A homemade balance for learning about weight (non-standardized measurement)

We recently covered non-standardized measurement in math. I do not have balance at home, so I decided to make one from items we already had in our home. It turned out to be so easy, and worked just fine for our purpose of comparing the weight of different objects, as well as using units of weight (for example marbles or clothing pegs) to compare the weight of different items (for example, a pen weighs 2 units and a toy car weights 5 units).

Here’s how we did it:

Stick a ruler onto a table, with the end jutting over the edge of the table.

Tie two paper cups onto either end of a hanger. Make sure the string is the same length, so the cups balance out nicely. Then hook the hanger onto the ruler, and you have a functioning balance.

Easy and the kids had a lot of fun with it too.

Numbers you can hold on to ~ rainbow hand sewed felt numbers

I sewed this rainbow set of felt numbers for my littlest learner to play with and have fun with while he learns all about numbers. We liked them so much I sewed an entire alphabet too, which is almost finished. I will share pics of that when it is completed.

I got the idea from one of my favorite blogs Counting Coconuts, but I actually stuffed my letters with toy stuffing to give them a real 3D look and feel.

Using them with math links.

Of course he could not resist counting while jumping on them! I think my jumping math and jump to spell activities really took in this house! :)

This has been added to: Preschool Corner and 5K too! and Show and Tell.

Jump to spell words game (and letter and phonics recognition for my preschooler too!)

Since my math jumping game was such a hit around this house, I decided to use the same concept in our spelling practice time. I lay out floor letters for the entire alphabet (printed the letters from here), then give Rylan a word or phrase and he spells it out by jumping on the letters to form the word(s). If it is a phrase instead of a single word, as he switches from one word to the next he shouts out “new word”, if the word he is spelling is a proper noun, he shouts out “capital” as he jumps on the first letter of the name. When we use jump to spell for spelling practice, the comment at the end is usually, “Can we do some more spelling, pleeease?”. Got to love that! :)

Of course, not to be left out, Damian wanted in on the action, so he gets to do his own form of letter hopping to practice letter recognition (I call out the letter and he jumps on it) and phonics (I make the sounds of the letter and he jumps on the matching letter). All in all definitely a popular exercise in our home!

Now that it is warmer out, I think we will take this lesson outdoors too. I will have Rylan write out the alphabet in sidewalk chalk and then the jump spelling will begin!

This has been added to: Preschool Corner & 5K too! and Show and Tell

Fun math game for reinforcing addition and subtraction

I recently put together this math game for Rylan and I to play, which for now we are using to practice addition and subtraction, but eventually I will add multiplication as we continue to move through the math curriculum. The game was a big success, Rylan had a lot of fun! We were still playing when Damian woke up and he wanted to play too, so I think I will have to make a preschooler version of the game for him as well.

So, here are the details of the game:

Firstly I made these cards, which I actually copied out of the Singapore Math Books, but they are easy enough to make yourself. I colored the even numbers blue (Damian’s favorite color) and the odd numbers orange (Rylan’s favorite) and the equation signs are all yellow/green. Once colored, I stuck the paper onto cardboard using a lot of glue to make sure they would stick well, then laminated them before cutting them out into card shapes. I made several sets of the numbers from 0-10 and a mix of actual numbers and written numbers, just to add another dimension to the learning.

So now that we have a deck of number cards, how to play? This is what we did: I laid all the equation signs (+, –, =) in between us, then gave each of us 3 cards to start with and put the rest of the cards upside down in a pile between us. The goal of the game is to make as many equations as possible using the cards you pick up. So, you start with 3, if you cannot make an equation with your starting cards, you pick up one, and so one taking turns until you can make an equation. Once you make an equation, you put the cards you used aside, and carry on with what is left over. The winner is the person who has the most cards set aside (from making equations) when the deck runs out. If there were cards left over in our hands, we subtracted the same amount from our equation pile (I hope this is making sense to you all!).

We started by doing basic addition and subtraction.

Then we moved onto three number addition and/or subtraction equations (we started with 4 cards for these games).

Then we moved on to two sided addition and subtraction equations.

When we ended the game after many rounds, Rylan told me he was looking forward to playing again soon!

