Workboxes!

Our work-boxes- a versatile rolling cart

I usually shun the word "work" when engaging my kinder-kid in home learning, but it's just so catchy: "Workboxes."  She absolutely loves the workbox method.  She asks for it.  Recently she asked if they use workboxes at NASA training camp (she's contemplating becoming an astronaut).

As a homeschooling parent, my top tools for teaching are books, hands-on activities, and real-life stuff.  But it's fun to add in these tools and tricks to help make learning fun and a well-rounded experience for the kids.  My Grace-girl (5) needed some help becoming more independent (i.e. let mom walk out of the room for two seconds to make sure the baby isn't eating the pet fish).  I think workboxes are a great way to do that.  Also, repetition is key with the grammar stage and where I lack in repetition, I know these games and activities will help pick up the slack.

We only use our boxes a few days a week when I'm busy with projects, planning or cleaning and she needs a few hours of review time (great for practicing new things we learn together on other days).  There are only six boxes, but that seems to keep my kid busy for hours.  She likes to take her time.  The pink box on top is her "tool box" where I put pencils, dry erase markers, or whatever else she will need for her activities.  She looks at the activity, decides if she needs a tool, then goes for it.  Yay for independent thinking and learning!

Practicing word-family recognition

After reviewing just about every blog that talks about workboxes, I decided to invest in some folder games (with the help of a friend's laminator) and wound up making my own number cards that detach by velcro and reattach to the "done" card (on top of the boxes in the above pic- though I later mounted it on the side of the rolling cart).  Couldn't find any I really liked online.

Here are some things I've put into her boxes:

• Domino math.  I laminated the worksheets (one for adding, one for subtracting) and include the dominoes in the box.  
• One game that uses clothespins (great for manual dexterity training).  
• Several write-on/wipe-off writing mats that I'll usually rotate through (just one at a time- I'm not crazy about them, but they seem fun for her). 
• A mini-book project that will become part of a larger lapbook (we love lapbooks, too- check out this post).  
• A movement oriented activity, like a series of our favorite Yoga Pretzel cards, for her to get some wiggle time, often accompanied by a snack.  
• Reading flashcards or a reading book with a little card that says, "with Mommy."
• A fun cut and paste project or puzzle book.  This one was fun, thought not terribly educational.  It's good, I think, to end with something fun.  

I usually space out the difficult items involving reading and writing between easier ones (or ones that utilize a different skill, like cutting and pasting).  The downside is that she is quickly outgrowing the folder games I made a few short months ago.  Perhaps it's time to think about swapping with a like-minded mama...

Share your experiences, fellow home-educators!  What systems do you use and why?

Healthy snacks- a hands-on lesson

We recently hosted a little play-date at our house where I was invited to talk to the kids about nutrition and healthy food choices.  We moms take turns each week and some weeks are more structured than others.  This was a structured one.

1. First I read the girls a book about how bread is made and I read them Herb the Vegetarian Dragon (a fave for kids who like to stick up for their healthy choices).  
2. Then we made bread (with quick-rising dough).  While it was rising we talked about the new USDA Food Pyramid and I had them touch items from each category (grains, protein, dairy, fruits and vegetables).  
3. Of course we ate some healthy snacks from all the categories.
4. We got to punch down our bread and talk about what a great anger management tool it is!  
5. The kids each took home a loaf to bake with their initials carved on top (no time to finish it at my house) and they each took home a food pyramid coloring sheet and bookmark (tons of stuff on the USDA website!).

Overall it was a very fun playdate and the kids walked away with some information and fun stuff to take home.  We kept the bread very simple and the girls had time to play in between each of the activities.  Not every play-date goes so smoothly, but things tend to run better when I'm more organized!  What's a favorite activity you like to do at play-dates?  Or do you prefer a free-play time?

Like giving books for birthdays?

Some kids don't get much for their birthday.  That's why I'm excited about what Barefoot Books is doing.  They've launched a new campaign:

• If you buy Bear's Birthday through the month of July, Barefoot Books will donate a book to Birthday Wishes, an organization that gives birthday presents and parties to kids who otherwise wouldn't get any.  Great stuff, right?  This is relevant to me right now as both my kids and my husband will be celebrating their birthdays in the next month.
• You can also send a free birthday e-card to the bear-lover in your life!  Fun!
• Did I mention there's a huge summer sale going on right now, too? (through Aug. 15, 2011) 

Barefoot Books works with Books for Africa, Ecolibris, First Book, and several others.  If you want to be a responsible consumer, think about where you buy.  Supporting companies that make a difference in the world (not because it's good for the bottom line, but because it's good for the planet) makes a lot more sense than just walking into a Walmart and picking up the first thing you see.

If you'd like to make the leap, check out my website or find other gifts that promote community uplift, global awareness and corporate responsibility.

Epiphany- or "Christmas ain't over yet..."

