Oct. 20, 2008 Five Little Pumpkins
The tang of wood smoke, leaves swirling in the wind and the smell of snow on the air naturally bring thoughts of pumpkins to mind. Once that happens, it's not long until the logical jump to this cute little rhyme. It's an easy one to remember and to incorporate into the kids' day. It's a great littl counting rhyme that can also include fine motor development and besides, rhymes are just really good for language development which is why learning a new nursery rhyme ever week is so beneficial. Check out the Rhyme-A-Week Curriculum for more about that.
 So, today I printed out the pumpkin set and poem. I utilized the pumpkins from DLTK . They have the poem to print out in a sheet or as a little booklet (sized down, it would work well in a lap book) as well as larger seperate pieces for puppets or a felt board, which is what I printed off. I used the fence from Preschool Printables. They too have a felt board set that's really cute.
I read the book Five Little Pumpkins to them and then we used the puppets to act it out. Deedee really liked that. Then again, she's very dramatic so that's no surprise. I also found a cool Youtube vid with hand motions and we all had lots of fun with that one too. I think she liked it better than the puppets.
More Fun Resources:
- Five Little Pumpkins book by Belinda Mooney to print. (She has really cool printables)
- Pumpkins Aplenty, Pumpkins Galore at The Virtual Vine (info, book lists, etc.)
- Patty's Pumpkin Patch ~ a fun unit to accompany the book that incorporates 5 Little Pumpkins. I wish I had found it earlier. I'll plan it for next year.
- Flashcards from Super Simple Songs (Lots of different sets. Scroll down for the 5 Little Pumpkins. These have a different wording but it's still a counting poem.)
- Halloween & Pumpkin Ideas from PreKinders
- Pumpkin Unit from Mrs. Nelson's Class (Lots of fun pumpkin stuff, including growing a recycled pumpkin which I've incorporated into our lessons this month.)
- Pumpkin Unit from Little Girraffes (Even more activities to incorporate pumpkins in your learning fun.)
- Kilburn's Kiddo's (TONS of pumpkin stuff. In fact, most of the sites I planned on sharing, so I'll just direct you here. :D )
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Sep. 17, 2008 HOAC has a new quarterly freebie!
In the Hands of a Child has awesome lap books that my kids have always had a lot of fun with them. Don't know what lap books are? You're in for a treat! Imagine something that integrates all of the 3 R's and more on a given subject. What would you say to a unit that incorporates reading, writing, math, logic, crafts, foriegn language, and health(and more) AND makes it a lot of fun in the process? And then when you're done, if you want to revisit that unit in the future it's all in one place? The kids have a lot ot fun looking at their past work and seeing now only what they've learned but how they've progressed! By any name, lap books are a lot of fun.
Grade Level: 4th - 8th
So check it out! Just click on the picture and it will take you.
"Thomas Alva Edison is one of the most famous inventors in history. This 54-page pack includes a 12-page Research Guide and 16 hands-on activities about his childhood, family and marriage, inventions, awards and honors, later years, and a complete timeline. Invite your student to learn there was more to Thomas Edison than just the lightbulb!" HOAC
Want to learn more about lap books? Check these sites out:
Jaminacema ~ How To Begin Lapbooking (She's awesome!)
Lapbook Ladies
Squido
Homeschool Share
Free Presidential Elections Lap Book at Notbook Learning
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Sep. 2, 2008 Fantastic Contraption
OK, want a game that is educational (don't tell the kiddos) and combines logic, strategy with even a little physics that the kids (and adults) love to play? Well, here you have it in Fantastic Contraption created by Colin Northway
It's a basic online Flash game that seems very simple. Basically, you make a device using wheels and sticks to get the widget located in the light blue area to the pink area. Sounds simple, yes? Well, it can be but it's definitely harder than it looks! There is more than one solution to every puzzle and this certainly takes your whole brain! Having trouble? You can back up to a different puzzle or you can also save your contraptions as well as view other peoples answers to solving the puzzles. Some are really cool, some really freaky accidents.
There are only 20 levels in the free game (still hours of entertainment and learning), but $10 gets you access to more, along with a extensive variety of player-created levels. There's also a level editor, so you can create your own.
