Number of the Day worksheet: Thanksgiving!

Whew! It's been a busy semester. The school year is going great, and a lot of learning is happening... the kids are learning a lot too. AY! (rim shot)

One of the things our kids look forward to the most is the Number of the Day. For G-Bug especially, there is something very comforting in the routine of beginning most mornings by learning a new number, practicing counting and addition/subtraction with that number, and best of all...

Number of the Day worksheets!

At the beginning of the year, I had numerous resources to draw from for our number of the day activities. Everyone loves learning to count to twenty! Free online worksheets were everywhere - all I needed were a few minutes and a printer. (FYI: One of my favorite resources for worksheets 1-20 was Confessions of a Homeschooler).

Then we hit number 21.

I soon discovered that most worksheets don't tackle writing/counting numbers after 20. I did find these worksheets for numbers 21-30, but other than that I was stuck. And a bit desperate. The NOD worksheet routine is so highly anticipated and helps to set a positive tone to our entire day. And G-Bug is asking for more! What to do?

So, I made the decision to learn to make my own worksheets. A dear friend introduced me to Microsoft Publisher, and a whole new world of possibilities opened up! Number of the Day was saved!

I have recently gotten braver and decided to try to draw my own graphics using a tablet app to avoid any copyright issues. Plus it's just fun to put my one semester as an art major into practice (here's to unwasted college classes!).



Now I'm taking another big leap: I've decided to share these worksheets with all of you, in the hopes that someone else might find them useful.

I am currently working on getting the worksheets for numbers 21-52 uploaded in the next month (or two). In the meantime, here are a couple of Thanksgiving worksheets that you might enjoy (numbers 49 and 20).

Happy Thanksgiving, and don't forget to count your blessings! AY! (rim shot)

Pre-K! Hip hip hooray!

A couple of mommas recently asked me if I had any recommendations for pre-K resources. My first thought was, "Oh man! There are so many resources out there! Where to begin?"

One approach to starting preschool at home is simply conducting an online search for topics/themes that your children love.  Searching on Pinterest or Google for "farm theme preschool ideas" or "space theme preschool" can provide plenty of ideas, games, crafts, and worksheets that might work well for you.

There are also several helpful sites and blogs that have been recommended to me by other homeschool moms. Here is a short list of free/almost free resources that may help you get started.  Many thanks to friends who helped compile this list! (NOTE: Please comment and share any other resources you have found helpful!)


Lessons/Activities/Printables:
  
Education.com: Free membership offers 10 worksheets a month for toddlers, pre-K, and up

File Folder Fun.com: Free educational games and activities

Kids Learning Center: Tons of free worksheets for pre-K and kindergarten

Letter of the Week: Resources for babies through kindergarten

Motherhood on a Dime: God's Little Explorers Preschool Curriculum ($14): 28 lesson plans with activities/ideas for a 4-day preschool week.

Homeschool Blogs:

1+1+1=1: Materials/ideas for toddler through kindergarten

Confessions of a Homeschooler: Ideas for multiple ages/grades, printables, planners, you name it. This blog is a MUST.

Home Grown Learners: Offers music and art appreciaton materials, free unit study lesson plans, and Lego printables (she is an official Lego Educator blogger, and a member of the Classical Conversations Blogroll).

Preschool Corner: List of homeschool bloggers offering pre-K ideas/printables/curriculum

Favorite Books:

Preschooler's Busy Book: 365 Creative Games & Activities To Occupy 3-6 Year Olds
  
The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun: Activities for Kids with Sensory Processing Disorder, but really great activities for kids of all abilities to encourage sensory play

Online Games:

ABCYa.com: Online games to practice letters, numbers, shapes, etc.

Starfall.com: Online activities to practice letters, numbers, and phonics. Our kids have been using it since they were 2-3 yrs old and still love it!

Shepperd Software's Kid's Corner. Free online educational games covering topics such as life sciences, language arts, math, and geography.  Includes a preschool/kindergarten page.

**UPDATE 10/6/15: Four Maples Academy has added a preschooler this year to our family! I came across a great and inexpensive curriculum/lesson plan that has been just the right balance of structure and play - The Measured Mom's Preschool Journey Curriculum! She also offers a supplementary worksheet packet, which we have also enjoyed. Check it out!

Please comment and share any resources you have found helpful, and have fun learning and exploring with your preschooler!

Guiding Principles for Educating Your Unique Child

Whew, where did the week go? Two therapies in a week makes for little time for anything else, but I have been working on a list of pre-K resources that I hope to have done in the next week (fingers crossed).

