This post may contain affiliate or advertiser links. Read my full disclosure policy here.

This summer {well, ok – often}, we’ve really been stressing the importance of service with our kids. It’s something we long to instill in each of their hearts and we try to talk about it a lot. This week our children started VBS at a local church and at the end of the first day, the parents were invited to sit down and hear the kids sing a song they had been working on.

The title of the song? Go Serve Our World.

The kids have apparently been listening to us {oh, hooray!!}, because as soon as they ran to meet me, they were telling me all about how the theme was service – and “WE’VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THAT AT HOME! ISN’T THAT FUNNY?” {And yes, they were yelling. And it was very loud. They may have been very excited…or truthfully, just always loud}.

Our ideas for service and helping out in our community have required a little bit of imagination and creativity in some ways, but we have come up with a list that we are working on: helping older people {including grandparents} with yard work and weeding, assisting during VBS {older girls}, babysitting for moms, helping an older couple with their horse farm and mucking stalls. We’re also going to bake cookies for others, make a few meals for someone who is sick, and…well, the kids are still working on our list!

Some of the ideas may not be as fun as others, but sometimes serving others means we have to get a little messy, right? The point is our heart attitude and being willing to serve.

ACTS: A Call to Serve from Adventures in Odyssey

This summer, Adventures in Odyssey is prompting children {and families} to serve others around them, both near and far. Children can win some GREAT prizes, including a missions trip to Costa Rica!! You can find out more details at www.whitsend.org/acts.  Families can also download

• an ACTS “Summer of Service” kit here: A.C.T.S. Summer of Service Kit
• a FREE podcast on the Business of Busyness

Will you join in? Grab a copy of the Weekly Service ideas, print it off, and get the ideas flowing as a family.

A FREE eBook and an Imagination Station Books 1-3 Giveaway!

Our family really enjoys listening to Adventures in Odyssey {lately, it’s been something the girls have enjoyed listening to before bedtime}. Our summer reading also includes their newer Imagination Station books, a wonderful chapter-book early reader series. If you’ve been curious about the books, be sure to check out and download a FREE e-book of Imagination Station #1: Voyage with the Vikings!

AND – Adventures in Odyssey is giving one of my readers a set of the first three Imagination Station books – Voyage of the Vikings, Attack at the Arena, and Peril in the Palace. To enter, just follow the directions on the Rafflecopter widget below.

Giveaway is open to US residents only or those with a US mailing address. Giveaway ends Friday, June 21, 2013 at 11:59pm.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Teach Them Diligently Marketplace - an inspirational new day-and-a-half homeschool event in nine locations the summer of 2013. Featuring four main speakers and a 30,000 square foot vendor hall.

This post may contain affiliate or advertiser links. Read my full disclosure policy here.

The end of the school year is here and it’s time to begin planning for the upcoming year! To give you a headstart on the 2013 year, the Weekly Homeschool Planner is on sale for $12 {down from the regular price of $20}! Just use the code JUNESALE at checkout. Click the “Add to Cart” button at the end of this post to take advantage of the sale price through June 22, 2013.

An Editable pdf Homeschool Planner!

The Weekly Homeschool Planner is an editable pdf document, meaning each of the pdf pages can be typed in, edited, and saved to your own computer every time you use it. Type lesson plans into the page and print them off or simply save them to your computer ~ the choice is up to you!

Edit plans any time and save the planner to your computer to have a digital copy each year. Organize your school day, record your daily learning, track testing results and more! Personalize it to fit your family! You can also print off a paper copy

The Weekly Homeschool Planner includes daily attendance tracking, 40 weeks of customizable planning and journal sheets, yearly curriculum planning pages, evaluation sheets, field trip planning, standardized testing and assessment result tracking, daily to-do lists, menu planners and more! View a sample peek of the Weekly Homeschool Planner.

Already purchased the Weekly Homeschool Planner? Then become an affiliate so you get a 25% commission using your affiliate link when you share the planner with others! Tweet about it, post about it and share it on Facebook with your friends.

Hurry – the sale ends Saturday, June 22, 2013!

Grab the pdf Weekly Homeschool Planner for $12!

* This is an editable pdf file that you can save to your computer and use year after year. To learn more about the Weekly Homeschool Planner, click HERE.

Teach Them Diligently Marketplace - an inspirational new day-and-a-half homeschool event in nine locations the summer of 2013. Featuring four main speakers and a 30,000 square foot vendor hall.

This post may contain affiliate or advertiser links. Read my full disclosure policy here.

Before you go too far this week, can I ask you all a favor? You know how much you enjoy it when someone leaves a comment on your blog? Today would you try to visit three new people that link up using the linky and just say hi and encourage them?