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As a rule, my family doesn't watch much TV. What little they do watch is limited to whether they do their chores and if it's appropriate (in other words, mostly educational). To tell the truth, we don't even subscribe to sattelite or dish because we just can't afford it. Besides, even if we could, we wouldn't subscribe because I can't stand all of those darn commercials. One of my biggest pet peeves is the commercialization of TV and the children wanting a product simply because they've seen it on TV or it has a certain character on it, not necassarily because they need it or really and truly even want it.
I must admit, that not exposing my children to a ton of TV and the bombardment of the assorted advertisements that come along with it has led to a quieter, if busier life. While it's true that I have to work harder to keep my little ones occupied (sitting them in front of the electronic sitter is not the norm here) they no longer clamor to have that box of cereal because it has Dora on it or that pair of shorts because of Spongebob. They do know who these characters are because they watch TV at other people's houses but they also understand that we won't by them that item simply because of the character on it.
But, I digress. Once in a great while, I find a TV show that I think is great (it isn't full of banal repetition and boring or full of violence like so many children's shows are now) and the kids like too. Such as the vintage Seseme Street (I can't stand the newer shows made within the last 12 years or so), The Magic School Bus, School House Rock, etc. Those are some of the few shows that I will make an exception to and will seek out episodes on disk or perhaps to watch online (there are several places to do so for some of these, including Netflix).
We recently discovered this show while visiting Grandma Sue (Carey's mom). She often watches the children for me during James' appointments, and this was one such time. She doesn't always turn the TV on, so it's a special treat there as well. This time, she had tuned in PBS and I didn't really notice the show they were watching when I arrived to retrieve them until I was trying to gather them up over numerous protestastions. So I finally took a look at what had them so absorbed and then quickly found my own attention caught as I watched the bright characters scurry across the screen and play out their adventures. 
I have now added WordWorld to that small list. WordWorld is "the first preschool series where words are truly stars of the show". In WordWord words come alive, words save the day, and words become a childs best friend. This animated world is full nimals and other objects whose bodies are literally made up of the letters that spell the word they are. The stars of the show include such animals as Pig, Bear, Frog, Duck, Dog and Ant. Each adventure the friends make center around a certain theme such as "ST" of "SH" and that's the words they focus on. The viewers will join in on a series of comic adventures that are resolved only by finding the correct word and in the process sounding out words, rhyming and more as you accompany a host of colorful friends in a computer animated world with fun music that has an engaging beat that the kids love.
For e xample, one of the kids favorite episodes is one entitled "Snug as a Bug" and the adventure centers around Frog and Bug. Bug is tired and he wants a place to sleep but he doesn't know where so he enlists Frog's help (Frog of course, isn't too happy about this but follows along). The basis is that classic "snug as a bug in a rug" line that everyone knows and loves. So off they go, trying to complete the rhyme and meeting such words as Jug, Mug, Hug etc. before they finally find the word they're looking for and Bug has a comfy cozy place to go to sleep. And, of course, they have to sing a little song about finding their word before forming it and sounding it out. :D
So, lets see:
- Fun, upbeat music
- A colorful world
- Pre-reading skills
- Rhyming
- Only 12 minutes long
Hrmmm............What's not to like? This is a wonderful show that I have no problems recommending to other parents and the best thing is, my kids love it too! There are lots of so called educational shows out there that bore the daylights out of my little guys and they wander off rather quickly but I'm glad to say this isn't one of them. Even the two year old loves it and has memorized the opening theme. If she hears it, she comes running from whatever project she had going (usually digging in the kitchen drawers or pawing through the numerous book shelves overflowing with books) just as fast as her little legs will go and screeching "Puppy!" (it opens with Dog) as she hurtles herself onto the couch. LOL
Go to the main WordWorld site and you'll be able to watch a few short clips and even download an entire episode entitled Runaway O! And the PBS site of WordWorld is full of information and fun activities too! It opens with flash games to keep your little one engaged. There are games many Build A Word Adventures for several characters of the show. One of them is helping Bear form a band. Each member of her band needs an instrument and you help collect the "words" to form the instruments. (You can watch a video similar to that Adventure here entitled Dancing Dog.) Or, you can go to the main map to find other adventures such as Alphabet Falls to collect letters to decipher a code and collect the treasure. Or, go to the Parents & Teacher's Area where you'll learn more about the show, watch a couple of short vids, find lots of activities based upon different episodes, etc.
