Learning About Sharks::A Unit Study

Sharks and Dinosaurs, Dinos and Sharks - that's pretty much the mantra around here with Peter and Joseph.  Peter knows the exact location of shark books at the library and I think we've checked out every single one of them.

My favorite part of homeschooling the youngest learners is their sweet desire for knowledge.  Everything is new and exciting.  One simple book leads to questions which leads to a quick Google search for coloring and activity pages.

The book that started it all

Hark!  A Shark:  All About Sharks

We have nearly the entire set of Cat in the Hat's Learning Library.

Thanks to that collection, last summer we focused on butterflies and frogs.

My kids love coloring while I read, so I'll print off a pile of theme pictures and while I read a stack of books, they'll color.

Books We Read About Sharks

             

Links to favorite shark coloring pages

Get Coloring Pages (huge variety of scary and smiley sharks)

Super Coloring (print or "color" online)

How to draw a hammerhead shark

After all the listening and coloring it was time for something a little more active.  I found this Flipping Fins Shark game.  It teaches left and right and worked for all ages.  Basically you toss a shark and earn points based on how it lands.  

Other fun stuff:


(this is for an Easter basket)




(favorite larger size sharks for tub play)

This Shark Unit Study was so short and simple, yet effectively informed my three youngest about the many different species of sharks, how they use their 6 senses, and kept the kids yearning for more shark info the next day.

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My pinterest shark unit board

How to Keep Your Homeschool Kids on Track Every Day

As a mother of many, one question I get all the time is: "How do you do it all?"  Of course, I don't do it all.  There's always something left undone.  More times than not there are a lot of somethings left undone.  But as I look around, the house is acceptably clean, someone is always eating, birthdays are never missed, laundry gets done on a regular enough schedule, and the kids are (in my opinion) well educated.  I'm typically pretty happy about how things are chuggin' along.

One thing I've learned since our early days of homeschooling is the day goes so much better if the kids can stay on track with their school work.  If mom can turn her back without chaos breaking out between the kids then she can get her work done while the kids get their work done.  

There are 2 components to keeping your homeschool kids on track.

#1 - Train you children in obedience.  And when they don't comply issue a swift and effective consequence.  In our house homeschooling happens first thing and, like most kids, our kids have a full list of things they'd rather be doing.  The best consequence for not staying on task is a double school timeout.  

What is a double school timeout?  It's a timeout based on your age and then doubled.  If you're nine and daydreaming or hiding out in your room or shaking the table while your sister is trying to write then you stand on a 18 minute timeout.  

The timeout starts when the child is quiet, standing straight with their hands at their sides, facing the hallway wall.  I set a timer and they are expected to remain in position until the timer beeps.  If they talk, wiggle, pick paint off the wall, play with pocket knives, knock the Jesus with children art off the wall, then the timer is reset.  I have one child (who might be graduating this year) who once stood for over 40 minutes because he just wouldn't stop mumbling under his breath about the "stupid timeout".

Once the kids realize I mean business (yes, I should've been a drill sergeant) it doesn't take long for this method to be effective.  Because, let's face it, they'd rather get their work done and get on with their own plans than stand for endless minutes on a timeout.

#2 - Figure out the best planning method for each child.  Over the years I've used many types of planners for the kids.  I used Catholic Student Planners for a couple years with my middle grade kids.  I've used wall charts, checklists, homemade planners, work boxes....you name it we've probably used it.

This year I'm using a variety of methods because each child is unique with different planning needs.

I did share our planners live on Facebook.  You can view that here.  I'm not going to share those details here, just a quick picture.

When the kids know exactly what they need to do, they can plan their day accordingly and it's easy as the mom to check their lists to make sure they are staying on track.

I would like to share a little about setting monthly goals for the non-reader.  Non-readers and early readers need a lot of direction from Mom and my method for setting monthly goals instead of a daily to do list works best for me.  For our younger children, I divide a sheet of paper into 9 sections, label each with a month from Sept. - May, then number it 1-6.  I then list the goals I have for each month.

Possible Goals that Might Make the List

# of reading lessons
# of math lessons or pages in workbook
large motor skills
fine motor skills
# of art projects
saints to read about
field trip idea
# of books to read
living skills to learn
cultural event to read about (Thanksgiving, Groundhog Day, etc.)
.....and so many more.

Normally the month starts out strong, then life happens, then week 3 I look over the goals and pick up the pace a little.  By week 4 we are cranking out books and lessons because I like to end the month with a ✔ next to each goal.

In the end, keeping your homeschool kids on track every day requires effort from both the homeschooling parent and child.  Teaching children to be obedient and then giving them a workable plan and checking it twice will allow you, the mom (or dad) to get your work done along side your child making homeschooling and family life more enjoyable.

I hope you all have a crantastic day!

Can Pre-Schoolers Cut the Grass?

Last week I shared my low-tech way of keeping track of all the cute and educational ideas I find on Pinterest.  Notecards are my friend.

Peter is always asking to do a project.  