This past fall I decided we were going to celebrate "Epiphany" this year.  Also known as 3 King's Day, Epiphany is rarely celebrated in our country, but still widely known other places.  Epiphany means (among other things) "sudden appearance" or "divine manifestation."  Epiphany falls on January 6, 12 days following Christmas Day, and is now celebrated as the day the wise-men apparently made their appearance in Bethlehem to visit the Christ Child.  We know now that it probably wasn't until a few years later that the wise men actually came to Judea, but this is still a fun holiday to celebrate. 

 In our little homeschool classroom, I've been using Epiphany as an excuse to get back on track with school this winter.  There is an urban legend that tells us the 12 Days of Christmas song (counting the 12 days leading up to Epiphany) is really a subversive song describing basic Christian doctrine.  Whether it is or not, this is a great opportunity to teach little ones about the Christian faith.   After taking too much time off for holiday travel, I needed some inspiration.  So, here's what we've been doing:

• Studying the basic tenets of our faith using the song (and the book, above).  We've been learning that a Partridge in a Pear Tree can also symbolize Jesus on the Cross... so on and so forth.
• After we sadly demolished our Christmas tree (a New Year's tradition we have involving a bonfire), we began to create an ornament for each of the 12 Days of Christmas to hang on our little lemon tree (you could use a branch or houseplant, too).  For example, we made a little scroll with four birds on it to symbolize the 4 calling birds (symbolizing Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and their gospel stories).
• There is a ton of material online to help teach the subject of the 3 Wise Men, including the great story of Artaban, the 4th Wise-man, who was waylaid in his journey by people who needed his help.  We've been using his story to learn about ways we can help others in need.  The Russian folk tale of Babushka (top of the page) is another great story relating to the same concept. 
• This has been a great opportunity to review the numbers (forward and backward) 1-12 and practice writing them!  We're also revisiting the calendar as we count the days to Epiphany.  We could add in some astronomy, too, but I didn't get that organized this year.
• Finally, we plan to end our study of the 12 Days and Epiphany with a little 3 Kings party!  We'll dress up as kings and queens, have a picnic (indoors) of travel food like hummus, dried fruit, etc. and we'll act out the story of the wise-men greeting the Christ-child.  We'll make sparkly stars to take home as a reminder of the journey the wise-men took and we might even do a little map of our trip (if I get motivated).  The children will leave with small gifts.  

Do you celebrate Epiphany?  What does your tradition look like?  How do you extend your holidays to last a little longer?  How do you teach your children about faith?  I'd love to hear your thoughts!  Blessings~ Tori

Planet Homeschool

Somehow my homeschool classroom has become centered around science.  It must be what interests my eldest student most (the youngest being a mere 10 weeks old), since she's managed to finagle all sorts of unit studies out of me (how do strawberries grow?  Why do trees lose their leaves?  I want to learn about being an astronaut!  I want to be a doctor... etc.).  You can learn reading, writing and arithmetic using just about any subject, but it's easier to create interest around those things when the subject is fun for the student.  Recently we've been learning about space, mostly because I wanted to teach about calendars and time, so we had to understand how time works, first.  I divided the awesomely vast subject into a few days (we could have taken a whole year):

1) Planet Earth- from the inside out- rocks and minerals, continents, basic geography, etc.  Very basic overview.  We reviewed our volcano study from earlier this summer, too.

2) The planets and our solar system- names of the planets, the name origin, how planets orbit and spin, etc, time and weight, gravity, etc.

3) Stars and other bodies- primary focus on constellations and space exploration.

NASA is an amazing resource online, but not the only one, that shows actual video and interactive activities about space exploration and our solar system.  A simple google search yields many great sites for kids.

Of course, we read lots of books at our house.  So here are three of my favorite storytelling books, one for each day above, about space.  Every subject in school deserves good stories!

1. Whole World  This is a Barefoot Books rendition of the old classic song.  The focus here is on stewardship and also on the various environments of our planet.  The song is catchy, of course, and the illustrations quirky and fun.  It opens the door to all sorts of discussion about what our planet is all about and how we can practice planetary stewardship.  There is also a workbook to accompany the book, but it's a little advanced for my darling student.

2.  Star Seeker is a Barefoot Books title that truly is a journey- beautiful illustrations of the planets and a lyrical story that keeps the imagination going long after the book has ended.  The end notes have tons of scientific data about our solar system and beyond, successfully linking story to science.  Hooray! 

3.  Zoo in the Sky is a great book about the constellations.  My daughter used this book to develop her own constellation pictures, which is actually quite easy for a four-year-old since they can be fairly abstract.  Again, lots of info at the back to blend science and story.  This book has great illustrations showing actual star placement within the constellations.

Of course we read lots of non- fiction books, too, about astronauts, planets and space.  I can't wait to revisit this topic when we come back to it in a few years!  And a year is 365 days, a day is 24 hours, an hour is 60 minutes, a minute is 60 seconds, etc... what better way to learn about time than through stories?  Happy storytelling!

Do you have a Tiger inside?

Yesterday I chased my daughter around the house, trying to trap her under a plastic laundry basket.  She insisted that she was a tiger who needed to be caged.  The growling, showing of claws and pouncing verified her identity.  She was clearly seeking a safe place to feel "tiger-ish," but I don't want her to be caged... I want her to be free.  How to do I teach my daughter that her "tiger" feelings are ok? 

