Homeschooling November 2013 Part 4

Something to think about...

Homeschooling September 2013 Part 1 First Week of Pre-K Homeschool!!!

Inspiration...

Vacation Roadtrip: Las Vegas

We went to Las Vegas for Labor Day weekend to visit my husband's grandparents. They are 90+ years old and, since my mother-in-law was visiting them, we thought it'd be the perfect time to go see them. The last time we saw them I was still pregnant with Baby Girl, so they had never met her. Another big reason to go visit.

Homeschooling August 2013 Part 1

Montessori Mathematics: Number Rods

  

Number Rods  (info taken from this wonderful site: click here)** Personal Note: I also use the extension that you can see in the second picture, the one with the number tiles. It is super simple for him now that he can count up to 100+, but it is still a good and quick practice activity.

Montessori Culture (Geography): Land, Air, and Water

First, we reviewed the differences between land, water and air. 

We talk about why they are all important for life. 

Then, I open the envelope with living things and K sorts them out (animals that are in air, water and land).

After that, we clean up and I open the envelope with methods of transportation and K sorts them out (airplanes, helicopters, etc go by Air, boats, ships, canoes, etc go by Water, cars, trains, trucks, etc go by Land).

Desk Work

Reading and sight word practice

Gym Co-op: 

Ballet for girls, sports for boys and developmental activities for tots

I have started a Kombucha brew. It is a much (MUCH) slower process than water kefir, but I am hoping it'll be well worth it. I am now working on rehydrating the scoby in black tea, sugar and vinegar (to balance the pH).

A wonderful anniversary present and the kids' first sleepover

My friend, Stephanie, was so sweet and gracious to offer to watch my kids OVERNIGHT so hubby and I could go out on a date to celebrate our 5-year wedding anniversary! She's such a generous soul!

Hubby and I had fun going to dinner to a fancy restaurant. The food was delicious. Then we went to see a movie. We hadn't been to a movie (just the 2 of us) since before K was born (that's 3.5+ years)!

Needless to say, we needed that. And like that wasn't enough, we got to stay up late and enjoy some cheesecake and sleeping in without someone waking us up (another first for us). 

And now for the kids: they got to hang out a friends' house, ate dinner, played, watched a movie, slept over, had breakfast there and played some more. It was a great experience all-around, I'd say. Definitely owe Stephanie...big time! :)

Homeschooling June 2013 Part 3

Music: Intro. to Music

Today we practiced a "hello" song.
We learned the words and have to add in their own action item each week. It will be the repetitive feature.
We talked about how animal sounds can be used in music and sang Old MacDonald Had A Zoo.
Then we did a song with birds where we each sang a part. When combined, the sounds make a song with a beautiful melody.
We then played a bird hunt song and walked around following the instructions.
Finally, a slow song where we rested and then danced slowly to the beat. Again, a lot of fun!

Spanish: Review and Zero

We practiced:
-hola (hello)
-buenos días (good morning)
-las vocales (the vowels) with sign language
-los números (the numbers) 1-10 with sign language
-introduced "cero" (zero)
-stamped on paper matching numbers
-and played the kids' all-time fave: The Flyswatter Game" to practice the numbers. I'd say a number in Spanish and the child swats it. It was fun.

Baby Girl's Homeschooling

Sight Words

Shapes: rectangle, star, oval, heart
 

Shapes and matching items with the same shape. 

 

Cards I made with body parts 

Desk Work

 

Today, K chose the Spiderman activity book (what a shocker, right?).
We were supposed to count the shapes in the two boxes and then circle the ones that have fewer shapes. 
   
    
                                                                                    Word Families: -en, -at, -ar, -ip 

     

Montessori Practical Life: Learning to Pour Water Into a Smaller Container

 
It was fun using all kinds of pitchers and cups. Originally, the Montessori uses blue food coloring to color the water. It makes it easier for children to see and notice when they are getting to the top of the cup. I confess, I could've/should've colored the water, but didn't. I will next time, though. 

Montessori Language Arts: Sandpaper Letters (Upper Case)

 
We started out with the vowels (on blue boards). We said their name, their sounds, and we traced them with our fingers. 
 

Then we traced them on the magnetic board. 
 
He did a great job. 
 
We really enjoyed this activity. He wanted to keep going and going.
 
Tracing the letters before writing them. 
 
After the vowels, K wanted to keep going, so we started tracing a few consonant (on pink boards) and then writing them out. 

Montessori Mathematics: Spindle Boxes

 
This activity is pretty simple. You get all the spindles out, go through each number (starting with 0) and put the correct number of spindles in each box in front of the number. 
 
To go a step further, we used pipe cleaners to bundle the spindles together.
Learning to twist the wire (pipe cleaner) was like a whole new world to K.
He kept practicing over and over and it seemed to be his favorite part in the whole activity. 

Art: Father's Day Trophies

For the past two weeks we've been working on Father's Day Trophies for the world's best dads. K decorated his trophy with pasta, rice, wheat, beans, beads, glitter and gems. It was spray painted gold. Very pretty and worthy of a special owner (dad). Happy Father's Day! Keep an eye out for pictures of the trophy and other Father's Day gifts in the next post.


My husband had to travel for work. While he's gone, I kind of have a hard time sleeping at night (you know, holding down the fort alone is hard work, wink), so I left this note on my door to let him know where I was. He found me in the morning, no problems. :) Smart reader!

Music: Solfege

We learned about the "Solfege" Musical Scale. Also known as, Do-Re-Mi.
We learned the song from the movie and talked about how the notes rise and fall.
We used our bodies to indicate if the notes were going up or down.
We also used the Solfege hand signs to show each note.
Next week we are going to talk about actual notes (what they look like, how long each one is, etc).