One of the activities is related to "Snug as a Bug" and it's to make an UG!! book. The kids had lots of fun over this one. They enjoyed finding different pictures of 'ug" words to fill the pages. There is also an activity page with three printable pictures to get you started (bug, mug, rug). I provided colorful stickers for them to spell out their names and the other assorted words. So not only did this reinforce rhyming skills but also letter recognition. Oh, and before I forget, you can "read" that same "Snug as a Bug" adventure here as well as print out the book!
LOL, I chose this episode as an example because it's one of five that we have available to watch (the only ones I've found online so far, and this one is at Netflix) and then I found several activities pertaining to it, so it worked out quite well. :D I couldn't have chosen a better one if I'd tried.
And for other fun activities not necessarily related to WordWorld, check out PBSparents.org |
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Mar. 10, 2008 CurrClick Grand Opening! Oct. 25, 2007 Hubbard's Cupboard
Grab hold of a magic pencil
Open your eyes and mind
For now begins a journey
Of the most exciting kind.
A journey into learning
A step...a start...a glow,
And we will be there with you
To help and watch you grow.
Author unknown
So starts Hubbard's Cupboard, an amazing resource for early childhood educators and parents. There are a plethora of printable activities, ideas, and links to other sites. It's starts with infants and extends through Kindergarten. For infants, there are lists of books, development sites, and other resources. For the two's through four's, there is a Bible based curriculum that looks nice although, I have no need of it. The are great ideas for Kingergarten prep with lots of fun ideas to development the skills that a child needs for kindy. I may not have to worry about being sure my children are prepared bor a public school system, but these are still exceelent ideas to do with the kidlets. There's even a link to Coyote Kiddos. This site has calendars from April through August with one thing to do a day such as read nursery rhymes, find rive red things, put alphabet flash cards in order, etc.
There is tons of stuff for kindergarten such as assessments, curriculum goals, recipes, etc. What I found especially helpful were the sections for Math and Literacy. In both there are tons of links, resources and pdf files to print. There's just too much to list here.
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Aug. 23, 2007 Nature Explore Club
I love Nature and if you could get a peek at the bookshelves housing my homeschooling books, you would notice that a vast marjority of them have to do with Nature in some form or other; encyclopedias, crafts, guides, etc. I had done a search wanting to learn more about nature corners/season tables or whatever else you would like to call them. This was one of the top links and while it really wasn't what I was looking for, there's a lot of great stuff there.
When I opened the The National Arbor Day Foundation for Youth Education site, I saw that it had three sections: PreK - 3, 4th and up, and educators. The first link that caught my eye was the Nature Explore Club in the PreK - 3 section.
The Nature Explore Club is a great way to explore the outdoors! Discover beautiful colors, cool bugs, and millions of shapes and sizes of all the life around.There are c lever stories, fun outdoor adventures, and “explorer's tools” to give young children and adults a closer connection with nature and each other.
Ten times throughout the whole year, a new outdoor Adventure Package will be received. With each Package, you'll have fun imagining, exploring, and discovering the wonders of nature right outside your own back door. There are:
- 10 engaging, colorful stories—to take imagination to new heights
- 10 outdoor activities—that children and adults have fun doing together
- 10 different “Explorer's Tools” like a tape measurer, leaf shapes, and a viewfinder to make discovering nature even more fun
- Plus more!
Try a sample Outdoor Activity. It's really simple and looks like it would be a lot of fun.
If you join the club, the Welcome Packet includes:
- A Discovery Magnifying Glass—to get a close-up view of the hidden wonders of nature.
- A Club Clipboard—to take along on outdoor adventures.
- An Activity Binder—to collect the stories, adventures, and experiences.
