Homeschooling April 2013 Part 4

Here is part 4 of our homeschooling in the month of April. We ended the month on a great note. I am not sure if I can post this much every month, but I can try. Let me know if you are reading my posts and if they are helpful. Also, give me some feedback. Ask questions on lessons, materials, or anything else you want. I started this blog because people were curious about how I homeschool my kids and were asking a lot for tips and advice. I figured I'd record the lessons/info and refer everyone to this. So, here it goes. Enjoy.

Montessori Culture (Geography): The Seven Continents.

1. Unroll mat on the floor/carpet.

2. Place puzzle map on mat.

3. Place labels on the mat.

4. Label the continents.

Extension 1

1. Take continent pieces out of the puzzle map.

2. Place them in order (as they'd appear on a map).

3. Recognize and label all seven continents.

Extension 2

1. Take continent pieces out of the puzzle map.

2. Place them out of order from how they'd appear on a map.

3. Recognize and label all seven continents.

Language Arts: spelling words

On the right, you can see the original Montessori bead stair. It is used in some of the Mathematics lessons. Even though the set is only about $8, I made my own (picture on left) using ribbon and beads because I forgot to order this when i placed my last Montessori materials order. If I order this separately, I'll have to pay about $6 in shipping alone. Not worth it and I can't foresee another Montessori order this year (we are covered materials-wise). Plus, they turned out ok and they cost me nothing (I already had all of the materials here at home). Perfect! I'll post pictures of lessons when we use these. :)

This is a picture of one of the two boxes I have for Desk Work. At an educational store in NC, I found these sturdy plastic folders that hold a lot. Inside each plastic folder, is a manila folder with each day of the week written on the tab. Inside, (see Part 1) each folder has:

1)  a Pre-school multi-subject activity book (paper and pencil activities)

2)  a list of Dolch sight words

3)  readers in 3 levels of difficulty (easy, medium, hard)

4) a surprise activity (number flash cards, fabric marker -I'll explain later-, a   

    pop-up book, a small musical instrument, etc).

In the box, I make sure to include a sheet of stickers to reward him when he completes an activity successfully.

I use two boxes (Monday-Wednesday and Thursday-Friday) because, after putting all of these materials in, I can't fit them all in one box. I found these boxes (very nice and sturdy) on Clearance at Lowe's. I think that each cost me $6.50 or so.

I love this poem! It is from the Christian Mother's Goose book. I have posted about it before. It was so hard to get and it was quite expensive (a $9 for $35 plus shipping) because it is out of print. It is worth every single penny!

I absolutely had to include this picture in this post! I love it! I grew up reading Calvin and Hobbes. I'd love for K's room to look like this! Maybe some day...