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Showing posts from August, 2016

Chicken Life Cycle 3-Part Cards

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I had a request for these life cycle cards to match the Safari Ltd Life Cycle Set .  The matching cards are simple, but they can be used for spelling, language acquisition, and science class.  The Montessori 3-part cards are available here . />

How to Plan a Zoo Themed Road Trip

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I've been enjoying Travel Time Tuesday so much and have been posting so much content (twice a week lately) that I decided to move all of it to it's own blog.  The Zoo Road Trip blog post is now at my new site-  Party Through the USA . Click on the picture to go to the zoo post.

Science Unit Alphabet Posters

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I finally figured out how to make subject covers for our science units that are also useful as subject introduction posters!  These covers (such as the one below) feature the animal that we're going to be focusing on, the "letter of the week" in a few different fonts, and the continent where the animal originates (in Montessori continent colors).  I took creative license on the posters, placing animals on a specific continent based on how we were going to study them, even if the animal (such as an owl) can be found in more than one place.  I plan on laminating these covers, using them as the dividers between my units, and then displaying them as posters during the week.  I think these will work very well for us. Our 2016-2017 Science Units *each of the links takes you to my Pinterest board* - apples (world map; a BTS tradition) - gorilla (Africa; comparing apes and monkeys) - vulture (Africa; scavengers; contentment) - elephant (Africa; Savannah; safari

Back to School Interviews (2016)

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I haven't done a kid interview on my blog in a long time.  That's disappointing.  I'm going to rectify that today! {Dragonfly- age 5} Friends: my cousins and my friend at church (I'm withholding names for privacy) Favorite Thing to Play: blocks and dublos and swimming pool and tree house and water and bicycle and slide and wood Favorite Color: pink and blue and black and yellow and orange and green and purple Favorite Book: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Favorite Movie: Bubble Guppies Favorite Food: macaroni and cheese and brownies- love those! When I Grow Up: "I just want to be a mommy with a baby" (she said doctor first then switched it).  Later, she said, "I want to be a doctor of babies." Quotes: "Call me Jayda." (such an Anne-girl) {Skimmer- age 4} Friends: Aunt Emi Favorite Thing to Play: Cars!  Cars!  Monsters! (trucks) Favorite Color: black Favorite Book: Cars Favorite Movie: Dinosa

Counting to 100 Printable Mat

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In kindergarten, kids begin learning to recite the numbers from 1-100 and to count objects to 100.  The task might seem overwhelming, but breaking the big number down into a smaller number makes it easier.  I made this printable for counting out 10 groups of 10 objects each to equal 100.  You can also see from the above picture that the board can also be used to count higher numbers and reinforce concepts of 10's and 1's (ex- 6 groups of 10 equals 60 plus 5 ones).  I made a pink version and a blue version.  As always, they are free to download .  Below are some ideas for using the board. 1. pumpkin seeds 2.  pony beads 3.  novelty erasers 4. pennies 5.  counting bears 6. wood stars 7. m&ms 8. paperclips 9. jungle animals 10. pretend skittles 11. nuts 12. buttons 13. glass stones 14. candy hearts 15. candy corn 16. diy penguins 17. dublo/lego towers 18. chocolate chips 19. little rocks 20. cereal 21. snowflakes 22. flamingos 23. diamonds 24.

Prepping Your Children for Camping

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I've been enjoying Travel Time Tuesday so much and have been posting so much content (twice a week lately) that I decided to move all of it to it's own blog.  The Prepping Your Kids for Camping blog post is now at my new site-  Party Through the USA . Click on the picture to go to the camping post.

Work Boxes and Daily Five

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As I was doing research for this next school year, I was intrigued by the idea of Daily Five, which is often used in kindergarten classrooms.  Daily Five encourages kids to work on reading, writing, and spelling through five different daily activities (hence the name). Free Chalkboard Labels can be downloaded here . Work boxes are very common homeschooling tool.  I've been dabbling in them for the past few years (I even wrote two posts about them already this summer- a planner  here and the labels  here).  Now that I have my curriculum sorted out, I think I know that I want my work boxes to look like. The paper drawers are our work boxes.  This shelf is for the things the kids will share and the things that the boys will do apart from Dragonfly. 1- Read Aloud: our current novel for whole group reading time 2- Math: number work for the boys 3- Skills: scissors, pinching, handwriting, etc 4- Calendar:  storage 5- Notebooks: interactive notebook materials 6- Sci