But before I do that, I would like to share a few thoughts from well seasoned homeschool veterans that have helped us shape our home education experience - these guidelines have been critical in our selection of homeschool curriculum and how we approach education in our family.  I hope these words encourage and inspire you to love and enjoy learning with your child as much as it has encouraged us!

- Teach to the child, not to the curriculum: Your child was made completely unique.  Because of that, your child (just as every adult) learns and experiences things in his/her own unique way and in his/her own unique pace. You child might love worksheets and checklists, or might prefer games and manipulatives (things to hold/manipulate for better understanding).  Your child might primarily be a visual learner, or an auditory learner, or a kinesthetic (hands on/experiential) learner - and that is a good thing! He/she was created that way for a purpose, and we should work with those given abilities and not against them.

Dr. Kathy Koch, founder of Celebrate Kids, Inc., spoke on this topic at the Midwest Homeschool Convention last year - she identified different giftings as "multiple intelligences." Some of the examples she gives are "word smart," "people smart," "body smart," and "music smart." You can link to her page here.

You might have other considerations to take into account as well.  Your child might struggle with a particular type of learning (children who are extraordinarily gifted in one type of learning tend to struggle in other areas). He/she might have learning challenges, developmental delays, or other factors that might impact their ability to learn certain subjects or skills. Feel freedom to adjust your curriculum and your expectations to best fit your child's needs, and not the other way around. In teaching, primarily focus on your child's abilities as you encourage them in areas of difficulty.

- Any part of life can become a learning experience: Broaden your definition of what learning and education can be.  The main subjects a child typically learns in the early years are reading, math, writing, and life sciences (the world around us). Why do we learn these skills? We learn them because they are the foundation of all other subjects, but also because they are relevant and necessary in our lives! So why not demonstrate that in the way you go through your day with your children?

For younger children, a trip to the grocery store is full of learning possibilities. Play an ABC game and find items that begin with each letter of the alphabet. See/touch/smell different foods and talk about where they come from.  Practice basic math concepts by counting items in your cart or have them find the aisle number you need ("Okay, oatmeal is next on the list! That is in Aisle 7 - who can find Aisle 7 first?"). Do laundry together and let your children sort items by color/texture/size.  Plant and care for a garden together and learn how different fruits/vegetables grow.  Go for a walk in the park and count how many different birds/animals you see and their features.  All of life is an opportunity to learn and engage our children's (and our own) curiosity - and that encourages a love of learning and curiosity that children will take with them long after they have mastered their letters and numbers and have moved on to more advanced subjects. (FYI: This principle applies to older children as well!)

- When possible, let your child's interests guide your lessons/activities.  Does your child love trains? Go to the library to check out books about steam and diesel engines (picture books and research books). Plan a trip to a nearby railway museum. Find a free train themed alphabet worksheet (example: I just searched in Google Images for "alphabet train worksheet preschool" and found this free worksheet - sweet!). Teach them math and counting with train-themed activities (last year, we drew a train track on a piece of paper and used graham crackers to be train cars - we practiced basic addition as we added more cars to our track).

This is actually how we began our tradition of Science Fridays. My kids L-O-V-E science, and the curriculum we had chosen for the year wasn't really meeting their needs or level of interest. So I asked them what they would like to study for science, and they gave me a couple of topics that they were keenly interested in: Ocean life. Space. Bugs. From there, we broke the subjects into 2-3 month unit studies and put together short weekly lessons, mostly drawing from different websites on the internet for related worksheets, activities, and videos (NASA, Discovery network, PBS, and many talented homeschool parents, to name a few).  The kids love it, and it gave me a tangible way to encourage and respect their interests and celebrate how God has uniquely made them.

So whatever you do, make it fun, engaging, and relevant to your child's abilities! It will help you sustain and enjoy this labor of love that is homeschooling, and - more importantly - it will encourage your children to embrace their curiosity and to love learning and explore the world around them.

Number of the Day Ideas

As I mentioned in my last blog entry, we have been enjoying a new activity in our math studies: the Number of the Day!

Number of the Day Chart: Using an ice cream cone template to keep track of our progress and practice skip counting once the chart is completed

There are several suggested activities in our curriculum, including: 

-  Finding ___ of something in the house (for at least first 10 numbers)

- Measuring a line ___ inches long

- Practicing simple word problems using the number of the day (ex. If I baked seven cookies and gave three to Miss Anita next door, how many would I have left?").  

We have also incorporated a few more ideas: 

- Number of the Day exercises on wiggly days (ex. "Do 9 toe touches! Let's do 9 bunny hops!")

