Posted in The Chalkboard

As I have been feverishly trying to get future lesson plans done before the blessed arrival of our new little one, I've come across some great, affordable (read "free") websites that offer printables for many different grades and subjects!  Here are a few for you to check out:

TLSBooks.com:  Free worksheets for early childhood through fifth grade

SchoolExpress:  Free worksheets, thematic units, and even downloadable reading books!

Education World:  Templates and Tools for teachers, such as certificates, portfolio forms, graphic organizers, calendars, etc.

A to Z Teachers Stuff:  theme, lesson plans, tips and printables

Now this is just a sampling of the many great resources out there on the net.  But be warned . . . searching for and printing out printables can be addictive!  If you don't believe, ask my dear husband!

This has been the scence at my house on more than one occasion in the last month or so!  Sorry, honey!  But he's so cute when he's patiently waiting for his turn on the 'puter!  Blessings All!

In His Love,

Tammy

Posted in The Chalkboard

To make the Paper Clip Counting Activity, you need:

5 index cards

a marker, pen, or crayon

colored dot stickers

paper clips, the larger the better

1.  Write one number on each index card (#1 - #5).

2.  On the bottom of each card, place the correct number of colored dot stickers (i.e., the number 5 card will have 5 colored dot stickers on the bottom).

Your finished set of cards should look like this:

3.  Place the correct number of paper clips needed to complete the activity on a tray or in a baggie, etc.  As the child gets more skilled at this activity, you can make it more challenging by giving him more paper clips than he will need.  But, for now, giving him exactly the amount he needs helps him to correct his own mistakes.

Now to introduce the activity, have the child count the number of dots on a card.

Make sure to relate the fact that the number written on the card is the same as the number of dots on the card.  Then let the child place a paper clip over each dot while counting each one aloud.

The child will know that he is correct if all of the paper clips on the tray are gone and if each dot has a paper clip on it.

And look how good they'll feel when they realize that they've done it all by themselves!

  Happy PaperClip Couting!

Posted in The Chalkboard

Tigger got his bounce back a couple of days ago, so we finally started our Plants Unit this week.  I thought that I would share with you some of the activities that we are doing.

So far this week, we have:

• Read excerpts from My First Nature Book by Angela Wilkes and DK:  Eye Know Plant by Penelope Arlon
• Examined and sorted various seeds and beans (apples, avocadoes, strawberries, roses, lavender, kidney beans, pink beans and black beans)
• Planted strawberry, rose, and lavender seeds (I found these cute little prepared pots in the Dollar section at T*rget that already had the seeds and potting soil.  We just had to add the water!!)
• Began to sprout beans (Each day the kids draw a picutre of the progress of their beans)

Our remaining activites to do are:

1. Read Genesis Chapters 1-3.  Highlight every time we see the words:  plants, trees, seed, fruit and garden.  What does God's Word say about plants?
2. Research some unusual plants (i.e, the Venus Fly Trap, etc.)
3. Grind some wheat to make bread while discussing how the grains of wheat are actually the seeds of the plant.
4. Make and eat a plate of leaves (aka "tossed salad")
5. Write a story: "You find an odd-looking seed and plant it.  Your seed grows into _____________. "
6. Find "hitchhiker" seeds in our backyard.
7. Interview at least ten people and ask them "What is your favorite Fruit/Vegetable?"  Create a graph to represent our findings.
8. Draw a comic strip illustrating "The Parable of the Sower and the Seed" Mark 4:3-20
9. Memorize the Fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22, 23)

Hopefully, we'll have time to do most of these before we start our next unit on Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights' Movement.  But if not, we'll have fun with as many of them as we can!

Posted in The Chalkboard

When designing activities for your toddlers and preschoolers, it's important to remember a few key concepts:

1.  Children love to be as independent as possible so choose activities that they can practice with a minimum of instruction from you.

2.  Children need to touch and feel as they learn so design activities that will give them the maximum amount of tactile experience.

3.  Children need immediate feedback so make the activities as self-correcting as possible, meaning that the child can see for himself if his choice was right or not.