- A Personalized Membership Card—a prized possession for every Member
The more I looked through it, the more fun this looks and I wish I could do it right now. The price is actually very reasonable but it will have to wait. Perhaps it would be a fun Christmas present for the kids. One thing I did find very interested was that there is also an area set up for teachers. Explore the Sourcebook (Cool stuff to build your Nature classroom. I guess not everone can be blessed enough to live only 30 minutes from beautiful forests, including The Hobo Cedar Grove Botanical Garden whose trees were mere seedlings in 1492.), Learning With Nature Idea Book, and last but not least, there is a Nature Explore Club for educators. That club includes 9 packs for 10 students and a teachers packet. That breaks down to only $4.95 per student over the year, which is actually quite good. This really put me in mind of a homeschool co op and it would really be a lot of fun for kids.
 Arbor Day Foundation 2007 Poster Contest
State Winner - Idaho
by Edna W.
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Howtoons is an awesome site. These are one-page "How To" illustrations for 5-to-15 year-old kids. You'll find weird, scientific, fun things. Each cartoon episode is a stand-alone fun adventure accessible to all, even the pre-literate. Also included are short videos of some of their experiments in action! There are also a ton of links to other fun sites for science experiments.
This is the experiment that Charles got excited about when he first saw it. I loved the pun; Das Bottle instead of Das Boot, a movie about a German sub. |
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Aug. 17, 2007 Virtual Reality Phases of the Moon
You can look up the phase of the moon for any date from the nineteenth century through the twenty second century. It is limited to the Northern hemisphere though, which is a downside. This is still really cool and I had fun looking up the phases for my kidlets birthdates. Mine is a new moon, however my thought was perhaps technically I was born under a full moon since I was born in the southern hemisphere. I guess that's my next question to answer. Especially if I expect to teach my kids about astronomy. LOL
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Jul. 20, 2007 Stories to Grow By with Whootie Owl
 I discovered this wonderful site quite by accident this morning and just fell in love. It's a Kid-tested, Kid-approved collection of folk & fairy tales based on themes of human ethics to foster in children the highest possible emotional and intellectual understanding of themselves and the world around them. Whootie Owl presents top-notch fairy tales (cool for kids) that promote positive ethics (cool for grown-ups). The stories are 100% nondenominational (cool for anyone!). The owl has symbolized wisdom in folktales & fairy tales throughout the ages and Whootie Owl will be your friendly guide through this web site.
I have not had time to go through every page or read every story, but what I did see, I absolutely loved. Elaine L. Lindy, one of the world’s foremost authorities on ethical and entertaining folk literature, created this in 1998. You can read more about her here, as well as see a list of articles written by her that look quite interesting.
The biggest attraction of this site is, of course, lots of free stories. This includes a handy dandy search engine to find the perfect story. You can choose by age, which starts at 6 and goes all the way to 14. You can choose country, which includes country, continent, or people. You can choose the type of story, from Adventure to Riddles. And you can choose by theme, illustrating characteristics from Acceptance to Sharing. You can also choose to search by keyword. So, for instance, I chose ages 6-8, Europe, Folk Tales and Cooperation. I got two stories back ~ The Castle of the Faithful Wives from Germany and The Three Golden Goats from Sweden. Neither of these was illustrated. That's actually good in my view because both of these were such short reads, it would actually be quite simple to memorize them and then be able to pull them out of the air at a moments notice. Two, it would also allow it to work well with doing your own illustrations such as with a felt board, or a play, etc. Now, having said that, there is actually and option that will allow children to send in their own illustrations and you will find a link for that on any story that doesn't have illustrations. Also, at the end of each story there is a link that allows the child to record his thoughts about the story as well as see what other children have said about it.
Whootie's Top10 Essential Stories for Childhood
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Tortoise and the Hare
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Little Engine that Could
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Little Dutch Boy
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Lion and the Mouse
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Wind and the Sun
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Bundle of Sticks
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The Turnip
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Pinochio
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Beauty and the Beast
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Ugly Duckling
There are a ton of other areas as well, more than enough to keep me occupied for several days. Whootie Owl has provided free email. You can also check out his blog. When those pal, you can check out his store for fun apparel and housewares. Three stories have been translated into Spanish and can be read simultaneously for ESL. They are even set up as scripts for a play that looked like a fun. Those would be awesome for a homeschool group to put on. And those aren't the only plays available! There is a whole section available with 24 more plays. Each play has a small synopsis, number of roles, and a link to view the whole play. There are 8 stories on audio you can listen to. There is also a disk you can buy with more stories. Take a look at Whootie's games in Whootie Land where there are word searches, coloring pages, etc. I found Whootie's Fairytales & Values class plan for ages 6-12. It consists of a 15-minute intro and 4 45-minute classes. There are also writing assignments. There is an extensive links section to check out. And don't forget to sign his guest book!
