Homeschool Room Tour 2014

Welcome to our homeschool room! We are happy that you have chosen to pay us a visit. We hope you like what you see.

Montessori Math: Addition (with free printable)

Have you been looking for a complete and thorough tutorial on Montessori Math addition? Look no further! 

In this post, I will show you a sample lesson (addition) and give you a free printable, as well as show you how easy it is to bring Montessori to your home. We have been using The Montessori Method in our homeschool for years now, and I would love to share with you this information.

The lesson below is for ages 3-6, and there are extensions available to make this material more challenging.

Click HERE to see the entire lesson.

Homeschooling Journal: April 2014 Part 8

Montessori Culture (History): A Child's Timeline

I think it is pretty much self-explanatory, but here's what we did:
He chose a light-colored piece of construction paper and drew as straight a line as he could (I think he did a great job). Then I helped him draw lines for each year of his life.
We thought of important things that happened each year and, between the two of us, wrote them down where they belonged. It was simple making it because he has lived a mere 4 years. I can't imagine if I had to make my timeline of 34 years! :)

   Read on

Homeschooling Journal: April 2014 Part 7

Homeschooling a Toddler

We practiced the numbers 0-10 and then read a really great book with lots of vocabulary words.

It included body parts, clothing, mealtime words, food, at home, toys, going out, playground, bathtime, bedtime, transportation, numbers, colors, shapes, etc.

Homeschooling Journal: April 2014 Part 2

Getting ready for Easter and going in style

 

Interesting choice of evening attire.       Here, we were in beautiful San Diego. :)

 

Homeschooling Journal: March 2014 Part 5

Cursive Practice (sort of)

This is an awesome printables packet from 3 Dinosaurs. And it is FREE!

K had been showing a lot of interest in cursive and can read it now, so I asked some blogger friends for resources. Cassie responded with this. Wow. How amazing! That very evening, I printed it all off and put it together, even the dice.

The next day, during homeschool, I presented K with it and he loved it, but once he tried to write in cursive a little bit (after begging me to teach him how to write cursive), he said he didn't feel it was time yet. Sigh. Ok. That is what I had thought, but since he insisted so much, I didn't want his interest to wane. So it is there, in our homeschool room, looking all pretty, waiting for the day K wants to give it a go again. Thank you, Cassie! :)

  

                              

Homeschooling Journal: March 2014 Part 1

What a great weekend we had! First, it rained on Saturday (which we don't get very often) and second, we had a fun Mardi Gras party on Sunday.

Get the Little Natural Cottage's April Printables Packet HERE!

Click on image to purchase. It is a great buy. Only $2 for more than 25 awesome printable pages, full of educational fun. Take a look. You will love it!

This is an affiliate link. Every purchase through this link provides me with a small commission, which I use to purchase materials for our homeschool. Thank you for your support! It means the world to us! To read our disclosure and privacy policies, CLICK HERE.

Homeschooling Journal: February 2014 Part 6

Take a look at what we did at the end of February. :) Better late than never, right? :)

A.C.E. (Accelerated Christian Education)
To learn more, CLICK HERE.

K and I have been absolutely loving A.C.E. I adjust it to our needs and schedule and it is working out so well that we will continue using it indefinitely. As he finishes his PACEs (booklets) and memorizes Scripture, he gets a golden star each time and that is an encouragement to him. He is doing great with this program. It isn't individualized yet (as it is in the older grades), but that is ok. It gives us an opportunity to develop a special rapport that we couldn't if he were just working on his own.

The best part about it is that I grew up with this program and now I get to use it with my child. Eventually, A will use it, too. :)

Montessori Math: Large Number Cards and Golden Beads Tray

We introduced this lesson HERE. Now, we extended that Presentation.

Here are the ones, tens, hundreds, and thousands large number cards.
Then, we look at the golden beads and match the beads to the cards.

Homeschooling Journal: February 2014 Part 5

McGuffey's Readers and Classical Conversations Review
Foundations, Cycle 1, Weeks 1-7

Homeschooling Journal: February 2014 Part 1

Haircut (first one in a really, really, REALLY long time). I am so happy!

Homeschooling Journal: January 2014 Part 7

A.C.E. (Accelerated Christian Education)

The Widow's Mites: A Story of Giving

Homeschooling Journal: January 2014 Part 6

Happy birthday, baby girl! She is two now and she is such a blessing to us! We love her!

Science Experiments Class

In science this month we have learned about the brain and nervous system - 3 parts of the brain, how the brain stem works, coordination, hemispheres, nerves. 
We also learned about cells - basic building blocks, working together as a team and identifying different cells - this was met with an experiment - the kids loved it
Today we will be learning about why our arms swing (M. is curious and it goes back to the parts of the brain lesson). 
We will then move on to learn about our ears with a few experiments and hopefully I'll remember to take pictures! 

Classical Conversations and Montessori-Inspired Math: Skip Counting

This is a cool and easy project to put together to help little ones memorize their skip counting numbers from one up to fifteen. Take a look at how we did this and how it works so well for us. Even though it is for the Classical Conversations curriculum, it is almost Montessori-inspired. I love it and so does K! This activity is great for children ages 4 and up.

I printed out 2 copies of the templates for skip counting numbers 1-15.
Then, I laminated all of them and cut 1 copy of each into individual sheets and the other copy I cut the numbers and title separately.

I cut a bright blue sheet in half and placed one half on either side of the card.
On the back of each card, I taped an envelope.
Inside, I placed all of the individual numbers as well as the title.
Now, we are ready to start!

First, take a nice placemat and put it at the bottom. Take all of the individual numbers out of the envelope and place on the bright sheet on the left (all out of order). 
Second, practice placing all of the individual numbers over the matching numbers on the card. It is very important that this is done in order. 
Third, once done, move all of the individual numbers to the bright half sheet on the left again and flip the card over (so the student cannot see the numbers. 
Fourth, Take the title and place it on the top part of the bright half sheet on the right. 
Start placing the individual numbers in order. 
So first, you practice by being able to see the numbers and second, you test your memory and try to place all the numbers in the correct order without looking.

Answer key: turn the card over and compare.