- A math game for practicing addition combinations: put ___ marshmallows (nuts, raisins, cheerios, whatever) in a plastic sandwich bag with a line drawn down the center of the bag. Have the child group all of the marshmallows on one side of the bag, then move them one by one to the other side of the line, writing down the numbers of marshmallows on either side (ex. 6 marshmallows = 3+3, 4+2, 5+1). (Source: Heart of Dakota)

- Build a house with ___ of each kind of block (ex. 4 windows, 4 flat blocks, 4 triangles, etc)

- Draw a hopscotch grid with ___ of squares to jump on (I am imagining an epic hopscotch competition on Day 100!). You could practice skip counting by 2s, only jumping on the even numbers

- Go outside and look for ___ insects/rocks/flowers/fall leaves/acorns/etc. You can even make it into a word problem: "We have found 4 red leaves and 3 yellow leaves.  How many is that? How many more do we need to find?"

Happy counting!

 

Number of the Day: Dozen Day!

We are finishing up our third week of school and we are really enjoying the format this year.  We made the decision to switch to My Father's World for first grade, and have been very happy with how fun and flexible it is, as well as how it suits our family's needs/preferences.

One of the new activities included this year is the Number of the Day.  Throughout the year, we will be working our way up to counting to 100 (as well as practicing skip counting by 2, 5, and 10).  This is a great way to introduce and practice addition and subtraction, as well as number writing and recognition.

Today was Dozen Day - hooray! We read a couple of stories with a dozen theme: A Dozen Dogs by Harriet Ziefert and Madeline's Rescue by Ludwig Bemelmans.  I also created a fun donut themed worksheet to practice addition (feel free to download it for your own use - just click the worksheet graphic below):

Then the kids and I took a surprise trip to Krispy Kreme to celebrate.  The lady who worked there was very kind as the kids practiced their donut addition and filled the box with the right number of sugary goodness.

We were sure to practice "subtraction" as well.

You know, for academic reasons.

For more Number of the Day ideas, click here!

Fruit of the Spirit bible study & activities

 

A couple of weeks ago, the kids and I were reading Galatians 5 about the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. I remembered a funny song we used to sing at FCA about the fruit of the Spirit and the kids thought it was hilarious. It sparked some interesting questions and curiosity in the kids, and so we decided it would be fun to do a fruit of the Spirit bible study to kick off the new school year.

Wait. What did I agree to do?  I didn't even know where to start.

When it comes to teaching, I am so thankful for the wisdom and experience of other parents who are gifted in creating lessons accessible to kids, and I'm also thankful for the internet so they can share their ideas with the rest of us who need help.  There are so many great ideas out there!

If you are interested in going through a fun 9 lesson study of the fruit of the Spirit, here are some materials/ideas you might find helpful:

Fruit of the Spirit bible study for Grades 1-3 - good study resource to pull from with Scriptures, discussion questions, and activities (written by a Southern Baptist children's minister and associate pastor).  Be sure to study these fruits for yourself and adjust the lessons to your own teaching style and your children's needs/level of understanding our preschooler is even following along.

Kindness necklace craft (Proverbs 3:3)

Fruit of the Spirit workbook - prints out to form a workbook for the entire study (works best with 2-sided printing, but can also just print 1-sided), includes a separate printout of the memory verse Galatians 5:22-23 for kids to decorate and hang up to help them practice their verses

Fruit of the Spirit song - includes lyrics, movements, and a link to a YouTube video to hear the song





Fruit of the Spirit Bingo Game - great for reading/memorization practice; let kids take turns being the caller

Fruit of the Spirit Bean Bag Game - gross motor planning, reading practice, upper body strength development

I have been pretty amazed at how the kids have enjoyed this study - it has brought about many questions and opportunities to talk about the Gospel and how it's God's Spirit that produces these fruits in us, not our own ability to be "good."  It has also been a great way to approach some specific challenges our kids have had recently. For example, our almost 4-yr old Truth has a tendency toward gloominess: one thing will go wrong and he pulls out the metaphorical umbrella and rain clouds and a pouty lip.  During our lesson on Joy, we talked about Philippians 4:4, and that Paul was in prison and still encouraging the church in Philippi to rejoice always! Truth was pretty surprised by that and was really thinking about it afterward - he even drew about it in his workbook).

Picture of Paul in jail (right)

I hope this study is as "fruitful" for you as is has been for us! Please comment and let me know if this is helpful and if you have any other great ideas to teach the fruit of the Spirit to your children.

Boredom Busters

"Moooom! I'm BOOOOOORED!"

Dreaded words... usually because it tends to devolve into a chorus of whining, chanting voices: ("MOOOOOOOMMMM..... Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom? Mommy? Mom?")



