Friday, September 27, 2013

Free Printable Friday- Autumn, Leaves, and Pumpkins

Each Friday I will posting a new FREE printable.  This week the theme is pumpkins and leaves. 


 Pumpkin Counting Game

This game helps with number recognition and counting.

Little Peanut named the number on the pumpkin and placed the corresponding number of pumpkins on top of the number card.

(I purchased the pumpkins to go with this game from the dollar section at Target. You can use orange playdough balls for pumpkins as well.)

You can down load the pumpkin cards for FREE page 1,
page 2, page 3
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Autumn Leaf Sort

This game helps with sorting skills and color recognition.

Little Peanut placed the correct leaf on the correct color card.
(I purchased the leaves to use with this game from the dollar section at Target.)

This mat can be used to sort any red and brown items.
You can get this color sort mat FREE here.
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Check out all the places I like to link up here.


You are more than welcome to print off these files for personal use, but please direct others back to my original post and do not directly link back to pdf.  If you use these printables you are agreeing to abide by this disclosure policy.

Parental Supervision

Manipulatives that are used in these posts are items I used with my child.  Parents are responsible for deciding what is suitable for their child to use with printable mat.  All activities on this blog should be done with parental supervision. Any activity involving small pieces should be done with children over 3 years of age.   

Graphics are courtesy of Graphics Factory

Friday, September 20, 2013

Free Printable Friday-Sink or Float Printables

This week we are working on ocean activities.  Here are two printables I created for our unit.
 
 
 
Sink or Float
Salt Water vs. Fresh Water
 
 
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 You can download this sheet with the objects here.
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You can download this sheet without the objects here.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

School-Age Saturday Painting Sight Words

School-Age Saturday
 
On Saturdays I will be posting some school age activities I did with Little Sweets.
 
 
Painting Sight Words or Spelling On Sliding Glass Door

I mixed a little bit of water with washable tempra paint and let Little Sweets paint her sight words on the sliding glass door.  The paint comes off easily with soap and water.  Little Sweets loved this activity.  
 
 

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 Here is a picture from the inside.  We had to repaint the words since it was difficult to get a picture without a reflection from the outside. 
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This is a great activity if you have younger siblings who like doing activities alongside  their sister or brother.  Little Peanut joined in and painted a picture of her own while Little Sweets practiced her sight words. 

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Frugal Friday- Free Shape Puzzle Printables

Frugal Friday
 
Each Friday I plan to post about a fun frugal or free activity you can do with your child.  This week I am sharing a free shape puzzle printable I used during tot time with Little Peanut.  I hope you enjoy!!
 
 
 Here is a link

 
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Here is a link
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Here is where I like to link up
www.icanteachmychild.com
www.teachbesideme.com
 

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Rock Project

Rock Project

Over the last week I have been working on a rock project with my  2 1/2 year old and 5 year old.  The girls have been very interested in rocks and they absolutely loved these activities. 
 
 Sorting
 Little Peanut Sorting Rocks Big and Small
 

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 Sorting by Color
I didn't get a picture of Little Peanut doing this activity, but here is what it looked like when she was finished.
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 Counting and Measurement using a Scale
Little Peanut is measuring/counting how many cubes her rock weighs. 
 
 
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Little Sweets is doing the same thing.  She also had to estimate how many cubes her rock weighed and record her findings on a worksheet.  I got the worksheet here.
 
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 Writers Workshop- Describing Words
Together we came up with words we could use to describe different rocks.  Little Sweets helped me write the words on the board.  She picked a rock to write about and wrote about it in her journal.  (She usually includes a princess in all her drawings.  This princess had an amethyst jewel in her crown.)
 
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 (Shiny, purple, rock)
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Sensory Box/ Rock Identification
Little Sweets found rocks in her sensory box.  We used the rocks and cards from her game Rock On.
 
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 We also found some Mica when we were hiking up in the mountains a few weeks ago.  Here she is using a book from the library to identify the rock. 

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Language Arts
 We use guided reading as part of our Language Arts curriculum.  I got these books from Reading A to Z.  The first book was her guided reading book that she read to me.  The second book is also a guided reading book but is intended for third graders.  I used it as a read aloud.  It had tons of interesting facts about gems. 

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Writing
 Little Sweets drew a picture of her favorite rock and answered questions about it.  I got the worksheet here.
 
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Rock Salt Experiment
The girls are helping me make rock salt.  We are still waiting for the water to evaporate.


 
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Geography
Little Sweets has really been into maps lately.  Here she is identifying where gems are found around the world and placing a picture of the gem on the world map.  (She had some help from mommy. )

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Spooning Rocks into an Ice Cube Tray
Little Peanut is working on her fine motor skills as she spoons the rocks into the ice cube tray.
 
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Counting Cards
Little Peanut is placing a rock on top of the counter on the card.
 
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 Rocks as Math Manipulatives

  Little Sweets used her rocks to help solve addition problems.
 