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My little ones, especially James, have been quite enamored of ants recently. Every time I turn around, they have discovered a new ant hill or some such and are messing with the poor little buggers. Granted, I don't like them in my home, but the little black sugar ants are relatively harmless. But the kids been driving me crazy hauling me out to look at the nests, asking to dig the nests up, trying to bring them inside as pets (and of coruse, getting bitten in the process) that I thought, well heck, why not teach them about ants? So I started to ponder it, and think about what they could do. Well, I was answered in the form of an email from Montessori Mom with a link on how to build an ant city in a jar. How awesome is that?
Here are the directions that I found:
- Find a very large, clean jar with a lid.
- Hammer small holes in the lid for air.
- Put a smaller jar or solid object in the middle of the jar.
- Fill it with clean sand or crushed Styrofoam.
- Push a few cotton balls soaked in sugar water into the sand using a stick.
- Find an ant hill, they are as close as your backyard or park.
- Attract ants by putting a cotton ball soaked with sugar water in shallow plastic bowl that has a lid.
- Quickly put the lid on the bowl to catch your ants. I don't like to pick up ants, they sometimes bite so this works great. Put the ants in the refrigerator, sealed in covered container for 20 minutes or until they become sluggish.
- Place the ants in the glass jar and put out of direct sunlight. Soon the ants will wake up as they warm up. You can continue to add ants over time. Make sure they are from the same ant hill, they will go to war if they aren't from the same group.
- Give your ants some dry cereal, dried fruit and a few drops of water every few days.
- Soon you will see tunnels and lots of activity.
Check out more about ants at Montessori Mom. You'll also find a link to Ants Go Marching (which includes the music as well as the lyrics). I'm really excited about this. I needed another fun math activity for James this week, as well as a music activity and just this one song filled both of those slots. Also, there was another activity slot filled with making the ant colony. Something else really cool? We're exploring the letter A this week. AND, remember how the ants are marching to get out of the rain? We're learning the nursery rhyme Rain Rain Go Away this week, as well. So this one subject just tied several loose ends for this weeks schedule all nice and tidy. Yay. There is a lap book for The Ants Go Marching (linked below) that I'm also debating although I may not for now. I don't want to overload the little guy.
Found at Insectoids
Loads more info and activities for ants:
Wikipedia
National Geographic
Enchanted Learning
A-Z Home's Cool
Pratt's Educational Resources (awesome site)
Insect Lore
Yahooligans
Everything Preschool (cute week long insect unit)
The Ants Go Marching lap book by HOAC
Video's at You Tube
The Activity Idea Place
Fire Ant activities and lesson plans
Ant Cities
One Hundred Hungry Ants
ABC, I Believe (this one has a lot of religious conotations and referances)
SK Ant Facts
A-Mazing Ants
Homeschool eStore
Classroom Clipart
Arthur's Insect Clipart
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Jun. 26, 2007 Binarey Marble Adding Machine Jun. 26, 2007 Homeschool eStore Event!
Yesterday, June 25, marked the beginning of Homeschool eStore's late Mother's Day event! At 10 a.m. EST, four FREE homeschool education eBooks were posted, and four more will be posted each day until 26 titles have been given away. That's worth over $200 in value! There is no obligation to buy. But, during the duration of the giveaway event, if you do decide to make a purchase, you’ll receive a 10% customer loyalty credit on all the purchases you make. So, visit HomeschoolEStore each day this week, find out what great FREE surprises are in store for you, and earn credit on every single purchase you make! Posted below are all titles that will be included in this event. If it's highlighted in PURPLE, then it's already been posted and it's free right now and will most likely remain so until the end of the event. I will highlight them each day as they are posted.
Bringing You Tomorrow's Lesson Today!
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Jun. 22, 2007 101 Ways To Discover Nature! Jun. 18, 2007 Free Fun from the American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History has an Online Field Journal that's full of printable fun. Young children can explore the wonders of nature with these resources:
Start out the fun with Compare!, an online activity that teaches children to pay attention to their surroundings, and use their words to describe what they see. You are shown a list of objects from shells to spiders, in no particular order. Choose a subject and you are shown three objects with their proper names, and thought provoking questions. The are also tips for the adults to help guide the questions.
