Truth in the Tinsel

Just hanging out and relaxing in my pajamas when I stumbled upon this e-book that came out today. Apparently, for today only you can purchase it for $2.99 (after today it will be $4.99).  So I just had to share.

It's done advent calendar style with 24 days of scripture reading and ornament making. She gives you a supply list and templates necessary for all crafts (if you have little ones, you probably have almost everything on hand--paper towel rolls, colored paper, construction paper, etc.). It's geared toward preschool/early elementary.

I downloaded it today and am so excited to start. It seems so do-able in my already busy schedule and she even offers alternate schedules for those who only have time for the basics.

Multi-age Classroom

I get to see just a little bit of how a regular Montessori classroom might operate since my daughter (3) has joined us in our Montessori endeavors. Today I walked in on my son giving her the 3-period lesson on the Geometric Solids. "Can you hand me the sphere?" he asked her in a voice slightly mimicking my own. Love.

Jars

The jars are available for download as a jpeg here.

Read this!

Kingdom of the Pink Princesses has done a wonderful job of describing the Dwyer method. Take a quiet moment, get something to snack on, and read all she has to say here.

A day last week.

I didn't have it in me to make color box 3 in the same fashion as I did color box 1 and 2. So here's how I did mine. The paint swatch cards came from Wal-Mart. I like these because they have 7 swatches of each color like the proper color box 3. I laminated the swatch cards to put up with the abuse of clothespins. My plan is for them to put the clothespin on the swatch card in the proper order, but then move on to laying the clothespins in the proper order on their own and using the swatch card simply as a control of error device.

These are the kids' new loves. I saw this some time ago and knew I wanted to use the same basic idea for a numbers and counters work.

While the Mr. and I are pretty well versed using design software (as that's part of the Mr.'s livelihood) I've been enjoying kicking it old school lately with basic drawing tools, scissors, glue, and paper. I drew the jar freehand and used a copier at Kinkos to duplicate it on regular copy paper. Then I pasted them down onto cardstock, cut them out, then laminated. For the pink ones, I cut out pink cardstock circles and glued them down before laminating. On the orange cardstock ones, I simply wrote the numbers in black sharpie before laminating. The buttons for each work are kept in a mason jar, just like I keep them in real life.

E's are more about one-to-one correspondence and, therefore, I don't correct her ordering of the cards. W's are used as the typical numbers and counters.

Since I did all this manually, I don't have it available to download. However, if you're interested, I could use a scanner to make them into an image you can download (they would print 2 jars to a page). Let me know and I'll get on it. Available for download here. I'm thinking the variations on these are many. You could use them for sorting buttons, asking for specific buttons (2-hole, 4 hole, flat, shank, etc.), or, as the Mr. suggested, even for sharing canning recipes!

 These are cards we're using for learning Spanish. We're starting with everyday items and greetings. We've played memory, used them for creating stories to tell in Spanish, and even for sorting. They work wonderfully with the 3 period lesson.

And last, but not least, an idea from what is quickly becoming one of my favorite blogs. You can find this idea here. I simply laid out a sheet of brown kraft paper and tempera paints and let them have at it. Prior to this work, we did have a discussion about seasons--what the weather is like in each season, what events/holidays occur, and what months cover each one. They did a pretty good job staying within the imaginary borders of each season.

I won't tell you exactly what picture represents what, but I will tell you the following is represented. See if you can figure it out:

A bare tree in winter
A heart for Valentine's Day
A shamrock 
A couple of Easter bunnies
A cross
Five birthday cakes
Fireworks
Flowers
A Sun
Snow
Christmas tree
A wrapped gift
An airplane that was inside a wrapped gift
Pumpkins
Fall leaves
A couple of pumpkins (one is white b/c W was amazed to find that pumpkins can come in a variety of colors!)
And a few more items that I'm still trying to decipher ;)

Thinking caps on.

The Mr. recently acquired 2 kids tables like this (without the stools) for $5 each!

