some coloring time {with or without your kids}!

Download your free Heart Coloring Pages here!

Scroll down until you see this graphic and click to download the set.

Our original Love Coloring set is here, and our Love Bible Verse Coloring set is here. We also have another Hearts Coloring set here!

We also have more LOVE Bible verse coloring pages in our Bible Verse Coloring Through the Year bundle!

These and more! 

Educents is the online marketplace for educational products and resources saving you up to 90% on engaging lesson plans, interactive worksheets, hands-on learning tools, educational games and more! Plus, Freebies are added daily!

Each week we will feature photo{s} and ideas from blogs who link up. Remember, provide a link back to Tot School Gathering Place within your post that you link up, so you can be considered for the feature!

Welcome to February!!! The groundhog predicted 6 more weeks of winter. I’m really hoping he was wrong! This Thursday, however, is National Pizza Day! Did you know that 3 billion pizzas are sold in the USA each year? That’s quite a lot of pizza! Pepperoni is the most popular pizza comprising 36% of all pizzas ordered. To celebrate the day, maybe you and your Tot could make a pizza together or read some books about pizza. We even have an entire printable theme unit about pizza here! Whatever you and your Tot do this week, don’t forget to link up to the Gathering Place! We’d love to see what you’re up to!

Are you curious about how others do Tot School? Head on over to Simply Me and see how Mama Earthea and Tot Mingli did Tot School this past week. Some of their ideas may inspire you and your Tot!

Valentine’s is just a little over a week away! Why not head over to Welcome to Mommyhood to see some Valentine’s Day inspired practical life activities. Your Tot is sure to “LOVE” them!

Do you have your FREE

Where to Begin with Tot School eBook?

See the Tot School webpage here!

Follow {1plus1plus1} Carisa’s board Tot School Ideas on Pinterest.

Are you NEW or have never been featured? Read this! Basics: write a specific post about what you did with your tot, link up the permalink from your post, link back to Tot School within that post, put your tot’s age in months in ( ) like this: (43 months).

Educents is the online marketplace for educational products and resources saving you up to 90% on engaging lesson plans, interactive worksheets, hands-on learning tools, educational games and more! Plus, Freebies are added daily!

{We were given the Spielgaben set to review and are honored to have them as a blog sponsor.}

We have had our Spielgaben set for years now and have grown with it. This year for 2nd grade, we are using Spielgaben as an extension of our math curriculum. Spielgaben is releasing a full math program soon and we were sent a preview file of PDFs for the 2nd grade curriculum. These are the worksheets you see in this post. They are not available yet but will be soon, follow along with us and I will let you know when you can get your hands on this new math program!

She has been deep into multiplication lately with her core math curriculum so I went through the Spielgaben math files and pulled out several multiplication sheets so we could work on the same concepts in a different way! It was neat to see what she did and didn’t understand. Adding in hands-on pieces really helps a lot and is one of the main reasons I continue to supplement her math.

She chose whether she wanted to use objects or just do the problem in her head. For most she chose objects, some she did on her own.

This was another day and she chose to do this one entirely without using any objects.

What usually happens when we pull out Spielgaben supplies for math? Her creative juices begin to flow and she often wants to play after our lesson. I am a BIG fan of this and encourage her to play! This particular day was awesome. She spontaneously set up a store for us. She made lollipops, flowers, fans and birds. Then we played store.

Little did she know it was a sneaky way to get in a good review of counting money.

Spontaneous, playful, fun learning. And that’s why I love Spielgaben.

See more math fun we have had with Spielgaben!

See version 4.0 here!

Educents is the online marketplace for educational products and resources saving you up to 90% on engaging lesson plans, interactive worksheets, hands-on learning tools, educational games and more! Plus, Freebies are added daily!

We have a fun new set of printables for you that I have been working on for years! Yes, years! Well, it didn’t take me that long to create them, but the idea came to me years ago, I started them and never finished until now! These all new Beginning Sound Mazes are a new way to have fun with beginning sounds! Perfect for many Kindergartners, 1st graders and even some preschoolers.

So, how do you use them?

The control charts should only be needed if the child needs assistance. They are also a great tool on their own without the mazes!

There are many different ways to have fun with these mazes. Your child can simply use a pencil, crayons or markers to mark each dot. Or try one of these creative ideas: Dot Paint, dot stickers, finger paint, KwikStix, Dry Erase Activity Center, or magnets with a cookie sheet!

See some of our favorite tools from Amazon below {jump to blog if reading in email}

Download A, B and C for free here!

Want to buy the entire set?

You can buy it here in our Teacher’s Notebook Shop!

Looking for more fun with the alphabet?

Educents is the online marketplace for educational products and resources saving you up to 90% on engaging lesson plans, interactive worksheets, hands-on learning tools, educational games and more! Plus, Freebies are added daily!

Each week we will feature photo{s} and ideas from blogs who link up. Remember, provide a link back to Tot School Gathering Place within your post that you link up, so you can be considered for the feature!