You know it would mean the world to them!!

Here are a few ideas from moms linking up with us last week…

Invitation to Create put together a fun edible zoo so the kids can play and eat all at the same time – I love it!

This ladybug craft from The Magnolia Barn is so sparkly and cute. I happen to have some scrapbook paper that looks very similar to the wings…hmm…

Mama to 5 Blessings has some really neat castles that her kids built during a knights and castles unit.

The whale artwork that Little Bins for Little Hands worked on is so cute. {I’m wondering how I ever missed that great Usborne book on whales!!}

Ready to Link Up?

Share what you are doing with your kids! Please link your exact blog post to the Mr. Linky below and link back here too! Grab a button for your post below and be sure to take a minute to visit the person who linked up before you. You can read more in the updated guidelines for Preschool and Kindergarten Community. By linking up, you are granting permission for me to share your wonderful ideas and pictures with others in periodic show-and-tell posts.

Be specific in your ‘link title’. Leave either your blog name or theme and provide an age range for your activities. Something a little like this:

Police Officer Theme {ages 4-5}

Were you featured?

<a href="http://www.homeschoolcreations.net/category/Preschool%20Corner" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.homeschoolcreations.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Featured-on-Preschool-and-Kindergarten-Community.png" title="I was featured at the Preschool and Kindergarten Community at Homeschool Creations" /></a>

Teach Them Diligently Marketplace - an inspirational new day-and-a-half homeschool event in nine locations the summer of 2013. Featuring four main speakers and a 30,000 square foot vendor hall.

This post may contain affiliate or advertiser links. Read my full disclosure policy here.

Over the next bit before we kick back into full school mode, I am a wee bit determined to keep the kids occupied with something other than the tv {can I get an amen?}. When the weather starts heating up, we are sure to hear the ‘it’s too warm to play outside’ line and I plan to be prepared with a few things to do together.

1. Pick FIVE things on our Pinterest boards to actually do. I know that I am not alone in having massive amounts of things pinned on my gagillion Pinterest boards that look super fun…and then forget about them, right? The kids and I are going through the boards together and each picking one thing to do this summer. It can be as simple as painting our nails something fun {well, maybe not for the boys}, or building a water balloon launcher that we’ve been talking about for ages.

And this bulletin board idea from Find Joy in the Journey? Ummmm…genius!! Especially because we can also plan out some fun activities and add pictures from my Instagram feed. Oh yes – this is FIRST on my list to do!

2. Serve in our local community. With the Adventures in Odyssey ‘Summer of Service Challenge’ in full swing, we’ve made a list of things that we can do to help others in our community and beyond. Some projects are for family members that are older, and others include simple projects locally.

3. Read out loud {or listen to audio books}. A lot. With limiting tv, we are going to start a ‘quiet hour’ again in our house – a time when everyone needs to just sit and be still. Coloring is ok, but down time is something that we all need more of! We’re working on a list of books to read during the hot days, and I completely forgot about some audio books that I downloaded from Lamplighter Theatre a few months ago, so those are getting loaded on the iPod for us to listen to together.

4. Play with our sets from LEGO Education. We’ve been having fun since February with a few different kits from LEGO Education {Simple Machines and WeDo} and when you are playing with LEGO® bricks…well, it’s definitely a fun day, right?

The LEGO® kits have also been wonderful to have on hand when we are reading, because the kids can build while they are listening and recreate scenes from the stories {or make their own!}.

5. Have fun at Vacation Bible School. The kids are very excited that next week is the local VBS – and I may be a bit giddy too {grins}. While the kids are having fun and learning, it will give me a few hours to get planning for the upcoming year with a bit of quiet time {sometimes I forget what that is like!}.

6. Learn about the Constitution as a family. It may sound a little nerdy, but we found a book all about the Constitution that was written by a 14 year old, Our Constitution Rocks!

This was a book that we picked up at our homeschool convention and thought it would be a great thing to study as a family {and I’m guessing the adults may learn a few things too}. 

7. Visit the library. A lot. Air conditioning and lots of books to choose from. Need I say more? We also have to work on those Reading Challenge Charts, so the kids have bags to fill and reading to do!

8. Head to our local children’s museum. After a season of not going to the children’s museum, we went ahead and bought a one year membership.

don’t ask…because really, I don’t know…

The kids have really missed it, and I forgot about the theater area and the plethora of art supplies that they have – and the mess that is no longer in my house when the kids are working on projects there {cough}. The money I’m saving on random art supplies may just help us break even on the membership cost {grins}.