"Mom, can we do a puzzle project?"

"Mom, can we do an art project?"

"Mom, will you print coloring pictures so I can do a project?"

Mom, Mom, Mom......project?  project?  project?

It's his mantra.

These little notecards come in handy; one quick thumb through, and I find the perfect project for the day.

Last week we had a couple beautiful fall days - sunny, warm, low humidity, slightly breezy - just gorgeous.  So, in between walks on the marsh, Peter and Joseph did this fun grass cutting activity project.

The card read - Grab scissors, cut grass.

Simple enough and fun in its own way, it also offers some skill development for Joseph.  His hands being on the small side, they're a little weaker than the average kid's hands.  I'm always on the lookout for ways to strengthen his hands to improve his pencil grasp.  Scissor work offers plenty of opportunity for strengthening his dominant hand.

Peter gets to practice perseverance.  I told him to cut all the long grass around the big rock.   And cut he did.

This SIMPLE project freed me up for a while.  What did I do?  I swept thousands of cranberry leaves off the garage floor because those thousands of leaves were finding their way into every nook and cranny of the house.

Have a great day.  What kind of projects do you hope to accomplish today?  this weekend?

How to Preschool at Home....(start in the laundry room)

Preschool.  It's a big step for both kids and parents.  We've chosen to keep our kids at home for preschool.  It kind of makes sense considering we homeschool.  Lot's of reasons might have you thinking about preschool at home.  Distance, cost, impressionable minds, time.  Whatever your reason for keeping your kiddos home for preschool, rest assured, you can provide an excellent repertoire of preschool skills.  And I believe it can all begin in the laundry room.

Yes, you read that right.  Preschool in the laundry room.  Let me explain.

Moms spend a lot of time in the laundry room.  Instead of pushing the youngsters away to play so the work can be done quickly and efficiently (sounds nice, doesn't it?), why not include them.  Laundry becomes a time of teaching and learning, rather than just another mom chore.  The laundry folding may take longer, but for good reason.

What can be learned in the laundry room?

--matching socks

As I pull clothes from the dryer to fold, I let all the socks fall to the floor.  Maria lines them up waiting for its match.  Then she pushes one sock inside the other and hands them to me.  I always ask, "Who wears these?"  Then I place them on the right pile. (skill learned = matching)

--naming items 

For young beginners this is a great way to start incorporating preschool into the task of laundry.  Maria loves to reach into the dryer, grab something and then tell me what it is.  She'll say things like, this is a sock, this is a underwear, this is a hoodie, this is a pants.  It's so cute, especially as she starts using the correct subject/verb agreement (skill learned = vocabulary)

--identify owner of laundry

This is a favorite of Maria's.  We call it the "Who wears this?" game.  As I fold and she looks on, I say "Who wears this?"  She looks at each item and then yells out the rightful owner.  It's amazing how observant a two year old can be.  She knows everyone's socks and underwear and shirts and pants.  Sometimes she even catches me as I place socks on the wrong pile.  "No, mom, those are Joseph's." (skill learned = observation/memory)

--name colors

Another obvious preschool skill is learning colors.  This can be as complicated or simple as you want to make it.  Socks can be grouped by colors:  white, black, multi.  Clothes come in so many shades of colors, so it's very easy to expand on the simple sort.  Try lining up all the blue clothes from light to dark.  Or how about naming the colors of the clothes like a box of crayons.  light pink=carnation pink, dark blue=midnight blue, bright green=leprechaun green.  Older preschool age children love this and can get very creative in their color naming. (skill learned = colors, adjectives)

--practice math concepts
I like to incorporate math into folding towels and washcloths.  The simplest is to count the towels and washcloths, separately.  Which is more?  Or spread out a bath towel, hand towel and washcloth.  Let your child put them order from big to small.  How about geometry?  How many hand towels does it take to fully cover a bath towel?  Separate into squares and rectangles.  Joe, Peter, and Maria all love to fold washcloths.  Kitchen washcloths are folded in half.  Bathroom washcloths are folded in fourths.  Fractions don't have to be scary. (skill learned = counting, size relationships, fractions)

--caring for your home
A favorite job is always cleaning out the lint catcher.  I like to remind my kids that a job worth doing is a job worth doing well.  And doing it well means completing the task including the cleanup.

Preschool can be done at home without any extra materials, extra cost, or extra driving.  I've found that including my kids into my daily tasks I can provide them with opportunities to learn all the necessary preschool skills.  Laundry takes longer this way, but that's ok because soon enough they'll be on a plane to Ecuador and I'll be left to do laundry alone.  That last sentence doesn't make sense to you?  Emily is in Ecuador (that's 3,155 miles from here) and I'm feeling a bit like:

Where did the time go?

Wasn't she just 3 years old and folding washcloths and matching socks along side me?

Hold those little ones tight

And teach them skills so one day they can take flight.

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The Homeschool Toolbox

For those homeschoolers following a traditional school schedule, there's only 10 weeks left.  Yeah!!  