There are several approaches to addressing boredom:

1) Put them to work: "Great! Because I have some chores that need to be done.  Grab a broom please."

2) Redirect to other activities: "Okay, see how big of a tower you can make using only books and blocks! When you are done we can measure how tall it is."

3) Incorporate them into whatever you are doing, when possible: "Well, I'm working on a grocery list - can you be on fridge duty and help me check if we still have these items or if we need to get more?"

4) Help them solve their boredom by encouraging them to come up with a solution themselves: "Okay, you are bored. What are you going to do about it?"

Generally, we go with #4 first - we want to encourage them to realize that being bored isn't a passive state of being, but a choice.  You can choose to be bored, or choose to do something.  Some days it's enough to simply ask them, "What are you going to do about it?" and watch them take ownership of the problem themselves and find a solution on their own. 

But other days they JUST can't THINK of ANYTHING to DO... what to do?

Enter a helpful tool: the Boredom Buster Box.

TA-DAA!

We store the box within easy reach, but keep the contents concealed to maintain some degree of novelty when boredom strikes.

Inside, the Box is loaded with all sorts of fun stuff:
- Games/cards that can be played with 1-2 people
- Dry erase crayons/markers with white boards and dry erase workbooks
- Pattern blocks
- Lite-Brite (can you believe they still make those?)
- Silly Putty
- A sticker album and a page of stickers to add to the collection
- Crayons, markers, and paper
- Flash cards with interesting pictures of planets/animals to flip through
- Whatever can be safely played with or investigated on one's own with minimal supervision.

I should also call this the "I just need that extra 15-30 minutes to finish a task that can't be put off" box.

But that wouldn't fit on a label.

Also inside: a small container labeled "Boredom Buster Challenges"

Inside are slips of paper with fun "challenges" for kids to try - here are a few examples:

- Make a tent with a sheet in the living room

- Dress up as pirates and go outside to hunt for "treasure." Watch out for sea monsters!

- Have a tea party, invite your 3 favorite stuffed animals

- Find 5 leaves outside and make a crayon rubbing

- Find your favorite book and act it out with puppets

- Build a race track for your cars using books and blocks

- Draw a picture for a grandparent to send in the mail

- Set up a toy store - sort toys by size/color/shape

- Build a sandcastle

Note: All Boredom Buster Challenges are made way more fun with an adult participant joining in. :)

What do you do to battle boredom?

Letter Dot Worksheets: Free, Versatile, and Fun!

The kids and I have had a lot of fun with these worksheets - Letter Dots!

This is a great activity for practicing letter formation - and so versatile!  You can practice with these worksheets using stickers, stamps, fingerprints, coins, rocks, buttons, blocks, plastic figurines, you name it.

You could get really creative and use an item that begins with the same letter: apple stickers for A, buttons for B, Cheerios for C, etc.

M is for Minerals!

 

N is for Pennies! ...wait... 

You can also incorporate other subjects/topics you are covering into this activity: colors, shapes, story themes, math concepts - we are learning about patterns this week, so G-Bug asked to make a pattern on her O worksheet.  Why not?

 O!

 I found these great markers on clearance at Michaels this week, but any marker with a round tip will work great, like bingo markers or the Crayola toddler markers you can find at most stores.

What kind of activities have you used to practice letter formation?

Happy learning, everyone!

Sometimes I forget

As weird as it sounds, sometimes I forget that my oldest, G-Bug, has special needs.  There are some days - if we have had a stable schedule for several days, had a lot of down time at home to decompress, avoided loud/high chaos environments, had good sensory days, the moon has aligned with Venus* - when things seem... well, average. Typical.  On those days, G-Bug and I might have a real, honest to goodness conversation involving real eye contact, relevant questions, and real thoughtful responses. I hear "I love you, Mom" - something (until fairly recently) I rarely ever heard articulated out loud.  Those days I keep close to my heart, sweet and rare gifts from the Lord to refresh and encourage us.

*I am totally kidding about that last one.

But most days are usually full of ups and downs.  Schedules change.  Plans get cancelled.  Loud and chaotic places are inevitable.  Expectations aren't perfectly communicated. We wake up with our sensory input going crazy - lights and sounds hurt, food textures gag us, or we feel so dull that we want to climb, push, rub, chew, scratch, and pick at everything in sight. Brain fog rolls in, clouding our ability to even focus on a one-step task. Change/chaos/fear builds up in our system like a drug, until we hit critical mass and it all comes rushing out, running down our face in our tears and shaking our bodies uncontrollably.

