Homeschool Highlights ~ 8.15.11

-- Geography & Cultures --

I got this set of multicultural wooden children from oriental trading and paired it with our newest book from Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. If your child is not a part of this program, sign them up!! Both Caleb & Julie are signed up and each of them will receive a new book every month until they are 5 years old!!! I absolutely LOVE these books and most of them have become my kids' favorites!

 -- Imaginative Play --

Winkin', Blinkin' & Nod =)

after reading about Winkin', Blinkin' & Nod they had to re-create the story with this tub, a stick, some tape and a blanky! :)

-- Pinching Pennies --

This Montessori activity works on Pincer grasp & coin recognition show child how to use 2 fingers & thumb to pick up penny and move them from one dish to another.

 

-- Sorting & Tracing --

This activity let them sort glass beads as well as trace and color in the colors we were working with. This was Julie's work which was surprising because hers is usually nothing but straight lines all the way across a page! It's neat to see how bringing in different objects for them to study and explore can help develop their "creativity" =)

  

Everything set up for the next day's lessons =) 

 -- Color Paddles --

They love playing with the color paddles... from looking out the window, to bath time or while playing in the sensory bin, the color paddles are always a big hit! I got a whole set of  18 Color Paddles for $5 from Oriental Trading.

-- Marshmallow Shapes -- 

We made shapes with marshmallows and toothpicks. Of course, the kids had to sneak a few but it was a great lesson because then they wanted to build and didn't have as many marshmallows as they needed ;o)

Caleb built a "house"

Braden's "Ladder"

Julie Counting =)

Hard at work!!! =)

-- More Catapult --

Caleb finished his catapult he was building and we tested it out the other night!! Here he is searching for something small and not-too-dangerous...

First up? Punkin' head!!! =)

  

In Caleb-speak: "Yeah-ah!"

Next was his Lightening McQueen Squinky :)

  

They both LOVED watching things fly! :)

Homeschool Highlights ~ 8.11.11

I had to break out the hot glue gun last night! =)

Making magnets out of pony beads, pom poms & glass beads so the kids can use our new sight word flashcards on a cookie sheet and trace out their letters. And now I'm making some Montessori-style counting bars with the pony beads and some chenille stems. I will post pics of the bead chains when I'm all done! =)
{facebook sneak peak}

The kids liked playing with the magnets but noticed the bowls of glass beads on the table with them & wanted to explore those more! =)

They each had a bowl of glass beads, many with different colored glitter inside. Then there were really slim brightly colored, heart shaped buttons mixed in. We had a magnifying glass handy, for looking closely at the glass beads & buttons. 

We also had 2 small Play-doh "Ice Cream Shop" Sundae Spoons and a pair of tweezers for each of them. They were to each sort thier bowl of mixed beads & buttons into a bowl for the glass beads and a tall $ spot shot glass for the hearts. They learned quickly which tools most easily picked up each of the different shaped items and breezed through this task in no time! =)

 

 Next, they were ready to break out the glitter pens! =) 

3/$1 in Micheal's dollar aisle. 

 

 

Caleb always loves to use his hands :)

{excuse the painters tape} 

Julie was having some difficulty getting the glitter out but we showed her which end to "write" with and she picked it up quickly! =) 

Braden has recently started enjoying working on some crafts with us! 

He has never liked any thing artsy or crafty so I'm excited to have him join in with us! I think he likes the break too! :)

{just painting}

After the glitter pens ran out we broke out the new tempera paints! I got these at Micheal's a few weeks ago 16oz bottles for $1.99 each. We got 11 different colors! =) I thought that was a steal but then I was in there this week and they have {what is left of} the tempera paint (a rather good selection) clearance priced at 4/$5!!!   

^^ we have new window markers to try out too! ^^

Breaking out the ice tray for a color palette ! =)

Caleb has been into color mixing so I just put out "Primary" {-ish} colors today so he could work with mixing colors.  

Julie's works of art

Caleb's artwork 

 busy babies :)

Then they all rushed off to play {littles}and finish independent schoolwork {bray} while I cooked lunch for the fam! =) I know I had already had a great day and it wasn't even lunch time! The rest of our day was fairly low key -- no formal "school" for the little ones and Bray worked on his normal load for the day. I think by the time we start "fall classes" on Monday he will be going into his 7th week of 5th grade! =) I am so proud of everything he accomplishes each day!! I only pray the little ones follow his lead! ;o)