This has been added to: Show & Tell

Jumping math

I have two active boys who love to move. While I believe it is important for them to learn to sit still and have quiet working time, I also think it is important to bring fun movement into school time, especially with subjects its not expected.

Last week we did an addition review, to make sure all the number bonds under 10 were still clear in Rylan’s memory, and part of the review was “jumping math”. I used the large floor numbers from Letter A is for apple on Confessions of a Homeschooler (I had already printed them for Damian’s letter A week), laid them across the floor of the school room and had Rylan jump his addition. For example if I said 6 + 4 =, he would start on “6” and jump 4 numbers to land on his answer “10”. By the end we had practiced our number bonds, and he was breathless and laughing. Mission accomplished!

This has been added to: Preschool Corner and 5K too.

A change in our math curriculum: Singapore Math

At the beginning of our kindergarten year, math was going well, we were using Math-U-See and Rylan seemed to enjoy it. Unfortunately, it did not last…the further we got into the curriculum the more he started to dislike it. I tried all kinds of things to make it enjoyable for him, and he did enjoy all the games and manipulatives we used, but as soon as I pulled “the book” off the shelf he was moaning. Even though I thought the curriculum was good, and liked several aspects of the program, it clearly wasn’t working for him. So I called it a day and started looking for a new curriculum as we began first grade…enter Singapore Math (which I had almost gone with in the first place!).

We have been using Singapore Math for several months now and Rylan is still enjoying it. He relates to and understands their method of teaching very easily. He likes the colorful and fun textbooks and workbooks, the games they suggest to reinforce learning, and believe it or not, he really likes doing the tests in the additional test book they provide. He loves the challenge of working on the clock and the sense of accomplishment in seeing how well he does on a test.

Fingers crossed it continues to be an enjoyable subject for us both!

Asian themed skip counting and addition printables

While I am on the topic of math, I thought I’d share another set of math worksheets I made up for Rylan. We are studying the continent of Asia right now (just a general introduction, like we did with Africa before our summer break). I made a few math worksheets with an Asian theme to add to his workboxes this week, and I wanted to share them (I will be posting separately about the Asian study and everything else we are doing). Here are some sample pages:

Skip counting worksheets, which can be downloaded here or by clicking on the picture below:

Addition worksheets, which can be downloaded here or by clicking on the images below:

Added to: Preschool Corner and 5K too

Greater than-less than dinosaur worksheet printable

I wanted Rylan to practice the concept of greater than/less than and learn about using the symbols < >. To make it a little more fun I made these worksheets for him, using a dinosaur’s mouth instead of just the symbols. Because you know dinosaurs will grab Rylan’s attention anytime! Here are some sample pages from the worksheets:

If you would like to use these worksheets you can download them here.