This activity was designed to help my children recognize colors, develop sorting skills, and practice manual dexterity which is an extremely important pre-handwriting skill.

(Notice My Buddy's artistic graffiti on the wall in the background:)

Materials Needed:

a container of some sort (I used an old ice-cream bucket that has an easy open top and a handle for little hands to carry.)

colored dot stickers (found in the school/office supplies section of W*lm*rt)

colored clothespins (found in the dollar section at T*rg*t - you could also use regular wooden or plastic clothespins just put a colored dot on each one)

First, put colored dots around the edge of your container in any random order. (My apologies for the blurry picture:0)

Then, put your clothespins inside the container.

That's it!  Now, let the child pick a clothespin from the bucket and match it to a colored dot on the rim.  They use the pincer grasp (forefinger and thumb) to clip the clothespin to the correct dot. 

This is three year old Sugar-Sugar demonstrating his color clothespin sorting expertise!)

It's that simple!  My guys love this activity because they can do it all by themselves without any help from Mommy:)  Even two-year old My Buddy enjoys carrying, dumping, and refilling the bucket!

Happy Sorting!

Posted in The Chalkboard

 At The Heart of the Matter Online, they are doing a meme this weekend on A Day in the Life of a Homeschool Family.  Sounds like fun, so I thought that I would participate.  When I do our daily schedule, I try to think in terms of blocks of time, such as Our Early Morning Routine (6:00 a.m. to 9:00a.m.) instead of segments of time, such as 7:30 am. to 8:15 a.m.  I know that it's purely psychological, but it helps me not to panic if we're a few minutes or so off schedule.