9. Swim, swim, and swim some more. Can you say exercise? The kids are a part of one of the local swim teams and while I hit my swim team plateau about 2 meets before the season is over, at the moment we are having a blast. The kids are getting some great exercise, learning a lot about encouraging others and how to be a good sport, and staying cool at the same time.

10. Write our Compassion children even more and find some fun things to mail to them over the next year. There are lots of fun things that we can put together for the children we sponsor through Compassion and have ready to mail to them. I’ve been adding pins to a Flat Crafts for Sponsored Children Pinterest board, so we’ll be working on ideas from that first.

What fun things do you have planned for the summer months?

Teach Them Diligently Marketplace - an inspirational new day-and-a-half homeschool event in nine locations the summer of 2013. Featuring four main speakers and a 30,000 square foot vendor hall.

This post may contain affiliate or advertiser links. Read my full disclosure policy here.

Over the last few months I’ve been running the Homeschool Basics series and answering some of the most frequently asked questions I’ve received about homeschooling. There are still more posts planned in the series, so stay tuned over the next two months.

Are you enjoying it so far and finding it helpful?

In case you are newer to this site, here’s a quick sum up of what we’ve covered. Just click on the graphic to go directly to that post.

Have a question that you don’t see answered? Please feel free to leave a comment and ask! I’d be happy to squeeze in a post or two.

A Few More Posts You Might Find Helpful…

Teach Them Diligently Marketplace - an inspirational new day-and-a-half homeschool event in nine locations the summer of 2013. Featuring four main speakers and a 30,000 square foot vendor hall.

This post may contain affiliate or advertiser links. Read my full disclosure policy here.

This summer there is something new coming in the homeschool arena. From coast to coast in 9 different locations, Teach Them Diligently Marketplace will bring a homeschool store to your doorstep. Curious to learn more?

A One-Day Event for the Entire Family

Rather than a full-scale homeschool convention, the Teach Them Diligently Marketplace is a ONE-DAY event and will feature a lower cost {just $15 for the entire family!}, an amazing line-up of speakers, along with a huge selection of curriculum from companies that you know and love.

Being able to get a hands-on look at curriculum and compare companies side by side is a HUGE help in deciding what will work for your family.  At Teach Them Diligently Marketplace, there will be 7+ curriculum centers that are 2,000 square feet each and also a Teach Them Diligently store where you can purchase curriculum at big discounts. Each of the centers will be staffed with knowledgeable curriculum specialists to help you make the best decision for your curriculum needs.

Teach Them Diligently is also dedicated to making the Marketplace affordable. When you purchase curriculum, they have worked with vendors to bring you the lowest prices available, and there is even a coupon for $10 off any $100 purchase included with your registration.

See a full list of the many companies that will be represented here.

Featured Homeschool Speakers

Throughout the day, you will have the opportunity to sit in on sessions from well-known homeschool speakers, including Carol Barnier, Zan Tyler, Debra Bell, Ken Ham, Heidi St. John, Rachel Carman, Hal and Melanie Young, Felize Gerwitz, Sherri Seligson, and others. Each speaker is experienced in homeschooling and is ready to help encourage and equip you as a parent.

Each marketplace event will feature 11 workshops to attend and all workshops are included as a part of the $15 registration fee. You are free to attend as many workshops as you would like, shop to your heart’s content, or meet up with other families for encouragement. Make the day yours!

If one day isn’t enough, you can come the night before for a sampler of Apologia’s Real Refreshment Retreat. From 5pm to 9pm the night prior, Apologia will begin with a chocolate reception and be a time of encouragement and refreshment for moms {additional cost for attending}.

* NOTE: not all speakers are listed and will vary by location.

Make Plans to Attend a Marketplace Near You

Over the summer, there will be nine different locations across the US. Below is a list of dates and cities to mark on your calendar.

• June 14 – Fort Myers, FL
• June 22 – Pittsburg, PA
• June 29 – Philadelphia, PA
• July 6 – Houston, TX
• July 20 – Little Rock, AR
• July 27 – Dallas, TX
• August 3 – Colorado Springs, CO
• August 10 – Tacoma, WA
• August 16 – Tucson, AZ

See a Teach Them Diligently Marketplace near you? Click on the registration button below to find out the specific location and begin making plans to attend! The simplicity of this being a one-day event means you can bring the entire family or come alone for a bit of refreshment – and get the 1:1 help that you need to make curriculum choices and have fun {and that’s definitely worth it!}.

Teach Them Diligently is a sponsor of this site. Any opinions expressed in this post are mine.

Teach Them Diligently Marketplace - an inspirational new day-and-a-half homeschool event in nine locations the summer of 2013. Featuring four main speakers and a 30,000 square foot vendor hall.