I've been blessed with a kid who has a lot of feelings.  Or that's how we describe it.  Some would say she's also a "sensitive" child.  This means we encounter lots of tantrums, some harsh words and actions that require tough consequences, and an overabundance of goofy fun!  Knowing that soon she'll be sharing her life with a baby sister, we've been encountering more than the usual outbursts from our deep feeler.  We've just finished a little homeschooling unit about Fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) in which we also discussed trees, family trees and lots of other fun stuff.  Our last "fruit" we studied was "self-control." 

Here are some things I used to discuss self-control with my almost-four-year-old:

• In preparation I found this great behavior template from the NASP (National Association of School Psychologists) about teaching young children self-control that helped me think about what exactly I wanted to teach and how I would teach it.
• We listened to The Music Machine song about self-control.  We've been adding a new song for each "fruit" and discussing what they mean.
• We read the book "Emily's Tiger" by Miriam Latimer.  This is a great Barefoot Book about learning self-control and understanding your feelings before they control you!  We talked about some of the coping skills Emily's grandmother helped her learn.  And she saw that there are safe people in your life who want to help you learn to cope.  Another great book about self-control is "Pinkalicious" by Elizabeth and Victoria Kann (not a Barefoot Book).  It's more about controlling your desires than your feelings, but still great.  We also discussed Adam and Eve in the garden and their lack of self-control when faced with temptation.
• I helped my daughter make little monster faces, each expressing different feelings.  We talked about what her body feels like when she's feeling these different things and then we hung them up on the back of her door in her room.  When I send her to her room to take some space (not a time-out- it's not a punishment, just a chance for her to calm down), she can look at her monsters and decide how she's feeling (happy, sad, angry, lonely, etc.).  Then we can discuss what happened with a better point of reference.
• Of course we did actual school work!   Careful cutting and pasting, working with her writing and reading, and math skills all require great self-control and discipline.

How do you handle the issue of self-control in your family?  I'd love to hear more ideas, as I'm sure the topic is far from exhausted in our house!

"O" is for Octopus

This week we embark on the adventure the letter "O!"  In my homeschool, we usually do two letters a week (mostly as a review for my pre-reader).  I enjoy picking out special books for the letter of the day and hiding them until the day they are to be unveiled.  This Wednesday we will be cutting out a capital "O" and small "o" to glue on a page, then we add stickers, glue pictures and write the words that we can think of that start with "o."  Then we will learn about Octopuses and the Ocean in general as well as owls and the color orange.  We will make yarn octopuses as well as doing some pre-writing activities (dot-to-dot, this week).  There is a plethora of great resources online for such things, but nothing beats a good book in the hand.

Along with few great books I ordered from the library, and one or two I had on hand (Owl Moon, of course!), I also plan to incorporate Barefoot Books' brand new Octopus Opposites.  Barefoot Books always does such a great job of introducing educational themes in a creative way.  I'm grateful to be part of such a great company!  Hey- you can be, too!  Right now is a great time to join us as an Ambassador.  Sell books, buy them for yourself at a discount, and make a little cash on the side.  Or forge ahead into a business that can supplement your family's income.  It costs zero dollars to sign up as an Ambassador- this company allows you to invest, grow and build your business at whatever pace feels right for you.  Click on the banner, below to find out more.  Join my team and enjoy all the benefits of living Barefoot with me by your side!
 

Jumping into Fall with a Little Leap Forward!

I just received a box of Barefoot Books in the mail...this sentence makes me happy in so many ways. Beyond the obvious, that I love books, I'm also really excited about what Barefoot Books can mean to our children and our communities. Living Barefoot is about so much more than buying or selling books. Living Barefoot can also mean encouraging a budding poet or artist, not just in our children, but within ourselves. Our new chapter book in the young fiction category is a read that will inspire musicians, artists and cultural revolutionaries, alike. Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beijing is about a young boy growing up during the cultural revolution when it must have felt that the world had turned upside down. The New York Times Sunday Book Review did the book justice by recognizing "how Little Leap Forward bears witness with the eye of a poet, the ear of a musician and the transformative imagi­nation of a storyteller."

This book is more memoir than fiction, and author and musician, Guo Yue, tells a beautiful story of a young musician feeling his way through a tumultuous cultural song.

Barefoot Books continues to stun me with it's cultural awareness, environmental consciousness, and an inexorable eye towards what children love, and always within the framework of amazing art and well-told story. As always, you can find these books and much more on our website.

Here's a video of Guo Yue reading an excerpt of the book and talking a little more about his childhood. Enjoy!

Once upon a time...

Once upon a time there was a girl who kept a flashlight under her pillow. Once upon a time there was a boy who had a fort, stocked with his favorite books. Once upon a time you had a story, too. Take a moment to watch this introduction to Barefoot Books and see if your story is a Barefoot story. Maybe you'll remember the feeling of grass between your toes or bark against your feet. Maybe you'll start keeping a flashlight under your pillow, again. Maybe you'll begin to see your own children build forts of pillows and blankets as your tv becomes dusty and outdated. Dream a Barefoot dream.