Seasonal

Busy Bag (Take Three)

I started adding step-by-step teaching tips for some of my recent Busy Bag activities that Sean Patrick is experimenting with but this is taking me some time for a few reasons:

1) I like to introduce one activity every few days and really spend time maximizing the teaching opportunties from that “game” as Sean Patrick calls them.

2) I am a mommy teacher so I don’t spend much time on the computer – this blog is my hobby and I try to carve out more time in my day actually spending time working with and playing with my little ones 🙂

3) I like to spend time adding teaching tips for older children as well because I believe that EVERY activity can be and should be accommodated to each individual child.

So….at that….here is another activity….and one just in time to make use of all those Easter Eggs floating around your house 🙂

Egg Counting (The Link attached has other GREAT ideas, but try not to take them at face value….make a little step by step teaching plan for each activity because a “lesson plan” can structure the pace and aid the learning process)

This activity has MULTIPLE uses… to teach counting one to one and to teach addition in the most organic way by teaching about all the ways to get to a number (1 + 1 + 1 + 1= 4 ; 2 + 2 = 4 ; 4 + 0 = 4)

I suggest that you work on counting to, or adding to, ONE number at a time.

1) Start with the smaller side of the eggs on their backs….if you are working on the number four then place four egg halves on their backs.

2) “Let’s use the Easter Eggs to see all the different ways we can count to four!” or for older kids “Let’s……ways we can add to the sum of four”

3) Place one pom pom in each egg (I switched to the small pom poms after the first try because I wanted all of them to be able to fit in one egg half when attempted) One and one and one and one is four! (four younger kids you can use “and” in place of “plus” and “is” in place of “equals” just for now while they are being introduced to adding.

3) Dump them out and say – let’s see if there is another way to fill the eggs to count to four …One, two and one and one is four so two and two more is four.

4) Continue this until you have exhausted every means of arriving at the sum of four. For older children model and demonstrate how to write out each problem.

5) Pick a number close in proximity to the number you worked on (like 5) and do it again….together this time.

6) Pick a number easier than the original number (like 3) and allow your little one to try on their own as you watch and make encouraging comments.

April 6, 2012 by Jessica | 0 comments

Face of the Presidents

Happy President’s Day to you! I like to celebrate Presidents, with little ones, by talking about several well known Presidents like Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson, etc. and the current President of COURSE. One great teaching tool for talking about the Presidents is coins. Pennies, Nickels, Dimes, Quarters, and dollar bills provide a visual of former presidents for children, as well as introduce other significant concepts that may be taught to older little ones.

I like to teach a few facts (about the Presidents AND coins) and then let little ones make their own interpretations by playing with their new ideas….one example is a coin face drawing. Simply put the coins down on drawing paper and allow your little one to draw the body and maybe even add details to their picture.

February 20, 2012 by Jessica | 0 comments

In the St. Nick of time!

Bah humbug! I definitely bit off more than I could chew! I planned to share my “schedule” in the making for my little one and even more Christmas activities this week, but the dash to get things done in time for Christmas has completely consumed my time and energy!

I have been MAKING most of my gifts because I am in the house a lot with my little ones, and so all of my nap time minutes have gone to use.

Here is part of daddy’s gift that I have spent a lot of time on:

Christmas gift — 16 x 20 canvas with three vertical 5x7 pictures and two 4x6 horizontal pictures

Sean Patrick knows a lot of letters but the letters “D” and “A” must be ENGRAVED on his mind after an hour’s worth of pictures trying to get a good “D” and “A” shot of all the different possibilities to assemble for the D-A-D Christmas shot. I am still not sure that it turned out the way I pictured it, but it is the thought that counts.

I will share my niece’s gifts tonight or tomorrow….they have turned out so cute.

December 22, 2011 by Jessica | 0 comments

Christmas Tree Counting Printable

I can’t wait to share my activity ideas and schedule that I am setting up for my little one, as well as another great giveaway on the way!

In the meantime, here is a freebie that I made for your little one to practice drawing sets of objects. Don’t just hand your little one a set of crayons/markers and say “get busy.”

First, lay the Christmas Tree Counting Printable on the table with something small and colorful (like skittles) that you and your little one can use to practice counting sets together.

Then, point to one of the trees and show your little one how you might “decorate the tree.” “Ooh, this tree has the number nine on the star, I’m going to decorate the tree with nine colorful skittles! One, two, three, four, …..etc.”

This is a great way to model the directions by showing your little one how to recognize the number and count out that given quantity, AND by modeling one-to-one correspondence (counting one object per given number).

After you have your little one complete the hands-on round of the printable, on their own (assisting and prompting where necessary), then explain that instead of skittles, this time they will draw the number of ornaments (circles, candy canes, snowflakes, or whatever shape he/she wants). Before they begin, model an example of how to do this on a separate sheet of paper. And that’s it; now you have purposefully used a printable 🙂

December 15, 2011 by Jessica | 0 comments

Snowman Picture

When I was teaching in the classroom, I had literacy, math, and open-ended stations that would each accomplish different objectives. My literacy stations were: 1) reading comprehension, 2) listening comprehension, 3) fluency, 4) phonics, 5) phonemic awareness, and 6) computer skills.

I am going to start planning weekly learning station activities that I hope to post as often as I accomplish this. I really want to bring back the structure of having activities planned and provided for; that way my little one can start working on skills in an even more fun and meaningful way.

Just like you, I want to make time at home purposeful when my little one isn’t purposefully playing outside, with toys inside, or going about our daily routine.

So, in the meantime, until I post lots of Christmas activities next week, I wanted to share my “winter wonderland” template with ya’ll.

It is SIMPLE. It is a simple template that I handmade- which you can undoubtedly tell by looking at it. But, it allows your little one to cut out the images (use fine motor skills), identify shapes (shape recognition), and assemble the images to make a picture (practice spatial skills). You can help your little one come up with a sentence about it (oral vocabulary), and help them write it (to practice his/her writing skills).

First, he or she will assemble the template however they think it might make a picture, and before gluing it, help them brainstorm where the items might go or what other features they might add (nose, arms, etc.)

Here is my template…..click HERE – Snowman.

And here is one option of how the picture MIGHT look: