Free Printable (Number Recognition)

Hi guys! Today I wanted to share with you a fun free printable. This can be used with older toddlers and preschoolers.

Material:

• Printable (You can find it at the end of this post)
• Laminating machine
• Scissors
• Crayons

Learning objectives:

• Number recogniton
• Handwriting practice
• color recognition

Print all the pages and laminate the number cards.I laminated my number cards so that I could reuse them but it is optional. Give your child the tracing worksheet and the number cards. Your child will pick one number,  find it on the tracing worksheet, and trace it the same color as the number on the card.

 Click on the image above to download. 

Linked up with:
Practical Monday
Social Butterfly Sundays


Enjoy,

6 Dice Activities for Preschoolers

Sometimes as adults, we tend to over think teaching math to preschoolers. But, mathematical thinking and basic math concepts can be taught using fun hands on activities. Today I wanted to share with you 6 dice games that you can play with your preschooler;


1. Number Hunt:

This is a fun game to help your preschooler with number recognition. What you need to play this game is-dice, magnetic numbers, and a container to place the numbers in. Have your child roll the dice, count the number of dots and find the corresponding number on the tray and put it in the cup. It's easy and really fun :).

2. Roll and Graph

This next dice game is an introduction to graphing. What you need to play this game is graphing printable and dice. Have your child roll the dice, count the number and put a tally mark on the corresponding number. Keep playing till all the spaces are filled up.

3. Roll and Cover:

This next game is a fun roll and cover activity. Draw a picture of something it can be a ball, robot, tree or just write the numbers all over the page. Have your child roll the dice and cover the corresponding number. Use different colors to make it more fun.

4. Roll and Tally

This next game is an introduction to tally marks. If you have an older preschooler and your looking for more of a challenging activity give this one a try. What you will need-a dice of course and some Popsicle sticks. At first you might want to demonstrate for your child and once they get the hang of it they can take over. Have your child roll the dice, count and make that many tally marks.

5. "Less than, greater than"

This is another game for those older preschoolers that need more of a challenge. What you will need-two dice and less than, greater than symbols. Have your child roll the two dice, they can put the number in any order. Then have them decided whether the number is greater/less than or equal.

6. Roll and Squish:

This last game involves play dough. What preschooler doesn't love play dough? Roll small balls out of the play dough, have your child roll the dice and squish that many play dough balls. This one is a lot of fun.

Here's a round up of all the games.

That's it! I hope you and your preschooler enjoy these games. Unit next time :).

Today I am linking up with: Montessori Monday,/ Practical Monday,/ Preschool and Kindergarten Community,/
Tot School Gathering Place 
A little Bird Told Me Linky 

How I use a Checklist In My Homeschool

Since it's homeschool planning and curriculum purchasing season, I thought I would share how we use a checklist system to keep the boys and me on track. I did a full post on how I plan my week so, if you would like to check that out you can go here. 

I use this checklist system for two main reasons:

1. To help the boys stay on track
2. To let them know when school is over.

It has helped to greatly reduce the "mom, when is school over?" or "how much more?" The questions I am sure we homeschool mom's are familiar with.

I use a simple spiral notebook and some colorful highlighters just to make it more fun.

What goes in the notebook

  

Inside the notebook I have two sections one for independent work and one for what I teach I call it "mommy teaches." Their independent work is work that they can do on their own with little to no help from me. Things like grammar, handwriting, math, reading comprehension, vocabulary, and independent reading. This does not mean that they cannot come to me with questions or help. The second section is what I teach them. Things like Spelling, Phonics, Science, Geography, History, etc. 

Since I teach both boys and have to divide up my time, having the two sections separated allows me to say "go do your independent work, well I teach your brother spelling." Without having to list you can do this or this or this. They know exactly what they can do.

Once they complete one thing they cross it off and move on to the next thing. At the beginning of the year I allow them to pick out their notebooks and what color highlighters they want. This just allows them to have a say in their schooling and allows them to look forward to using their notebooks. 

Where I keep their notebooks

I keep their notebooks in the same spot so that we don't ever misplace them. This also helps to set a routine for using the notebooks. When we are ready to start school they know to go straight to their notebooks and everything they need to know is in there.

This has simplified my planning and our homeschool daily routine. Don't get me wrong my kids still complain and ask what are we doing next. But instead of telling them go do this, I can simply say go get your notebook and you'll know what to do. 

I hope this post was helpful and if you have any questions let me know. 

Related Post:

Homeschool Room Tour

Weekly Wrap Up Post

A Day in the Life

Linked up with:
Practical Monday

Weekly Wrap-Up

Until next time :)

DIY Scratch Paper Art

Hi guys! Today I wanted to share with you a really fun and colorful project the boys and I worked on. I've seen different types of scratch paper art and I knew it was something the boys would enjoy. This project is really simple and fun. The only down side is the waiting for the paint to dry but, all good things are worth waiting for right?

Supplies you will need:

1. Cardstock
2. Oil pastel
3. black paint
4.  Soap
5. and something to scratch the paper with. We used a toothpick but you can use anything a pencil, toothpick, fork,etc.

I give the boys each a piece of card stock. I cut them to the size of an index card just so that it would be easy to color. You can use any size you would like. The boys colored the card stock with oil pastels making sure to fill the entire page.

 I mixed together a small amount of soap and black paint. The soap just helps the paint go on a lot smoother. The boys painted their paper and we let it dry and covered it with a second coat of paint.

We set a timer for the paint to dry.

 After patiently waiting the paint finally dried. Now for the fun part of the project SCRATCH!

I didn't give them any instruction on what to draw I just left it up to them and they had a blast scratching away.

Linked up with:

Create it Thursday
After School Linky 
A Little Bird Told Me Linky 
Tot-School Gathering Place 
Preschool and Kindergarten Community Link Up 
Practical Mondays 
Montessori Monday 
Everything Early Childhood 

Who's the Greatest? Place Value Card Game

We've been doing a lot of math review with both boys. We have about a week left of school and we are so excited!!!! This morning we reviewed place value with a fun game called "Who's the Greatest?"

We practiced the thousands place but this game can be easily modified by using more or less cards to practice hundreds or tens place.

I've included a pdf of instructions on how to play the game and a recording sheet. I used the recording sheet to give them practice on how to write the standard, expanded and word form of each number. You can download worksheet at the end of this post.

This was a really fun game and gave the boys lots of hands on practice with this skill. I hope you enjoy the game :).

Click on the image to download.

Linked up with:

Create It Thursday
Practical Monday 
After School Linky

2016-2017 Read Aloud List

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Hi guys! Today I wanted to share with you our homeschool read aloud list for the 2016-2017 school year. These books aren't the only ones we will be reading, we will read lots of picture books and what ever else interest my kids. But having a list just gives me a starting point.

I put together a list of 13 books that I love and can't wait to share with my boys. I hope that you find this list helpful and please let me know if there are any books you've enjoyed reading.

1.Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

2.Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry

3. Tales from the Odyssey Part 1 and 2 Mary Pope Osborne

 

4. Poppy by Avi

5. Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo 

 

6.Owls in the Family by Farley Mowat

7.The Last of the Whangdoodles by Julie Andrew

8.Ida B by Kathrine Hannigan

9. Capyboppy By Bill Peet

10.The Children of Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren

11.The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

12. Nim's Island by Wendy Orr

That's it for our read aloud list. I can't wait to read these books to the boys! Do you have any books you and your kids love, please share with us :).

Linked up with:

Literacy Monday
Preschool and Kindergarten Community Link Up
Montessori Monday