On especially hard days, I forget to be thankful.  I forget to celebrate the small victories, and to remember that each and every completed task is a gift from God Himself.  I forget that there are others whose challenges are more severe, more difficult to manage, and for some there are so few "good days."

And in the darkest moments, I sometimes forget that God is good.

But my daughter's struggles aren't evidence of a God who isn't good or loving - it points to a broken world that needs saving and renewing.  All of our bodies and our experiences carry evidence of a world that is tainted by sickness, evil, and death.  And that is precisely why God sent His Son Jesus - not only to save us from the penalty of our own sin, but to conquer death and give hope of a future reality without illness, abuse, developmental delays, murder, cancer, and on and on.  The hope is real because Jesus is real, His resurrection is real, and God's love and goodness are real and absolute.

And while we wait for that day, God shows His goodness and love to us by walking alongside us in our darkest moments.  Giving us our daily breath, a moment of rest and clarity, a simple "I love you, Momma" from a precious girl's sweet lips.

If your hope is in Jesus, fight not to forget.  The battle is already won, and it was won by a good and loving Father who is going before you, loving you, and sustaining you until the day you will at last see Him face to face, free at last to never to forget again.

Visual Schedules, a.k.a. Sanity Savers

I LOVE visual aids.  We have them all over our house, as our friends and family can attest.  From bathroom duties (potty time, washing hands) to bedtime rules and morning/evening routines, you can literally make a visual schedule for ANYTHING... and we DO.  When any particular task with more than one step becomes a point of frustration for G-Bug or myself ("Go get dressed, please." Five minutes later. "Are you dressed? Where are your socks? Why did you put them THERE??"), I make a visual aid.

A visual aid is simply a list with words and pictures that breaks down any task into smaller steps.  For G-Bug, any simple task can become overwhelming if she's having a hard day.  It is not uncommon for me to ask her to go get dressed, and I will check in on her five minutes later and she is standing in the middle of her room and just looking around. When I remind her what she is supposed to be doing, she startles and apologizes, walks to the dresser, and totally forgets what she is doing again. You can imagine the mutual frustration. AARG.

 If you are quickly losing hair and sleep over helping your child complete routine tasks, please consider trying visual aids.  It doesn't have to be fancy - you can make one on a spare sheet of paper and some crayons (color helps get attention for most kids).  If you want something more formal (or if you fear your drawing skills might cause more confusion than clarity), you can use a program as basic as Microsoft Word or Publisher and some Google images and make a pretty nice chart that you can refer your kids to when they get stuck.

Here are a few that we made to get you started - if you want to tweak these for your own family, feel free to email me to request a copy of the Publisher document and I will be more than happy to share it with you.

Getting Dressed

Morning Schedule

 

Bedtime Schedule

   

Bedtime Schedule (with medicine)

We chose to laminate them so G-bug can use a dry erase marker to check off tasks as she completes them (we usually reserve this for days when she is struggling more to see her progress).

Have a great weekend!

UPDATE: I found a great website with a few more visual schedules for basic self-care, like teeth brushing, potty use, washing hands, etc. Click here to access

The first entry

I have been trying for several weeks to come up with a meaningful introduction, but have decided instead to just write simply and from the heart.  I am an average gal with an amazing husband and two beautiful children.  Our daughter G-Bug is 6 years old, spreads sunshine and music wherever she goes, and was diagnosed last year on the autism spectrum with sensory integration challenges.  Our son Truth is an almost four year old who loves his big sister fiercely and feels things deeply.

We chose to homeschool more out of necessity than preference in order to accommodate Gracie's therapies and her specific learning strengths and challenges, and it was one of the best decisions we have ever made.  I have never considered myself a natural teacher in the typical sense (and I still don't), but by God's grace and through the encouragement and wisdom of other homeschooling families and supportive speech and occupational therapists we are making our way, and truly enjoying it.

I hope to regularly share ideas, lesson plans, and other resources that might be helpful to other parents  looking for therapy and/or multi-sensory learning options for their kids of all abilities.  I would love to hear your ideas and resources as well! Please please share!

The name of this blog is taken from the name we have given to our home school: Four Maples Academy.  The maple tree is a good theme for our family - we literally have four maple trees surrounding our house that shade us in the summer and protect us from the cold winds in winter.  The four maples also represent to us the four basic elements of worldview: God (metaphysics), truth (epistemology), goodness (ethics), and beauty (aesthetics). We hope to cultivate a family environment that spurs us on to love and know God, Truth, Goodness, and Beauty in all things, in all disciplines, and in all subjects that we study.

Thanks for reading, and I'm looking forward to learning with you!