With the printable Field Journals, record your thoughts about that subject from Compare!. You could also take these pages out into Nature and record what you find there, once again having children paying attention to their surroundings and using their thinking skills. You have a list of subjects from shells to spiders (again, in no particular order), each with a link to print a simple page to record everything on and a list of questions to get the ball rolling.
There are also some really fun diorama's to print out based on the real diorama's on display at the Merican Museum of Natural History! Each has links to instructions, the background and any other sundry pieces to print out and bring your diorama to life. It's all black & white line drawings to color in yourself. You can choose between:
Wetlands: A wading bird rookery
Desert: A giant cactus forest
Forest: The Olympic Rain Forest
The first thought I had after looking at these diorama's was how fun it would be to link them to a lap book to the prospective environment. So, say you're doing something about deserts. It would be a lot of fun to end the unit making a fun diorama. Also, it would be a lot of fun to include pages from the Field Journals in a lap book about that specific subject, such as spiders or flowers.
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May. 2, 2007 Save Our Wolves
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God, I am so tired of hearing about this. Why can't these beautiful creatures be left alone! We all have a right to live together and it just sickens me to hear people talk about annihilating them. Especially our own beloved governor. Bleh. Hear the sarcasm?
Wolves are a big part of our family and they can be found in several areas around our home, including beautiful windchimes, our computer desktop, pictures, and even a silver one that lives on the family altar.
We love wolves, and are prepared to do as much as we are able to save them, including a small donation and signing petitions. If you want to help too, here is a list of things you can do:
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Take Action! Sign the petition before it's too late. The deadline is May 9 and we're only a little over half way there. 200,000 signatures are needed.
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Ok, now, why am I posting this here and not just on our family blog, Carey's Cats? Because we parents, as teachers, can teach our children to love and care for not only these beatiful creatures, but ALL of our wildlife. It's our responsibility to care for our Home, to save it for future generations and we're in the best position to do so. There is a ton of cool stuff out there to help us educate our little ones about wolves.
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Learn about their howls and even listen to them here.
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Watch a video of a wolf howling.
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Watch a beautiful slideshow of several different types of wolves and a video.
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Take a gander at the Gray Wolf with Wikipedia.
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Click here to start learning! |
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Apr. 12, 2007 Fire Rainbows
I heard my father in law talking about these today. My ears always perk up when I hear rainbows but I had never heard of this before. Known officially as a curcumhorizontal arc, this is a rare sight. It's not an actual rainbow. It's caused when the sun is more than 58 degrees above the horizon, and shines through cirrus clouds that are more than 20K feet in the air. As well, the hexagonal plate crystals making up the whispy cirrus clouds must be oriented just right. The light refracts when it enters through a vertical side face, and exits through the bottom face. Think of it as a prism. If the crystals have been aligned just right, the whole cloud lights up with the full spectrum of colors. Atmospheric Optics has some more really interesting info on this.
This has led to some interesting experiments with crystals, water and the sun. James, and even the younger kids, had fun making their own rainbows. They tried holding crystals up the light, as well as other items, to see what happened. Somtimes a rainbow, sometimes just a refelction, sometimes nothing. I discussed with James why this might be. Charles and Deedee were just having too much fun holding things up, although, color names did make their appearance. I also filled misters with some water, and set it to very fine for them to squirt. Again, they tried some more experimentation. James learned that the finer and more spread out the moisture, the more chance you have of a rainbow. I also introduced James to ROY G BIV to help him remember the order of the colors although I'm sure it will actually be some time until this is really remembered.
I mentioned this to a friend, and she got all upset saying it's a big hoax, that those pictures are all photoshopped, etc. So I decided to look it up at Snopes, which is what I do every time I receive something like that. I admit it gets really annoying when I receive something over and over, and it's either horribly out of date or not even true in the first play. But I was quite pleased to find out that it's actually true, that this does really happen.
This particular arc spanned several hundred square miles of sky over northern Idaho near the Washington State border (map of Idaho) and lasted for about an hour.
