Homeschooling September 2013 Part 4

This is the sign we have on our homeschool room. It says Huānyíng (welcome) in Mandarin Chinese. I got it when I went to China. I wasn't sure why I was getting it or how I would use it, but I am glad I finally found a way to put it to good use.

Homeschooling May 2013 Part 3

We went out to lunch for Mother's Day. I was happy to choose Olive Garden. Great place and great food.

Desk Work

Spanish: The Vowels (Las Vocales)

"a" as in apple
"e" as in egg
"i" as in igloo
"o" an in orange
"u" as in the sound "ooooo" that a monkey says
Cuántos años tienes tú? (How old are you?)

Practical Life: Cutting with a knife

This is a safe knife that I ordered from the Pampered Chef. It has a rounded tip
and the teeth are wider, so it still cuts, but it's safer to use. K does great using it.

Practicing Spanish (The Vowels)
We learned them along with sign language.
He is saying "U" here.

Desk Work

Montessori Mathematics: Number Rods and Tiles

Put Number Rods in order from 1-10

I put the Number Rods out of order and K put them back in order from 1-10.

Putting them back in order.

Montessori Science (Geography): Land, Water, Air

We sorted several pictures of animals and insects depending on where
they "live."  I know birds and butterflies technically don't LIVE in AIR,
but they fly and it's easier to explain to him that they can fly
and they spend time up in the air, whereas other animals can't.

Land, Water and Air lesson, but with means of transportation.

English: Land, Water, Air
Spanish: Tierra, Agua, Aire
Chinese: Di, Shui, Qi

Homeschooling May 2013 Part 1

May Day! May Day! Hahaha. 
We made some May Baskets on May 1st and it was a lot of fun.

Desk Work

Montessori Science: Botany

Our lesson today was on plants and the part of a plant. We went to our backyard and started looking at different things in it. Is this a plant? Yes or no. K learned quickly what a plant is.

Picture 1: It's a pretty good representation of a plant (with all its parts).

Picture 2: He's recognizing what a plant is and isn't.

Picture 3: Is this (hose) a plant? No. Is this (plant next to the hose) a plant? Yes.

Picture 4: Is this (wall) a plant? No. Are these (rocks) plants? No. Is this (plant with yellow flowers) a plant? Yes.

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Parts of a plant nomenclature

Parts of a plant nomenclature and answer key

Plant, stem, branches, leaves, root

Desk Work

I usually try to do a little bit of Mathematics and a little bit of Language Arts, but it doesn't always work out. That's ok, though. We do about 2-4 worksheets, depending on time.

Montessori Practical Life: Learning how to put down a chair/stool

We put chairs/stools down gently and quietly. We carry them with two hands and move slowly. He was a bit rough at first, but as we practiced with different kinds of chairs, he got the concept and has been doing well ever since. He used to drop chairs hard before this lesson. I'd say it is a complete success.

                                     Montessori Practical Life: Dressing Frames

K absolutely loved this lesson! He really likes changing clothes and figuring out how to get dressed on his own. The dressing frames was a wonderful exercise and I am so proud of how well he did during the lesson. He was extremely self-motivated and he kept asking for more. I planned the lesson where we would start with the easiest and work our way to the hardest to do.

I decided to not even purchase the VELCRO dressing frame because it is the easiest and it is readily available in clothing and shoes. He does really well with it already. 

So first, we practiced zipping the ZIPPER dressing frame. 

Second, we practiced with SNAPS. 

Third, we practiced with BUTTONS. 

Fourth, we did HOOK AND EYE several times.

Fifth, we had a wonderful time with the RIBBONS (BOWS). I was amazed at how well he did in this exercise. It was hard, but he persevered and kept on trying until we managed to make all five bows together.

Sixth, we practiced with BUCKLES. K loves these because they remind him of pirates.

In retrospect, the buckles were much easier than the ribbons.

                           

    

                                         

Montessori Practical Life: Cleaning Fingernails and Brushing Teeth