Monthly Archive: March 2012

Easter Montessori Math 3

Easter Themed Montessori Math (preK, K)

‘Bead’ Rabbits and Skip Counting by 10 Montessori math has kids working a lot with beads. But for this work, I made some Easter-themed manipulatives for ED to work with.   I made a set of Easter eggs for skip-counting by 10s. She also used some 100-square rabbits. I printed out a number of copies and cut them into strips of 10 and into single bunnies as well.  It’s just...

3

Photo Nature Hunt

Think Challenge: Week 6 We’re loving the spring weather here where we are, so it was time for another outdoor challenge. This is similar to the traditional nature scavenger hunt, this time using a camera. Here is the link to our  Photo Hunt check list  (pictured below). You can print out copies for your kids. And if you do, I’d love to hear a comment from you! 🙂  Here is...

0

Whale Unit (and the Arctic) – Migration, Echolocation, Baleen vs. Toothed Whales

One of the days we read books, I stopped frequently to explain things and do activities with the kids. Whale Migration: For example, we talked in quite some depth about whale migration from the Arctic down the west coast of North America and back again.  I pulled out an Arctic Pin map I made and the kids placed the various countries that make up the Arctic region. You can download...

2

Homeschool Interviews: Homeschooling through a Virtual School

In this series, I have had the privilege of interviewing other homeschoolers from across the country. Here to tell us how her family got started homeschooling and what her family’s homeschool style looks like is Rachel.   Rachel’s children are twice-exceptional–gifted but with learning disabilities. They homeschool using a virtual school, a cyber school where the kids’  learning takes place online. Welcome Rachel! First, could you tell us the ages...

Handwriting Practice 0

Handwriting Practice

It has been a long time since I’ve written about the kids’ handwriting work.  I started LD off on Handwriting Without Tears “Cursive Handwriting” when he was in first grade. This helped with his tendency to mix up his “b” and “d” letters. His writing is really quite nice now. He actually uses a combination of cursive and printing, but his writing is neat and legible.   DD started Handwriting...

3

Whale Unit (and the Arctic) – Buoyancy

Have you ever started a unit and then something else unfolds?  Well this is a unit I started to put together on the Arctic.  You might even recall that we covered Antarctica for a couple of days to lead up to this unit. The more we got into it, the more this turned into a full blown study of whales!  We spent more than a week reading, doing experiments and...

Addition Games 0

Addition Games

Since LD has had time on the computer playing multiplication math games, DD wanted some games of her own. Here are some of the addition and subtraction games I found for her. Funschool Alien Attack — LD was really keen to play this and the levels got progressively more challenging (13+13 or 16+17) Another game from Funschool was the Math Popper. I have the addition version pictured, but they also have...

0

Engineering Challenge: Week 5 Parachute Challenge

  The Parachute Challenge! I supplied the kids with cups, yarn, tape, plastic bags, scissors, and a hole puncher. Their challenge was build a parachute that could safely transport objects down from a 12 foot drop.   They got busy building and testing their parachutes out with coins. Then they were ready for the big test — a long drop with raw eggs. Our Results? I’m happy to report all...

5

Preschool Geography

NAME THAT CONTINENT: One morning in collection (our group time) I brought out a beach ball globe. We took turns tossing the ball around the circle. Each time someone caught the ball they had to look at where their thumb had landed and had to name that continent. The kids quickly became silly, but we did manage to get a few rounds in for each of them. Another preschool geography...

10

An Interview with Erica of Confessions of a Homeschooler

In this series, I have had the privilege of interviewing other homeschoolers from across the country. Here to tell us how her family got started homeschooling and what her family’s homeschool style looks like is Erica, the author of the popular homeschooling blog, Confessions of a Homeschooler.  She has developed her own homeschooling curriculum including the popular Letter of the Week and K4 curriculums, Expedition Earth, Road Trip USA and...

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Oregon Trail Activities (Oregon Trail Worksheets)

As I mentioned yesterday, we’ve been reading a book about a girl who travels West on the Oregon Trail with a group of other families.  Since we’ve been reading for quite some time now, I thought we could jump right in and play the Oregon Trail File Folder Game I found at File Folder Fun. I asked them a couple of questions to prepare to play the game in another day...

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Oregon Trail Activities

We’ve been studying the American West this semester.  The kids and I have been thoroughly engrossed in a wonderful book called Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell, 1847 (Dear America Series) (Affiliate link). It’s the story of a girl making her way West along the Oregon Trail with her family.  At one point the pioneers have to struggle up and then back down a...

2

Peanut Butter Bird Feeder

We do this activity about once a year, but it’s always a hit with the kids!  Back as a child I always did this with pine cones, but since we didn’t have pine cones readily accessible we improvised using a bit of bark. The kids spread peanut butter all over the bark and then poured bird seed on it.       Our windows are all quite high off the...

1

Gardening with Kids

It’s that time of year again! Our dining room table and a second table are covered with dirt planters! Last week the kids and I planted some seeds together. The kids are always excited to watch the seedlings start to grow. You can tell the kids helped since there are so many seedlings in that one pot to the right!!       We also weeded and worked on one...