James has painted a very interesting rainbow with watercolors and I'll get a pic posted of that as soon as as I can find my camera. I was very dissapointed that I couldn't find my camera to take pics of the kids having their rainbow fun
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I'm so excited! My Oak Meadow kit for James came in today! I have been looking at this system for some time now and this is what I've been attracted to the most. I only ordered the Kindegarten Syllabus, The First Book of Fairy Tales, and The First Book of Craft's. I actually found these on Ebay since I didn't want to pay full price for something only to discover that I didn't like it after all, not as expensive as it is. For the full kindergarten kit, it's $220, not including the craft kit, at $80. I immeadiately sat down to go through them and I'm well pleased. While this isn't a strict Waldorf system, it is close. I'm so excited to get started with him, and incorporate it throughout the day. That's what I love about this system. He learns through living, which is as it should be. And, surprisingly, I'm learning too! I have to be prepared to teach him, and if he has any questions, I have to know the answers.
I will also be sitting down to start a plan for the next few months. While the syllabus blocks it out quite nicely, I still plan on doing our Rhyme A Week curriculum, as well as the odd lap book. I love that I can just do this throughout the day. James just doesn't do well in a strict classroom setting and he learns the best by being himself. Even his speech therapists have remarked upon it. In fact, just the other day, with his therapist Betsy, he refused to do a boring worksheet. So she finally dug out a train set with tracks, and each time he made the correct sound, he got to add a car. When he got to add the caboose, she allowed him to play with the train for a few moments until breaking it up to start again.
The syllabus is set up in weekly lesson plans but you aren't expected to do everything listed in one day. It's supposed by spread out over the whole week. Each week includes language arts, social studies, math, science, crafts and music. So for instance, in week 1, I would
- tell the story of The Magic Spindle
- introduce the letter A with sundry crafts (drawing in the lesson book, forming it in beeswax, tie sticks in a bundle to form it, etc.)
- teach a tongue twister
- introduce the number 1
- for science, in week 1 of spring, we would read Little Cloud and learn about clouds. this also includes cloud gazing and talking in forms such as big/little, close/far, etc.
- make a seasonal table (already done)
- play the Wee Sing tape (i don't have this yet) and teach a finger play
See how easy this is? And since it's spread out over the whole week, looking at it like that it will be very simple to incorporate this into our daily lives. Doing only one or two items a day is easier to block it vs. finding several hours.
So now I need to buy the Wee Sing cd and book, the teacher manuals, and Growing Growing Strong. I'm not going to buy the craft package. I will just buy what supplies I need seperately. I also plan on buying the preschool kit for Charles & Meradydd. I'd like them to be able to join in as well and while they can do some of this (cloud watching, plating seeds, nature walks, etc.) they're not ready to begin their letters and numbers so I would like at least the syllabus for an age appropriate level. However, there's a great site wide sale going on right now, until June 30. There is a savings of 10-20%. The complete preschool set is only $80, before shipping vs. the regular $100. That would be like getting free shipping.
For Supplies:
Paper, Scissors, Stone
Roots and Wisdom
My favorite is Paper, Scissors, Stones. The prices are great, with a nice selection. Also, beeswax crayons are expensive and I don't know if the kids will like stick or block crayons better. This store has an option to buy those crayons seperately, in a rainbow of colors for only $1.20 a piece, in two different brands. As expensive as these are, I like this option. It allows me to sample the brands, as well as the style, so I make an informed choice as to what will work the best for my familie's needs. The shipping is reasonable as well.
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Mar. 22, 2007 The Ruler Game
If your kids are learning how to use a ruler, or even just a quick refresher, this is a fun little game. Unfortunately, it doesn't have a setting for metric, but you do have an option to turn a timer on or off. You can choose anywhere from wholes all the way up to sixteenths. So check it out. I had a fun few moments playing with and discovered that I need to work on this skill myself.
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Mar. 9, 2007 Spring Time Fun
Spring is definitely well on her way. I love this time of the year, just when it's starting ot warm up and all of the beautiful flowers are just starting to s how their faces. I was so excited last weekend when I saw my first snow drops on the way to Church and in this household that's cause for celebration.