School Supplies Tool Boxes

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This picture is a great example of organization and disorganization existing in the same place.  On a shelf inside our homeschool cupboard , sits this untidy line-up of very organized tool boxes.  I'm sort of addicted to them, so I'm sure this won't be all I ever make.  The larger cases came from Walmart, but the smallest one on the right came from Amazon .  I thought some might enjoy a peak inside. The smallest box in the collection holds one-inch wood tiles.  One side has a plain D'Nealian letter on it, while the reverse side is done like a Scrabble letter with a value.  There is both uppercase and lowercase letters to allow for lots of spelling opportunities.  The colored tiles are phonics blends for when we move past simple CVC words.  I'm planning on making a second box (told you I wasn't done) for the cursive letter tiles.  The printable for all these letter tiles (print, Scrabble, cursive, blends) can be found here . The box without a side l

Our School Supply List (2016-2017)

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This year, I have three scholars.  Dragonfly will be in kindergarten, Skimmer will be in prekindergarten, and Tadpole will be in preschool.  Not that it really matters, since we're homeschooling and they'll be learning together. Duct taping the marker lids together help keep  the markers together.  It's also very easy  to tell  when one is missing and adds accountability for  the kid to get her markers all put away correctly.   As a bonus, having the markers close to each other  like this, means that kids are working  on  strengthening  their fingers and they  don't even  know  it's happening. General Supplies - regular Ticonderoga Pencils - fat Ticonderoga Pencils - RSVP pens (still my favorite for lefties) - fat Washable crayons (Skimmer and Tadpole) - regular 16-pack Washable crayons (Dragonfly) - fat Washable markers - wet erase markers - lined white boards - white chalk - kindergarten lined paper  (copywork) - pink, blue, a

Pirate Road Trip (a summery)

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I've been enjoying Travel Time Tuesday so much and have been posting so much content (twice a week lately) that I decided to move all of it to it's own blog.  The Pirate Road Trip blog post is now at my new site-  Party Through the USA . Click on the picture to go to the pirate post.

Zero the Hero

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A few months ago, I ran into a fun idea on Pinterest called "Zero the Hero."  This teacher-written book (PDF) explains Zero's story .  I think the original idea came from this Schoolhouse Rock song .  In many classrooms, Zero the Hero visits on day 10, 20, 30, etc, to help the children count to 100 (and beyond).  He often brings a zero shaped snack for the kids and sometimes a craft, game, etc.  On day one hundred, he brings his sister, Zerona, to place-hold the tens-place zero. My PDF includes large (6") stick puppets for Zero and Zerona, small stick puppets (3") for the siblings, and counting by 10's flashcards featuring the superheroes.  I can't wait until we start calendar time, so we can use this fun idea. To download, click here . I also decided to make this counting poster featuring Zero the Hero.  It's just a one page sheet, showing the numbers 10-100.  It could be hung on the wall or placed in a resource binder. To download, cl

Chalkboard Calendar Set

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You may have noticed from some of my other home decorating printables , I like chalkboards.  My dream is to have a big one in our kitchen by the table for schoolwork and artwork and inspiring quotes.    As I was setting up our kitchen classroom this year, I decided that a chalkboard calendar set was exactly what our schoolroom needed.  I used an 18"x24" black foam board to be my "chalkboard" base.  I hot glued yard sticks , cut to the right lengths by my husband, around the perimeter of the board.  Then, I used 3M strips to attach it to the side of the cabinet. I designed a legal sized calendar set for my fake chalkboard.  The base of the calendar is plain white, with the days of the week differentiated by rainbow colors.  I sewed plastic onto the calendar with my Brother Sewing Machine to make pockets for the calendar cards.  There are several calendar card options, and I'm sure I'll add more throughout the year. Calendar   <>   Holid

Family Friendly Attractions- Museum of the Rockies

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I've been enjoying Travel Time Tuesday so much and have been posting so much content (twice a week lately) that I decided to move all of it to it's own blog.  The Museum of the Rockies blog post is now at my new site-  Party Through the USA . Click on the picture to go to the dinosaur post.

Interactive Science Notebook for Kindergartners

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This year, Dragonfly (my self-appointed "Science Girl") had a list of requests for me of animals that she'd like to study.  I love her enthusiasm and have created this science "curriculum" accordingly.  The non-science themes are centered around holidays and when we'll be taking our school breaks (every break in the line is a week or more off). {Letter}  (Theme)   Activity {  } apples (our BTS tradition)- Montessori world map book {G} gorilla (monkeys and apes)- monkey and ape sort {V} vulture (scavengers)- letter V hunt {E} elephant (African savannah)- parts of an elephant {C} camel (African desert)- parts of camel book {H} horse (farm)- farm or not sort {A} alligator (American swamps)- life cycle of alligator {L} lizard (American desert)- parts of a lizard {N} night owl (nocturnal animals)- nocturnal or not lift the flap {  } pumpkins, seeds, etc- pumpkin mini journal {U} umbrella bird (South American rainforest)- what is a rainforest boo