Winter Theme 2018

Our Montessori Inspired trays for the two weeks:

1. Rock snowman mix and match story telling
2. Pattern making with templates 
3. Create your own pattern
4. Sandpaper numbers and glass (ice) beads 
5. Numeral and dot snowman match 
6. Tens and ones roll and count 
7. One to one correspondence with penguin stickers
8. Stair counting with snowman manipulatives 
9. Hundred chart cover and find the number 

1. Shape matching penguins 

2. Snowball ten frame 

3. Numerals and for ten frames using penguin manipulatives (cards from Your Sister's Shoppe )

4. Mitten Double letter blends picture card match 

5. Wooden snowflake match

6. The Mitten animal word building with the moveable alphabet

7. Penguin puzzle with penguin fact card 

Our winter feels Math Table:

Wooden scale can be found here. 

Our Loose Parts set out for them in their Block Area:

Here are our Invitations:

Invitation to Build: Can you build a snowflake? (pay attention to main parts of what make a snowflake) We paired this with the book: The Story of Snow



Invitation to Explore: What story can you tell using these loose parts on the light table?



Invitation to Build: Can you build a sled? This went along with the Red Sled book we borrowed from the library. We LOVE a good STEAM invitation.

We had a fun Small World Sensory Play day where I filled a baking sheet and froze it. Then I mixed baking soda and shaving cream and made a super fun moldable snow! We added the Safari Ltd. Penguins for some chilly play! When the ice melted it was a great discussion opener about icebergs! 

Below are just some of the Science, Math and Art we did during these Winter Theme weeks.

How Do Penguins Stay Dry?
I printed a picture of a penguin from A Scrap of Time. We tested just water on the penguin and noticed it got drenched immediately. Next we rubbed oil onto the penguin first and then added water. Conclusion: try it yourself to discover!



Making Snowflake Names:
Fold your paper like you would to make a normal paper snowflake. Then write the name you want on the fold of the paper. Cut along the lines careful not to cut the fold. Viola!

Painted Snowflake Symmetry:
Place some paint into the center of a folded piece of paper. I prefer the larger pieces of construction paper for durability of the wet paint. Then fold the paper. The child then pushes the paint into three lines moving it away from the center of the fold to the edges of the paper. Be careful not to press too hard or the paper could rip and to not go past the edges. Open the paper carefully!



Penguin Coding
After reading Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers. I set up a basic coding game to follow the order of events of the story to get the penguin to the South Pole. My daughter then had to write down the code the youngest was to follow in order to achieve this goal. 

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Games - The Secret Learning Tool

Have you heard of Game schooling?

This is just a few of the games that are out for the girls to
freely choose from to play when they want. 

It is basically playing games to facilitate learning .

Although we don't game school 100% we are HUGE fans of utilizing games into our days. They save all of our sanity most days when working on our lessons just aren't an option for my girls. I much prefer pulling out a game we can all play and will have fun together. They bring connection and the girls have little idea that they are learning!


Sounds amazing, right?



Here is a list of a few games that have frequented our table as of late.

For my youngest: 

Nonsensical Stories Game : This is a cooperative story based game for ages 3 and up.

Haba Orchard Game : This is a fun game for cooperative learning and fine motor.

Hape Listen to Clues  : This is good for paying attention and following directions.

Guess Who? : Great for asking questions and paying attention to details.

For my oldest (who is now 6)

Outfoxed!  A simplified game of Clue!

Sums in Space : A fun addition and subtraction game using number 0-9.

Qwirkle : a fun strategy game for the entire family. My husband and I really enjoy this one too!

Scrabble Junior : This particular version of Scrabble has options to play with a younger playing for letter recognition and is able to move to a more advanced version for spelling.


*** I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites with no additional charges to you. 

Play Dough Recipe

Here is my MOST FAVORITE recipe for play dough.
You can add all sorts of things to this to have a different sensory play each time. I love this because it is made of items already in my pantry making it a simple last minute play time tool.




The basic recipe is as follows:

2 Cups of flour
1/2 cup of salt
2 Tablespoons of cream of tartar
2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups of VERY hot water, boiling is best


ADD INS: (optional)
Glitter
sequins
sprinkles
food coloring
essential oils

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
Add the vegetable oil to the hot water and then add to the dry ingredients.
Stir together until it starts to form.
Take out of the bowl and knead together. BE CAREFUL IT WILL BE HOT!

This recipe if stored in a sealed container will last up to a few months.

For add ins, if they are dry add in with the dry ingredients and likewise, if they are wet, add into the wet. For add ins like sprinkles it is best to add them in after the entire mixture is cooled down or the coloring will bleed from the hot water.


Let me know if you make this! Leave a comment or post to your social media (Facebook or Instagram) and tag me (@momducator) ! I love to see how you adapt it to your own.

Advent Calendar Activity Ideas

Each year we try to do activities for our Advent Calendar. 

Sometimes this includes big productions and some effort on my part while other days it is the simplest things. 