Where, oh where did those last 26 weeks go?  

Here in Wisconsin the sun's out, temps are rising, my mind is making garden plans, kids just want to be outside.......and the homeschool supply closet

IS. A. MESS.  

Ice cube trays, ratchet straps, and stray puzzle pieces have found their way into the nooks and crannies.  And who has time to reorganize when making a beeline for the finish?  Not me.  I usually wait until June or July or August or the day before the start of the new school year to organize the closets again.  

But this spring, I was really getting annoyed that I couldn't find all the needed preschool/1st grade supplies.  So I bought a cleaning supply tote and turned it into my homeschool toolbox.  And as long as I keep it out of reach from the shortest people in the house, all my supplies are in one place and ready to tackle the day with Joseph, Peter, and Maria.

Here's what in the toolbox

Crayola Pipsqueaks

Crayola Neon Brights

Crayola Write Start Colored Pencils

Assorted pens and pencils

Glitter glue pens

Adding machine tape

Handwriting Without Tears chalkboard

Chalk

Washcloth

Scissors (the scissors we use)

Stapler

Glue and Glue sticks

Tiny stickers

Small pad of paper

Mother Goose Time song lyrics on rings

Go Fish cards

I think it's obvious why I have the standard art supplies, but what about the adding machine tape?  I've found that a long strip of adding machine tape taped to the table and a sheet of tiny stickers will keep most toddlers happy for quite a while.  Throw in some washable glitter glue pens and you've just bought yourself even more time.  This "quiet" time allows me to work with Joseph on his writing and tracing without too many distractions.  Same with the Go Fish cards.  My toddlers enjoy grouping them by color or simply lining them up on a sunny spot on the table.  Again keeps their little hands and mind busy so I can give special attention to Joseph, yet allows them to be right where we are.

I chose this tote because it can be hung over the back of our chairs, keeping it close, but not too accessible to little fingers.

This little bit of spring organizing is giving me a much needed umph for finishing the year with the littles on a strong note.

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Homeschooling Goodness with Handwriting Without Tears

Handwriting Without Tears is an excellent handwriting curriculum.  I've been using the kindergarten level this year with Joseph, Peter, and Maria.  They love the hands on approach, so this program is working well.  We're still working through the capitals using the wooden pieces and laminated alphabet cards.  This activity is always a favorite.  It's a no-fail way of making the letters.  I like that the cards have each "stroke" numbered so the child knows the order to construct the letter.  For example in the "L" below, the vertical line is #1 and the short horizontal line is #2.  So numbers and counting are reinforced as well.

I believe this program is working well for Joseph; he's getting a lot of practice forming the letters before even picking up the pencil.  Since holding the pencil properly requires significant focus on Joe's part, trying to hold the pencil and write the letters is nearly impossible at this point.  He can write an "o", "j", and "p", but that's it for now.

Today we also used another of my favorites, the Kumon workbooks.  He's working from the Animal Mazes book.  We complete the maze in pencil, hand over hand, first.  Then I let him pick either colored pencils or markers to retrace our line through the maze, independently.  Today he chose colored pencils.  He also uses a pencil grip.  This foam grip is my favorite.  There's no up or down or left hand/right hand positioning like the other grippers I've tried.  Just slip it onto the writing utensil and hold on.  After a few times, he figured out the most comfortable way of holding the pencil and it just so happens it's also the proper way of holding a pencil.

And whenever I'm engrossed working with the littlest ones, Sam takes advantage of the distraction to get out something fun, rather than doing Math or Grammar.  Today he made us balloon animals and hats using his balloon animal kit.  Even though he's not engaging in the core subjects, I'm glad to see him reading and following directions from the book and practicing generosity with his creations.

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Kumon Workbooks Are The Bomb

Years ago when I was a much younger mom, I would draw straight, zigzag, and curvy lines on paper -- hand my youngsters a pair of scissors and have them cut on the lines.  It took a few minutes to prepare, but it was an inexpensive way to have them practice fine motor skills.  I'm older, have more kids, and have more grab and go curriculum items.  Kumon workbooks are awesome!  Each workbook focuses on one skill.  In this case, it's cutting.  The book is progressive in nature, starting with straight lines and working up to more complicated curves and start/stop/turn cutting pages.  The variety of pages is great for my age range of kids.  I tear out an appropriate page and let them begin cutting.  The paper is a nice weight -- thick, yet pliable.

Peter is using 5" Fiskars scissors.

One thing to keep in mind is choosing appropriate scissors for each child.  The scissors Maria's using are spring loaded.  The action of squeezing results in a return action of opening.  They work OK for toddlers, however, I originally bought them for Joseph.  He already had experience of me trying to teach him to use regular scissors, so he struggled with the use of these.

Joseph is using a medium sized scissors.  They have an easy action; he does well with these.

We've also used My First Book of Tracing and My Book of Pasting.

Take a trip back to 2011 and see Joseph working on the My Book of Pasting.

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