This has been added to: Preschool Corner & 5K too

Our 2010-2011 curriculum

Over the last week I have been doing a lot of research, sifting through catalogues, books, and websites; and have finally settled on an outline for our upcoming year. I ordered everything we did not already have yesterday, and both Rylan and I are eagerly awaiting their arrival (yes, I know we are total nerds! ;) ).
Here is Rylan’s 1st grade curriculum (oh my gosh, I have a first grader!?! Where did the time go?) Although I have this outline to follow, everything is subject to revision if it doesn’t work for us:
Reading: I purchased Rocket Phonics last year, and we worked through the first few lessons. Although I like what I have seen so far in the program, and we may continue to work through some of it, Rylan has by in large taken learning to read into his own hands and doing very well, so we will see if is is necessary to add this into our days. Either way, I don’t mind having purchased the program because I will use it for Damian eventually.
English language and writing skills: we will be starting with First Language Lessons this year. As well as using The Complete Writer: Level 1 Workbook for Writing with Ease.
Math: we will continue working through the Math-U-See program. I will also incorporate math work into other areas of study, as I have before, because Rylan does tire of working on math only through the workbook.
Handwriting: We will continue with Handwriting Without Tears, this year using My Printing Book.Spiritual/religious: We will continue with our virtue lessons as a part of our daily circle time, as well as learning new prayers. In addition, we will continue reading through "Children’s Stories From The Dawn-Breakers" and Rylan will also be working through the Baha’i Children’s Workbook.Spelling: We will be starting with All About Spelling using Level 1 of the program. I am very excited about this program because I have heard a lot of great things about it from many people.
History: I just ordered The Story of the World and its activity book.
Geography: For now we will continue moving through the continents as a general introduction to world geography.
Science: I read through Rebecca Rupp’s Home Learning Year by Year as a general guide for what should be covered for science in first grade, and to be honest Rylan has already covered most of the areas, since he has such a passionate love of science related subjects, especially animal and nature studies. So, I am not investing in a science curriculum of any kind. We are going to stick with interest led learning here, although I think I will plan a unit on the human body at some stage during the year.
Spanish: I just ordered Rosetta Stone Spanish (Latin America) Homeschool Edition Level 1. And I am going to do it too! :)
Art: We will continue working through Drawing With Children. I am also looking into using Discovering Great Artists to incorporate some art appreciation (thank you Jolanthe for pointing out this book!).Music: Music appreciation with Ramtin on weekends, focusing on classical music.
PE: Rylan will continue with swimming lessons and gymnastics during the year.
Damian at 2 1/2 will have no set curriculum, of course, just lots of play and reading time! He will, however, participate in much of what we do, like virtue learning, prayers, circle time, and so on and so forth. As he gets older and I see the need for more focused learning I will incorporate it into his days, but what is most important for him now is to learn through play and to continue to develop a love of reading, so that will be our focus.
And I think that is a wrap! I am super excited about this year and cannot wait to get started! I am aiming to start in about two weeks, we have to wait for the materials I just ordered to arrive and for me to get a look through them and a feel for how to use them. I also need to fix up the school area. Over our unplanned (but much enjoyed) summer break our school area has become a storehouse for various items I have piled up to go be sold on craigslist or go to charities. I need to actually get those things out the door so we have a nice, organized space to work in again!

Making your own tangram activity (update)

A few months ago I posted about making your own tangram set, here is the original post:

Rylan loves puzzles, so I recently made him this tangram activity. I used the pattern blocks from this site, as well as the animal tangram pictures. I decided to start with animals, since using animals is always the best way to draw Rylan’s interest. I made the tangrams out of a very hard cardboard, which I painted with a light blue paint. I also used the heavy cardboard to create the picture cards. Rylan completed all of the animals, and then made a few of his own as well!Just wanted to share, as a little update, that a few weeks ago I re-made the tangram shapes out of thick craft foam and they are so much nicer than the cardboard ones. Nicer to hold and work with, and a whole lot easier to make! I would also recommend covering the pattern cards in contact paper or laminating them so that they last longer.

Learning About Africa Part 2 (printables included)

So I am finally getting round to posting part 2 of our African Studies (part 1 here). I have been putting it off because I knew I would have to gather various images, books, and info and honestly, I feel like I am leaving something out, but hey, at least you'll get the general idea of what we covered! We started by reading general information/facts about the African continent and then we cut and paste this poster together with the facts and images we found in our research. Rylan also colored and labeled a continental map and some African animal coloring sheets I found for him online. Rylan put together this South African flag puzzle that I made for him, and we glued it onto the poster as well. After going through this book, Rylan built the included African savannah diorama.

For maths work with an African flavor I created these "African Addition Worksheets" which you can download here if you are interested in using them.

I also made these "African animal skip counting worksheets" which you can download here.

I put together some African themed writing practice, using this site.

Rylan completed this word maze after reading Lions at Lunchtime with Dad (bedtime reading). I downloaded it from a teacher resource site, but I cannot find the link for it right now!

We took a close look at all the African art we have in our home - my husband and I collected many beautiful pieces before leaving Africa. We have various stone, metal, and wood carvings, bead work, woven baskets, small pieces of furniture, drums, clay pots, and even a clay mask hanging over our television. After this Rylan made an African mask himself:

We also listened to African music and read many picture and non-fiction books, most of which can be viewed in the carousels below. I had planned to cook up an African meal, but we didn't get round to that, we may do it sometime in the near future, but I am kind of hoping my sister-in-laws will send us some biltong instead! ;)

This has been addded to: Preschool Corner & 5K too

Shape (or color) sorting game

The boys and I are enjoying a quieter pace right now, as most of their weekly activities have come to an end for the summer. We are getting to spend more time relaxing, reading, and doing crafts. Last week we made a little shape/color sorting set.