No matter what it is we try to be intentional and present with one another keeping our focus on the true meaning of Christmas. 

Here are just some ideas we have done over the years:

Make a cardboard gingerbread house	Take a ride on the Polar Express	Drive around and look at lights
Open a gift	Make cards for a friend	Bake cookies
Give cookies to neighbors	Christmas mug shopping	Put up Christmas lights
Stroll the lights	Go see gingerbread houses	Wrap presents
Dance to Christmas music	Christmas tree farm	See lights in the Garden
Make ornaments for family	Play games by the tree	Color a Christmas picture
Build a blanket fort	Watch a Christmas movie	Christmas craft
Wear PJ’s all day	Make paper chains	Take pictures with Christmas props
Donate old toys	Wear red and green	Leave a treat for mail man
Paint a festive scene	Read Christmas stories by the tree	Open a present
Make gingerbread man pancakes	See the Nutcracker	Wrap presents
Make tie dye shirts	See a living nativity	Make cranberry & popcorn garland
Dehydrate oranges	Make a cardboard polar express	Go on a light hunt

What are some activities you have done with your family? 

Gingerbread Man Theme 2017

Recap of the last two weeks as we followed a Gingerbread Man Theme.

Our two weeks worth of our Montessori Inspired trays:

1. Beginning blend family sort

2. Sandpaper numbers and buttons

3. Place value with gingerbread men (tens) and buttons (ones)

4. Read to your Gingerbread Baby

5. Gingerbread man sewing 

6. Beginning letter sound boxes

7. Toys and textiles from India exploration 

1. Felt gingerbread man 

2. Gingerbread man sound box match

3. Gingerbread man dot cards, numerals and buttons

4. Beginning letter sound and object match

5. Roll and count buttons on the gingerbread man

6. Gingerbread man story 3 part cards

7. Gingerbread man retelling story rocks

A favorite advent activity we do each year is to build a cardboard gingerbread house. It’s evolved so differently each year. The size and style of boxes we are able to get our hands on has a major role in how they are built. But no matter their form the girls love playing, Reading, coloring whatever each December. 

This year it’s made of boxes, paper plates and some red paint. That’s it!


Here are the Invitations I set out for the girls these two weeks:

Invitation to build: Can you build a gingerbread house using play dough?

Invitation to Draw: What do you think the inside of a gingerbread house may look like? (using chalk pastels)

Invitation to Draw: How many gingerbread men can you trace to fit onto one sheet of paper?

Invitation to Build: Can you build a bridge for the Gingerbread Man to cross the river?

Invitation to Learn: Why can't the Gingerbread Man just simply swim across the river?





AFFILIATION LINKS BELOW
Any purchase using these links are at no additional costs to you but it does help support my family, thank you!

Gingerbread Man Paper Boxes:
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PlayDoh:
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Sandpaper Numbers with box:
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Sandpaper Letters:
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Place Value Numbers 1 -9999
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Here's to leaps of faith!

My first post. YIKES!
I have been so timid about starting a blog to merely share what we do on an educational learning level here in our home. But here I am, taking the leap!

Backstory on myself. I LOVE teaching. It is and has always been my favorite thing to do. I can remember being in Kindergarten myself and knowing I wanted to be a teacher just like mine. She was amazing, kind, thoughtful and FUN! Do you ever wish you could go back and tell your teachers just how amazing they were and what influence they had on your life? Yes, me too.

I went on to grow up babysitting and creating activities for the kids I cared for and from there went to school to get my degree in Early Childhood Education with a Masters in Reading Education. I taught for a few years in the public school system. I then decided  I wanted to stay home with my two babies playing with them and just having fun. I didn't know then that I would homeschool until my oldest became Kindergarten age and I knew I wanted to have a strong role in their educational foundation. I knew I wanted them to have a longer childhood of play and time for their self directed interests.

So, here I am. Mother to a 6 year old (first grader) and a 4 year old (preK), teaching them through play based hands on activities that cater to their interests and educational needs.

I like to incorporate several learning styles into our day as each as a part that really strikes me as essential to being sure my girls are getting the most out of their childhood.  I utilize Montessori, Reggio, Charlotte Mason, Nature and Whole Body Learning woven in and out of each bit of our days. I am NOT officially trained in any of these areas. In fact, I feel my actual educational background is quite the opposite of these paths but I feel my role as their teacher is to include them as it best suits their sensitive periods.

As I have been through this journey, I have found several friends that have benefited from my hands on lessons and wanted to also share with more as I know this homeschool journey can be so tricky to navigate without having to add coming up with fun lessons for your kids to the plate. My hopes through this blog is you find even a small nibble of something you can incorporate into your own homes or even classrooms if is allowed and somewhere children will reap the benefits of play based hands on activities and their minds will be opened and treasure the moments that occurred from the lesson from teacher to student.

Thank you for all the support. Much prayers have gone into these first steps and because of you all I have gained courage to share.