Guidecraft Nordic Table Set

We really didn't need these tables, but because they were pretty solid, in such great shape, and the price was right, he couldn't turn them down. What would you do with them? We have this fantastic table for the kids right now that is used for homeschool and play (which I highly recommend as it is an easy build and comes with storage). So, these tables aren't needed in that capacity nor would they fit in the room with it.

We're thinking of maybe putting one in the kitchen for a dining area for them, but then that leaves a spare.

What would you do? I'm all for makeovers, trying something crazy, etc. Give me your thoughts--be as bold or as safe as you like, I'm just drawing a blank and need some help :)

One Month

Well, we're a month into our new school year and I thought perhaps I should get these pics that I took on the 2nd day of school up...better late than never.

E working on her first go at Cylinder Block A. She moved on quickly from this to doing 3 at a time.

W enjoys doing this work. Here he is sliding his finger down to check whether this is an odd or even number. He pushes the even numbers up as you can see.

E and the Pink Tower. This is one of her favorite works but I think only because pink is her favorite color. Also, that headband will show up in future posts I know because she lives to accessorize.

Working on double sandpaper letter "ie". We have been working on 3 letters at a time. Usually 2 single and 1 double at once. This is how Muriel Dwyer recommends presenting them. She claims that the children actually pick up on the sound of double letters faster than single letters. I don't see a difference on how quickly he picks it up, but it does help to be able to read words out on the street faster as many use double letter sounds and that excites him!

These pictures seem from a time so long ago and it's only been one month! My how time flies with children--especially in these years when so very much is learned so quickly. I'm off to wipe my tear...

A Path for the Exploration of Any Language Leading to Writing and Reading

We do not use the pink/green/blue (are those the correct colors?) scheme in teaching reading and opt instead for Muriel Dwyer's reading scheme.

We're quite along in the process and I just wanted to check-in and reiterate how much we LOVE this scheme. It all seems so natural and intuitive. And I cannot stress the importance of first playing the sound game (I-Spy to some)thoroughly before moving on. I'd say we spent a good year just on the sound game (perhaps less time would be needed with an older child) and we are definitely seeing the rewards. One major (or so I would deem major) help is that I am having ZERO issues teaching blending. For example, W read 'trait' today with no help from me blending the 't' and 'r'. He is so aware of the sounds that make up words that blending is coming naturally. We've continued playing the sound game whenever we introduce a new word into his vocabulary. Sometimes he's even better than me breaking up the individual sounds.

I cannot stress enough how much I recommend this reading scheme. So I wanted to mention that for those of you who are scared by the shipping price, I have been told that if you call NAMTA and order over the phone, they will only charge you for regular post which is about $1.

** In case you're wondering, I get nothing but a smile if you order this pamphlet. I'm just such a believer I can't help but be a cheerleader :) **

Funny how I said I'd be posting more...

then haven't. Camera problems are to blame. As well as a busy life. But I wanted to check in and share a quick story with you.

I was clearing off the table last week after dinner, when W said, "Hey mommy! There are 2 pieces of pizza left. If we cut them in half, we'll have 4 pieces and we can all have a piece!" So I replied that he was correct and that we could say it as "Mommy and daddy are having 1/2 of a slice of pizza." He loved that and started telling his sister all about it. Then he went around the house to see if there was anything else we could halve. And so there it was, his first intro into to fractions courtesy of pizza night.

When will school start?

This is the question my kids have been asking lately. With the exception of some practical life and smidgens of biology (that stem from zoo trips or outdoor walks), I dubbed this summer school free. It was slightly selfish on my part. With 2 years of OT and PT therapies for my 4yo finally coming to an end, a 6 month old baby, potty training, 2 birthdays within a week of each other, summer visitors from out of state, preparing our house to sell, VBS, and more, I just needed a break.

Did I feel guilty about this? Absolutely not. Sometimes, we get a little burnt out, especially with little ones. We all need to take some time off and remember why we do what we do. Just simply enjoy, lay in the hammock, have pancakes for dinner, and be. Now, I'm starting to get excited about the new school year and that's the best way to start.

So, with that, expect to see more posts. Some DIY as we start getting ready for what lies ahead (new & old stuff that I've been meaning to post), some thoughts about where and how things are going, and just some general homeschool talk.

:)