SInce it's getting much warmer outside, I started thingking of things the kids could do outside to take advantage of the grogeous weather.
Sidewalk chalk! I love this stuff and it's so simple to make. I enjoy making it out of eggshells. It's very easy and in my house the shells add up quickly. The kids go through at least a dozen hard boiled eggs a week. And that doesn't include what I use to bake or cook with.
Eggshell Chalk
6 clean eggshells
1 tsp very hot water
1 tsp flour
food coloring
- Set aside clean, well washing shells to dry.
- Make sure your mortar and pestle (you could use any surface for this, even a rock) is clean. The kids like this part. They get to grind stuff up; not only working on strenght and coordination, but have fun at the same time. Continue grinding until you get a fine powder. I need to help here because you don't want chunks left. IF you do, you'll get that horrible "nails across the blackboard" squeak. A general rule of thumb is one tabslpoonfull of the powder for one stick of chalk. If there are a few chunks leftover, just pick them out.
- Measure the flour and the water into a small bowl. Stire them together to form a past.
- Put the tablespoon of eggshell poweser into the paste and mix well. It may get kind of dry, but just use the back of a spoon or your fingers to mash it in. Add a few drops of food coloring and mash it in until it's well incorporated.
- Now for the fun part. You can form this several wasy. You could shape them into sticks, roll it tightly in a piece of paper towel, and set it aside to dry. You could use the small 3 oz. paper bathroom cups; just press it into the bottom of the cup and set aside to dry. You could use paper towel rolls or toilet paper rolls. You could even use little molds if you want cool shapes. That's why this is so cool for party favors. You could make it in any of the colors/shapes that go with your theme and no one would know you hadn't spent a fortune buying them.
- Drying can take up to three days and it really depends on the humidity in your area. When the chalk is dry, just peel one end of the paper off, find your nearest driveway or sidewalk, and have fun creating a masterpiece!
- I especially like to make these for Ostara / Easter. The kids love chalk period, but recycling the eggshells seem to reaffirm the death/rebrith cycle. If you use egg shaped molds, it especially connects it together.
If you just don't see yourself using eggshells, here is a good recipe using plaster of paris at Family Education.
What's also cool this time of the year are all of the science projects that little ones can do that really don't seem like science at all. They're fun!
- Plant some seeds and have the children observe them every day. If they're particularly small (preschool for my goobers) have them freestyle draw what they see in their lesson books. I actually did this over the winter with a plastic case so they could see the roots. But it's just as much to fun to actually let them dig in the dirt to their hearts content. You could aslo make your eggshells pots.
- After a particulalry nice rain shower, find some nice large puddles. They don't have to that deep, just have a nice circumference. Use some chalk, and outline the puddle. Keep coming back periodicically and retrace the puddle. THis helps illustrate to the children the concept of varorization. You also get some weird looking pictures left on your sidewalk. :D
- You could also use mud puddles for a cool sinking/floating project. Gather several objects, some you will float, and some that won't. Show them to your child and ask him what he thinks. WIll it foat? Wiil it sink? Write down his responses and test his theory. Let him put an object in one at at ime. What does it doe? ask him, and then write down his response. Compare the answeres with the hypothesis when you're finished. If there are any differences, ask him why that may be.
- Go cloud watching. You could see anything, anywhere. Do comparisons; big/little, large/small, close/far away, etc. And talk about the types of clouds too if you like.
- Look for bird nests. If you find one with eggs, remember where it is so you could observe it during your nature walks. Check each week for babies, and watch the mother feed them. But remember, DO NOT TOUCH THE EGGS, NEST OR BABIES AT ANY TIME. The mother will abandon them.
- Go star gazing. Pick a few simple consellations to pint out. Prerepare a storey about one them to tell.
The possiblities are endless for outdoor springtime fun.
Take a tour of the garden here.
Plant your own fairy garden to invite the wee folk to bless your household! You can find out more about planting one here, here, here and here. The one that I'm working on has roses, hollyhocks, lavendar and carnations in it. If you just can't think of anything, or don't know where else to start here are a few resources: Make Your Own Fairy Garden, Wee Enchanted Garden Kit, Summers Past Farms kits, The Fairy's Garden, Nature's Gifts, Mackenzie's Garden, and The Fairy Door & Window Company.
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