Our Story wands

 
I love looking through catalogs from stores, especially Lakeshore Learning.  We have purchased a few items in the past from them.  This year our budget has been tight so when I saw these wonderful story wands, I knew I could make our own.

The materials I used to make ours were:
Craft sticks 
foam sheets 
scissors
packing tape
copy paper 
the font I used to make the lettering was MTF

Timelines: make your own

This year we plan on using timelines while looking at the history from different countries with our Geography/History studies. So when I looked at timeline packages sold by publishers, many of them were out of our budget. There was no way, we could afford the expense. I was not giving up on the idea of having timelines and thought why not look at free resources online, I was surprised by the

Watering your young child's mind (Water play and learning)

Why is playing in water is great for a young child's mind? When it comes to play materials, children don't mind getting messy or wet. That's why water play is both enjoyable and educational. Indoor water play can go on all year long, and like outdoor play, helps children develop eye-hand coordination and math and science concepts. It may also enhance social skills and encourage cooperation. There

Teacher Resources

These are sites that we have used for resources. Links updated April 10, 2010.Bry BackManor has resources for special needs.Busy Teacher’s cafe has Behavior charts, forms and more (click under Teacher resources).Carl’s Corner for Word family Activities and printables DLTK’s PrintablesDLTK”s Felt Board Printables for templates you can print out and use for your Flannel board/Dimensional

Talking about Thanksgiving with young children

I wanted to share with you my ideas for talking about Thanksgiving with young children.Thanksgiving is a time to share family stores and traditions. Create lasting memories the children will remember fondly and share with their young ones to come. Traditions are part of every families' heritage and create special bonds between the members of that family. The tradition doesn't have to be expensive

Baby Wipe Boxes

I have had friends ask me what are other uses for empty Diaper wipes other than using them to store crayons and markers for homeschooling.Well, here is my list of ideas other ideas for storage:-store extra art supplies such as pencils, crayons, markers, colored pencils, and glue sticks.- keep small white board erasers and eraser board markers in them.- Legos- puzzle pieces-math manipulatives-

Creative uses for Legos

My children love legos... they could build all the time with them, and I know there are whole curriculums using legos for manipulative's and as the basis for all sorts of learning. So aside from building with legos, what else can they be used for?
We use them for all sorts of things other than building. We use then as counters, we use them to sort according to color and size and shape, patterns

Nap time Boxes, Rainy Day and Rest time Boxes

Children who need to nap, may not be able to take one. Since some children don't nap or begin to outgrow taking naps as they approach the age of four, a little box of materials gives them something to do during quite time.

A helpful tip:
Instead of playing typical lullaby tapes/CDs, try playing environmental sounds such as summer rain, ocean sounds, or sounds of the forest. The Homedic or sound

What's your Child's Learning Style?

By watching our children as they learn, they will give us cues as to their learning style or how they learn best. There is no one way to learn or right way to learn. Children will go in and out of each one of these styles at any given time until they settle into a school routine.The Three Learning Styles are... VISUAL, AUDITORY and KINESTHETICVisual Readers: Associate pictures with words, like

Making an Art Center (Things to keep on hand)

The Purpose of an Art Center is...~ to expose children to a variety of mediums in different ways~ to encourage individual expression and creativity~ to help with fine motor and visual perception skills~ to develop a personal sense of accomplishmentObjects to keep on hand for ART:~ an easel (tabletop or free standing)~ a drying rack or place to lay papers to dry~ an art table or place where your

What is Theme unit? (Unit Studies)

What is a theme unit? What are unit studies? I often get asked these questions when I tell others what method I use to homeschool my sons. A unit study, often called a thematic or topical study is a method of relating all subject matters into the study of a given topic. Simply put, unit studies use your child’s interest and then ties that interest into subject areas like math, reading, spelling,