• Early Morning Routine (6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.):   Buc-Fan and Princess are my alarm clocks.  They usually rise between 6:00 a.m. and 6:30 a.m.  They are my earliest of early risers.  Buc-Fan usually dresses immediately, then goes downstairs to have his personal devotions and to study for Teen Bible Quiz.  Princess goes to Daddy's office to have her personal devotions, then she showers and dresses.  By 7:00 a.m., she or Buc-Fan are at the laptop starting their schoolwork.  They are both on Switched-On Schoolhouse, so they share the laptop (i.e., one is on for one hour, then they switch).  Whoever is not on the laptop either does their Math and/or Handwriting workbook or starts on the laundry and /or putting the clean dishes away from the previous evening.  I usually roll (I do mean "roll" with my ever-expanding belly!) out of bed around 6:30 a.m. or sometimes later depending on what kind of night we've had with Sugar-Sugar whose blood sugar level must be checked at least once during the night to keep him from going into Insulin Shock.  Once up, I have my Tea and Prayer Time which is usually interrupted by the pitter-patter of little feet coming downstairs.  It's usually My Buddy or Sugar-Sugar or both!  We go upstairs together to wake up Daddy who works from home (What a Blessing!).  He gets My Buddy and Sugar-Sugar dressed including checking Sugar-Sugar's sugar while I shower, dress, and start breakfast.  If it's been a really slow morning getting started because of a long night with Sugar-Sugar, then Buc-Fan and Princess will prepare breakfast for the Little Ones (cereal & milk).  During that time Big Girl and Tigger (who usually has to be encouraged to wake up) are up and dressed.  Morning Chores are done either before or after breakfast.  The Little Ones play in the Playroom while I check on everyone's chores and do my own.  Daddy likes to be in his office by 9:00 a.m. so that's when we aim to start School Work with everybody else.
• Mid-Morning Routine (9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon):  Everyone participates in Morning Meeting in the School Room/ Play Room.  We recite our Memory Verses, do Math & Calendar Activities, and have Shared Reading in which each child, including the Little Ones, gets to read aloud a portion of a book of their choice.  We just smile as the Little Ones chatter and make up stories to go with their pictures!  We also have a time of Physical Fitness where the kids do exercises (i.e., squats, leg lifts, push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, windmills, etc.).  Buc-Fan attended a week-long football camp last summer, so he often enjoys playing the role of coach/drill sergeant during this time!  If there's time, we also sing a few hymns or praise songs before we adjourn the meeting.  At that time, Buc-Fan and Princess are excused to finish their work independently.  The rest of us go to the kitchen table to start Table Time.  I have a closet full of plastic bins with manipulatives and games, paper, crayons, pencils, safety scissors, etc. that the Little Ones use during this time while I get Tigger started on his School Work.  They are allowed to stay at the table until they are tired of sitting (usually about 20 minutes).  Then they are excused to the Play Room to play.   I go back and forth between the two groups, playing when I can and keeping everyone else on task when needed.  We break around 10:30 a.m. for Morning Snack and Outdoor Play.  We come back in around 11:15 a.m. or so.  After removing shoes and washing hands, the Little Ones watch a Mom-Approved video while I keep Tigger on task and do Phonics/Handwriting/Math with Big Girl.  We keep her lessons brief and try to include lots of hands-on activities.   Right before Lunch, we try to have Read-Aloud time where I read a book to Tigger, Big Girl, Sugar-Sugar, and My Buddy while they play quietly with blocks or puzzles, or color and draw.  Currently, we're reading Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
• Early Afternoon Routine (12 noon to 3 p.m.):  Princess makes lunch while the rest of us quick-clean downstairs.  After lunch, the Young Ones and I go down for nap.  Buc-Fan and Princess are usually done with School Work by this time, so they have free time after they clean the kitchen and check the laundry. 
• Mid-Afternoon Routine (3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.):  After nap, we have snack.  If we're doing a Unit Study, we'll spend about thirty minutes working on it (i.e., reading, researching, projects, experiments, etc.)  Then it's free time and/or Outdoor Play Time for everyone until around 5 p.m. when I begin dinner preparations.  During that time Buc-Fan and Princess are both on child-care duty, keeping the Young Ones occupied and out of trouble.  Dad usually ends work around 5:30 p.m. when he checks Sugar-Sugar's sugar and prepares his insulin shot for the evening.  We quick-clean the downstairs again before we sit down for dinner between 5:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.
• Evening Routine (6:00 p.m. to Bed Time):  We have dinner, then Daddy supervises the kitchen clean-up so that I can get some time on the 'puter in his office.  We try to have Family Time during this time (i.e., look at library books together, watch a video together, play games, or just chat).  We're thinking about moving our weekly chores to this time block because Daddy's available to help.  We do baths, pajamas, and teeth time for the Young Ones while the Older Ones usually listen to Adventures in Odyssey.  Around 8 p.m., we have Family Devotions led by Daddy.  We read Scriptures and discuss them.  Daddy often has very thought-provoking questions to ask us.  Even the Young Ones put in their two-cents' worth!  We sing a song or two.  Then pray and send the Young Ones to bed, except Sugar-Sugar who must go downstairs with Daddy for his BedTime Sugar Check and Snack.  By 9:00 p.m. or so, all of the children are usually in bed except for Buc-Fan who stays up to study for Teen Bible Quiz, to play Chess or video games with Daddy, or to chat with Mommy and/or Daddy.  I usually use this time to plan, read, and/or work on my blog.  Ed and I try to have some time before I go to bed to talk, plan, dream, and laugh together.  He's the late owl, so he stays up to work in his office until Sugar-Sugar's last Sugar Check around 11 p.m. or so.  My brain shuts down around 10 p.m. so I'm usually in bed by then thanking the Lord for His grace and mercy to make it through another day!

Now, please understand that our days don't usually go as planned.  As a matter of fact, there are many days when we just scrap the whole plan and simply purpose to make it till naptime and bedtime!  There are always life's little interruptions to contend with, but we try to maintain a sense of normalcy as best as possible.  Also, there are many moments during our day when Daddy comes out of "The Dungeon" (our term of endearment for his office) to chat with us.  He especially tries to make himself available if he hears any chaos, arguments, or temepr tantrums erupting!   Be sure to check out the other links at The Heart of the Matter Online to see how other homeschoolers live, laugh, love, and learn together!