I bought this set of small cardboard boxes at our local craft store. Then I asked the kids to paint the boxes and their lids in one solid color (with the idea that after using it as a shape sorter for Damian, we could also use it as a color sorting game for him).

This was the finished product (two coats of paint on the boxes).

Then I filled them with pre-cut foam shapes which I also bought from the craft store. When I set the boxes up for him to use this week, I will empty all the contents and ask him to sort through them, putting them in their matching shaped container.

This has been added to: Kiddos Create , Show and Tell, and Preschool Corner

Another linky post

Okay, so I am feeling a little under the weather today...I think it's the start of a cold...or maybe it's just my body telling me "enough already, get some more sleep!". Either way, I took the day off (well, aside from caring for two boys, getting one to swimming lessons, grocery shopping, and laundry...ummm do mom's ever get to really take the day off when sick??). So, tonight I am just going to share some great links with you, here goes:

- If you have not already visited Confessions of a Homeschooler based on the hundreds of times I have linked to that blog, please do!! Erica is an awesome resource for educational materials, she creates them and shares them as downloads from her blog. Two recent post in particular have resulted in my printer running out of colored ink! :) These are aimed at the preschooler set, but I am using some of them already for Damian and he thinks they are pretty fun: PreK Numbers, Shapes, Color Review and A-Z review.

- Here is another great ABC learning activity that you can download from 1+1+1=1. I love that it is not just about matching capital and lowercase letters, but also offers some good pincer grip exercise with the use of clothing pins. And while I am mentioning this blog, let me just point you towards her calendar time post!

- Simple Homeschool has a great review on math curriculum, if you are trying to figure out what to choose for your homeschool. We use Math-U-See and are very happy with it, although as I mentioned before, we try to incorporate a lot of living math into our days too.

- Looking for some fun science to do in the kitchen? Check this post out.

Happy clicking, hope you find something that inspires you in this list!

Learning to count by 5s and 10s and other math goodies (printable)

We are working on counting by 5s and 10s right now. We started with using manipulatives, and then we used these great skip counting charts created by Homeschool Creations. We also sang the numbers to a little tune that Rylan made up. As a written activity I created these "complete the sequence" skip counting worksheets to stick in his workboxes this week. Since I made them, I thought I'd share them! You can download the counting by 5s here.
And the counting by 10s here.

Although we are using a set math curriculum (Math-U-See) and we do more formal math learning as above, I would also like my boys to learn math in a more natural way. To this end they play a LOT with Lego (and need no encouragement!), they bake with me in the kitchen, I ask Rylan to help me calculate prices in the store, we play board games, and so on and so forth. I want them to see math being used in real life, not just in text books. A great resource for this is the Living Math site. Another important element, for us, since my boys are real book lovers, is to read books that contain mathematical concepts within the story, so you can imagine my sheer delight when I came across this list and this post with a very comprehensive list of living math books (note: these two lists do contain some of the same books).

Library here we come! As if we needed encouragement!

Workboxes: what's in the box Monday?

This is what the boys found in their workboxes today (another review, with more details on how we work through the boxes can be found here).

In Rylan's: lacing cards
Pattern blocks.

Lacing beads, which he had to lace in a clear pattern.

While Damian was napping: we covered several pages in his maths workbook.

He did two pages in his draw and write journal.

We played "Go Fish" with his Rocket Phonics cards. We had so much fun playing this game together, that we kept playing until Damian woke up, and skipped the last drawer (which means it will be the first one for tomorrow). I am going to do a post some time in the future on Rocket Phonics (this is the reading curriculum I ended up choosing and we are just getting started on it).

On to Damian's boxes: a number/picture puzzle. You will notice the wording is in Hebrew. :) I bought these in Israel when Rylan was little. I was thinking I should probably stick English labels over it so as not to cause confusion, but it puts a smile on my face every time we use these because it brings back lots of happy memories!

Lacing beads - 1 to 5.

Stacking barrels: first I had him nest them, then stack them from biggest to smallest, then smallest to biggest. Then we went through colours, then counted them.

Damian loves these little books. Each page has a single word and picture. We went through each of them and basically he "reads" them to me.

Texture puzzle.

Find this and more workbox ideas at: Wednesday Workbox Day and What's in the box Wednesday.