Did you know that today is National Puzzle Day? It is! So grab your Tot and enjoy an afternoon of putting some puzzles together. They can be jigsaw puzzles, brain teasers, word search, or crossword puzzles! Whatever you and your Tot decide to do to work out your brains, don’t forget to share about it by posting your link up to the Gathering Place! We love to see what you’re up to!

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner! If you are looking for some Valentine’s Tot Trays, head on over to SmartE PartE and see the different ones that Mama Kristin put together for Tot E! They may just be what your Tot needs to feel the love of Tot Schooling!

Is your Tot learning sight words? Take a look at disguised.as.a.supermom to see the different activities that Mama Katelynne created to help Tot M reinforce her learning of sight words.

Sometimes kindness comes easy to our Tots – sometimes it doesn’t. Check out how GrandMama Deb is teaching GrandTot Zoey about acts of kindness over at Bits of Positivity. Practice makes perfect! And if we can teach our Tots to be kind at a young age, just think how much better our world will be in the future!

Do you have your FREE

Where to Begin with Tot School eBook?

See the Tot School webpage here!

Follow {1plus1plus1} Carisa’s board Tot School Ideas on Pinterest.

Are you NEW or have never been featured? Read this! Basics: write a specific post about what you did with your tot, link up the permalink from your post, link back to Tot School within that post, put your tot’s age in months in ( ) like this: (43 months).

Educents is the online marketplace for educational products and resources saving you up to 90% on engaging lesson plans, interactive worksheets, hands-on learning tools, educational games and more! Plus, Freebies are added daily!

We have quite a few free Valentine’s Day printables and ideas. I have gathered them all together here for you so you can easily jump around and see what you might want to use!

One of the very first things I created was a Love Tot Pack.  We have used these printables for years and still do!  Lots of fun with hearts! Another oldie for us ~ our Love Printables focused on 1 Corinthians 13.  We have used these since Krash was tiny and still enjoy pulling them out each year!

We’ve shared a couple of Love Theme homeschool wrap up posts.  LOVE Preschool Theme, and another Love Homeschool Theme.

Our simple Valentine’s Day Sensory Bin has provide years of fun for my kids.

Our original Love Coloring set is here, and our Love Bible Verse Coloring set is here. We also have a Hearts Coloring set here!

Find our Valentine’s Day Q-Tip Painting here and February Calendar Cards here!

Follow {1plus1plus1} Carisa’s board Valentines Day on Pinterest.

Educents is the online marketplace for educational products and resources saving you up to 90% on engaging lesson plans, interactive worksheets, hands-on learning tools, educational games and more! Plus, Freebies are added daily!

{disclaimer ~ TT is a sponsor and affiliate links are in this post. We used TT long before they ever became a sponsor, we are grateful for our new partnership!}

I am simply in love with Teaching Textbooks. Using level 3 with my daughter this year has only solidified that love. My boys have been using TT for 3 years now, but this is her first year and my first year seeing it from the beginning. Now that Ladybug is over half way through I wanted to do a review and answer some questions I have gotten this year!

First, I want to take a minute and explain a bit about what makes TT different from other homeschool math programs.

Teaching Textbooks were designed specifically for independent learners. Each Teaching Textbook has approximately 700 pages of text and 120 – 160 hours of teacher instruction on CD-ROM, and is both a teacher and a textbook combined into one. There are audiovisual step-by-step explanations for every single one of the almost 3,500 problems in the book. Using a Teaching Textbook is like having a tutor available at the push of a button, which means I do NOT have to know it all!

I made a video to explain and show a few things and want to share that first. I expand on some of it in the post below, but in this video you can see a peek at the program on the computer, some ways I help her} my sticky note method}, inside of the book itself, and some of my rambling thoughts about this awesome program.

Table of Contents

You can download a PDF of the table of contents here to see it in full. Look for this graphic, you’ll also see the link for the TT 3 placement test there too!

Our Lesson Checklist

In the video I show our personal checklist and you can download a copy here if you’d like to use it.

Does she work independently?

She works by herself most of the time but I am always nearby. Sometimes she uses her headphones and just pauses if she needs me. Other times she leaves the sound so I can hear and I follow along and help as needed. Honestly after about a month she was mostly independent.

How is the review?

I am a BIG fan of cyclical review in math, kids can’t be forgetting things! Teaching Textbooks does a great job of this in my opinion. The review is scattered in but not overwhelming.

How are the multiplication lessons presented?

Multiplication is introduced in level 3 and you can see the order of the lessons in the screenshot below. I talk about this a bit more in the video if you haven’t watched it yet.

Do we supplement at all?

Yes! I am still a big fan of hands-on learning especially in the early math years. Adding in some fun is important to me. We mainly use Spielgaben for this, you can see our monthly posts here. We also play math games, like our printable multiplication games here. If I see her struggling to understand at all, I will pull together a hands-on lesson to reinforce and teach differently. Below you can see a photo I shared on Instagram here, showing us playing the Winter Multiplication Games and using the Skip Counting Charts from Homeschool Creations.

How is this compared to other 2nd grade math programs we used?