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Check out all the fun parties I link to and come join us.
Link Up Parties

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Homeschool Classroom/Playroom


 
 
 
Our Homeschool Classroom/Playroom

This is our classroom/playroom.  My husband built the shelving and the bench for the room. We  got the cabinets from Lowes. We made the bench cushions out of plywood, foam, and fabric. I love it because we store the toys inside the cabinets and it adds extra seating.  I got the idea for the seating here. 
 
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This is where I display the girls work.  I got the idea here.
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Little Peanuts Tot Trays
 
 
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Little Sweets Workboxes 
 
We just started using these.  I love them because they keep me organized and are easy to store. I put the items Little Sweets needs to do for each subject in the boxes.  Here is a great tutorial if you want to learn more about workboxes.
 
(These are scrapbooking storage boxes. I bought 4 for about $15.00.  They were on sale and I used my homeschool teacher discount.  I got them from Michaels.) 
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Storage Closet in the Classroom


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Storage in the Garage.
 
I know it looks messy, but I know where everything belongs.  : )
 
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Thursday, June 6, 2013

Review of Humble Bumbles Humble Heart a book of virtues

I recieved the book Humble Bumbles Humble Heart a book of virtues  by Amy Meyer Allen courtesy of the Tyndale Blog Network.  This is a great book for young children.  There are nine stories in the book and each story discusses a different virtue.  The virtues that were discussed were humility, love, thoughtfulness, faithfulness, mercy, encouragement, comfort, courage, and joy.  The author starts each story with a definition of the virtue in the story. She does an excellent job of defining each virtue in a kid friendly manner.   The author also ends each story with a bible verse and a question.  The question helps the child think more about the virtue and how it applies to their own life.

 I read the book to my four year old and two year old daughters and they both loved it.  I would recommend this book to anyone who has young children and would like them to learn more about virtues. 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Tyndale Blog Network book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. For more information about this program please go here.

Friday, January 25, 2013

Review of Bringing Up Girls by James Dobson


 Review of Bringing Up Girls by Dr. James Dobson

I received the book Bringing Up Girls by Dr. James Dobson courtesy of Tyndale Blog Network.  This was a great book for me to read as I have two young daughters and another on the way.  In this book Dobson uses a research based approach to educate parents on how to raise their daughters.  I think he did a good job sharing information that most parents should know and understand about girls and young women.  I could relate to many of ideas presented in the book.  This is a good book for parents who want better insight on how to connect and understand their daughters better.  I would caution that if you want a book that has many Biblical references this is not the book.  As I stated earlier Dobson supports most of his advice with research and studies.  I agree with much of what Dobson has to say, but as with many authors I do not agree one-hundred percent of his advice.  I was especially frustrated with a question he answered in the book.  The question states that their daughter is a “people pleaser” and asks for advice.  He states that the parent should do nothing about it.  I completely disagree with his advice and am even appalled that he would make this argument.  As a Christian I know that God calls us to be a God pleaser not a people pleaser.  A child who is a people pleaser will fall prey to peer pressure and will also struggle in their obedience with God.  While I don’t want to discredit the rest of the book because I disagree with one thing he has written,  I would caution readers to carefully reflect on what Dr. Dobson has to say and if you are Christian make sure it aligns with what the Bible has to say.   


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Tyndale Blog Network book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. For more information about this program please go here. 

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Winter Math Unit



Winter Math Unit
I created a Winter Math Unit for Kindergarten for Little Sweets.

 This unit is filled with 34 pages of fun, winter, math activities. The activities in this unit include;
-Counting by ones, twos, fives, and tens puzzles
-Counting by twos and counting by fives connect the dots pages
-Winter Ordinal Number Sheet
-Penguin Graph
-Snowflake Size Sequence
-Snowflake Addition Cards
-Winter Pattern Activity
-Snowflake Tally Activity
-Snowflake Numerical Order Activity
-Greater Than and Less Than Comparison Game
-Snowman Math Mat with Buttons and Story Problems

You can download this packet here for $3.95






Winter Activities
Little Sweets 4 1/2
Little Peanut 23 months

 Tongs and Cotton Balls

Little Peanut used tongs to pick up cotton balls and place them in snowman shaped ice cube trays.
XYZ
Winter Sensory Bin



Snowball Sight Word Game
Little Sweets throws a snowball (crunched up piece of paper) at the words.  She reads the words she hits.


Sequencing Activity


Pattern Block  Activity

Little Sweets read the number as she covered it up the shape with the pattern block.  I printed the pattern sheet from the prekinders website.

Little Sweets drew a picture of playing in the snow with daddy.  She is on a sled and wrote, "Dad is plig me. (Dad is pulling me.)


Math Activities from the Winter Math Unit I created
You can download my mini Winter Math Unit for free here.

Adding Snowflakes


Counting by 5's Puzzle




Counting by 5's Dot to Dot