We  used a more traditional homeschool math program for PacMan and for Krash we used Singapore. I have never really loved the traditional math programs, but I did really love Singapore. The problem for me was the amount of teacher involvement needed. I simply did not have that kind of time and began looking elsewhere when I finally realized Singapore wouldn’t be a good fit for our family long term. About that time PacMan was moving into Pre Algebra and I was getting a bit nervous. We started Teaching Textbooks then with him and since he was going to be using it, I decided to give Math 4 a try for Krash who was in 3rd grade at the time. We haven’t looked back! Krash is now using Math 6, and PacMan is using Geometry. We plan to use Teaching Textbooks all the way through high school!

What level should my child begin with?

Teaching Textbooks is often different than your child’s actual grade level. My daughter is in 2nd grade and using level 3 right now, it’s a perfect fit. You’ll notice when my boys used each level so far in the list below…

For Krash ~

• Math 4 for 3rd grade
• Math 5 in 4th Grade
• Math 6 for 5th grade this year

For PacMan ~

• Pre Algebra for 7th Grade
• Algebra 1 for 8th Grade
• Geometry for 9th grade this year

If you are curious about Teaching Textbooks and thinking of making the switch, they have placement tests for you to use to make the process easier!

See another post about Teaching Textbooks here.

Educents is the online marketplace for educational products and resources saving you up to 90% on engaging lesson plans, interactive worksheets, hands-on learning tools, educational games and more! Plus, Freebies are added daily!

Each week we will feature photo{s} and ideas from blogs who link up. Remember, provide a link back to Tot School Gathering Place within your post that you link up, so you can be considered for the feature!

It’s hard to believe we are almost through with the first month of the year! What better way to celebrate than to eat pie! Tuesday is National Pie Day! Maybe you and your Tot could celebrate by baking your own pie. Or maybe you could play the pie in the face game! Whatever you decide to do, make sure you link up your activities to the Gathering Place! We love to see what you are up to!

Winter often brings thoughts of ice, snow, and cute winter creatures! Head on over to Welcome to Mommyhood to see the Arctic themed activities that Mama Yuliya designed for her Tot Y! They may delight your Tot as well!

Are you looking for activities to help your Tot learn or reinforce the letter M? Take a peek at the letter M printables pack from Living a Mission, Being a Mummy created by Mama Kate for her Tot Adam and see if they will work with your Tot!

Looking for some simple ideas for February? Check out our LOVE Theme Preschool here and even more Valentine’s Day ideas here!

Do you have your FREE

Where to Begin with Tot School eBook?

See the Tot School webpage here!

Follow {1plus1plus1} Carisa’s board Tot School Ideas on Pinterest.

Are you NEW or have never been featured? Read this! Basics: write a specific post about what you did with your tot, link up the permalink from your post, link back to Tot School within that post, put your tot’s age in months in ( ) like this: (43 months).

Educents is the online marketplace for educational products and resources saving you up to 90% on engaging lesson plans, interactive worksheets, hands-on learning tools, educational games and more! Plus, Freebies are added daily!

We have a new set of Snowy Fun math printables for you! This new mini set features adorable winter animals! Use these fun winter printables to work on patterning, sorting, graphing, counting, and more! Great for tots, preschoolers and Kindergarteners.

Find the following pages in this free set…

Download your Free Snowy Fun Math Printables here!

Looking for more winter animal fun? Be sure to check out our free The Mitten Printables, The Mitten Letter Mazes and The Mitten Q-Tip Painting.

Educents is the online marketplace for educational products and resources saving you up to 90% on engaging lesson plans, interactive worksheets, hands-on learning tools, educational games and more! Plus, Freebies are added daily!

Each week we will feature photo{s} and ideas from blogs who link up. Remember, provide a link back to Tot School Gathering Place within your post that you link up, so you can be considered for the feature!

This Tuesday is National Winnie-the-Pooh Day! So gather your Tot, a pot of honey, and your favorite Winnie-the-Pooh story and enjoy some time together! This day actually commemorates the author A.A. Milne’s birthday! Milne created the loveable bear after a bear that lived at the London Zoo and was dearly loved by his son Christopher Robin. Don’t forget to share with us all your adventures with your Tot here at the Gathering Place! We always love seeing what you are up to!

Are you looking for a book to read to your Tot that covers several different areas of subject content? Head on over to disguised.as.a.supermom to see the book that she shared with Tot M and the many activities centered around the story!

Winter is in full swing and what better way to beat the blues than to work on a penguin themed activity! Take a peek at the printable that Mama Yuliya from Welcome to Mommyhood is sharing and see if it might interest your Tot!

I love “seeing” into a Tot School week! Check out Modern Momma Musings to see what Mama Alexis and Tot Sugar Plum did throughout the week!

Do you have your FREE

Where to Begin with Tot School eBook?

See the Tot School webpage here!

Follow {1plus1plus1} Carisa’s board Tot School Ideas on Pinterest.

Are you NEW or have never been featured? Read this! Basics: write a specific post about what you did with your tot, link up the permalink from your post, link back to Tot School within that post, put your tot’s age in months in ( ) like this: (43 months).

Educents is the online marketplace for educational products and resources saving you up to 90% on engaging lesson plans, interactive worksheets, hands-on learning tools, educational games and more! Plus, Freebies are added daily!