Language and History Books

My books from Book Depository arrived yesterday. We were able to work on some grammar lessons using First Language Lessons Vol 1.  I have heard good reviews about this book (and the series) so I’m giving it a try.  The tools used in the book are memory work, copywork, narration and grammar (leading to a Charlotte Mason’s principles).   I observed the  A LOT of repetitions though. But that’s fine with me. I have nothing against that technique worked for me, especially with mathematics.  In case its too much for my son to handle I’ll just skip some pages LOL.

For our history, I got The Story of the World Vol 1.  I love world history and I can’t wait to use this with Mavi.  I bought a hardcopy of the book but purchased a PDF version of the activity book so I can reuse it with Vito.

Will update more on this as we progress. Happy Wednesday!

Teaching Addition within 10

Here’s a little recap of what Mavi has learned of our Math lessons for the past weeks.  And  the best part of it is that Mavi has learned how to do mental calculations! Yehey!  I’m so happy that he has discovered this all by himself.  He’s like “I’m using my brains to count Mom”.

We are using Singapore Math workbooks, and we use manipulates as well.  Read here if you want to know how we integrated workbooks and manipulatives. We’ve been using manipulatives for some time (Montessori and other learning materials) and now that he is older, we’re going to use less of these. 

Anyway, here’s what he has learned so far:

Ways to Add

• Number Bonds. We’ve studied number bonds before so it was easy for Mavi to apply his knowledge once we’ve touched Addition.  You can also get a free NUMBER BOND ACTIVITY SHEETS by clicking this link.

• By counting on from the greater number.  This is something new for Mavi.  I told him it’s a trick that he can use to add numbers.  He liked it and he’s been using it ever since. 

Making Addition Stories

Another part of the lesson that Mavi really really love doing was making stories! Favourite characters in his stories were his classmates and the dinosaurs lol.  This is an introductory part for problem solving which we will be doing as we progress.

Next would be subraction. I wonder if he will like it in the same way he did in addition.

Math Curriculum 2014-2015

Sharing Mavi’s Math curriculum for this school year.  In our home math is done as a supplemental study after school.  We don’t exactly do it everyday but I have weekly goals for each scope noand I am making that Mavi accomplish that task per week.  This post also serves as a reminder for me, in case I will look back 5 years from now for Vito’s Math curriculum as well :D

We are still using our Montessori Math materials and still adapting the philosophy.  But I just feel that need that Mavi needs to more forward.  As what Susan Stephenson said in her book Child of the World

“This child nearing the age of six or seven is passing beyond what is known as the sensory-motor developmental stage, when movement and exploration through the senses is a basic need in all learning.  Now he will gradually move to a cerebral exploration, giving up the manipulative materials according to his personal timetable. The years 6-12 are relatively stable, and the main academic work can now be done.”

With Math, I allow Mavi to use manipulative materials (Montessori and other learning materials) if he wishes to.  But I want him to learn how to do mental counting as well. 

• Number Patterns
• Number Bonds
• Addition within 10

• Subtraction within 10
• Shapes and Patterns
• Ordinal Numbers and Position
• Number to 20
• Addition and Subtraction within 20
• Length
• Mass
• Graphs
• Number to 40
• Multiplication
• Division
• Time
• Number to 100
• Money

If you have been following my blog, you know that we’ve done some of it in the past few years though play.  Right now, we’re working on it with workbooks and lots of additional activity sheets(homemade).  

So in times that we don’t work on Geography and Science, Mavi and I are definitely working on serious Math. Oh and yes, we’re using Singapore Maths… literally :D  I ordered a few workbooks used by students in Singapore from Popular Bookstore. Remember that we used to life there so I’m a little bit aware of what kind of books to purchase. And I have relatives living there as well.

Will post more as progress.

Bright Beaming Toddler Week 2

Mavi is 16 months old.

Theme: Jungle| Vocabulary: Vines| Color: Green| Letter: B | Number: 2 |Nursery Rhyme: The Little Nut Tree

 

MONDAY

Theme: Jungle
Vocabulary Word: Vines
The theme for this week is Jungle and the vocabulary is Vines. I introduced to  him the theme by showing pictures of jungles and vines, read a book related to the theme, sing songs and do some activities related to the theme.  Per usual, Mavi immediately got excited seeing the pictures.  He pointed out to the written words and tried identifying the letters all by himself.  It's just confusing to teach him the vines versus the jungle by just looking at the pictures  because I mistakenly printed out similar pictures of jungle and vines, plus they're all green!  I should have printed out a more discreet picture of the vines.

Anyway, he can properly say "vines".. as in "vayyynnnns" but he didn't manage to say jungle correctly, he's version was "dader".

Months ago, husband and I were able to buy the book "Just Like Me".  It was on sale, so instead of 1k rsd, we bought it for 500rsd only.  I used this book as my tool of teaching him the Jungle.  It's about an armadillo, lost in the forest and is looking for something that looks like him.  He likes this because it's a look and feel book and he loves to rub his fingers on the photos' surfaces.

 

TUESDAY

Shape: Green
Up until now, I find it difficult to teach Mavi about colors.  I don't know if he can understand it yet because he doesn't respond that much . I mean, he can point at the colors I'm asking him first, then the second time around, he will miss out.

To introduce him to the color green this week, I first tried to show him my cut-out of leaves printed in green art paper.  Then I started to put glue into it and demonstrated to him the proper way of putting it in the paper.  But he wasn't interested on the leaf or on the gluing activity.  Instead, he finds the glue stick more fascinating and he  took it away from me.  He played it for the rest of the day, and gets mad if I ask for it.

When he was already calm, I attempted again on teaching him the green color by showing the square shape that we have on our previous lesson.  When I have his attention, I showed him the green colored pen, the green colored-crayola stamps and the green crayon.  I told him "Mommy will color the square GREEEEN".  Then I started putting stamps on the square and shaded it with a green crayon. Enticed, he took the stamp from me and started tapping the paper with the stamp.  Sadly, the stamp was too small, I expected that it would produce a larger and more visible stamp, but it's too small and so light that Mavi can't barely see the effect if he taps the paper with the stamp.  When he was tired, he took the crayon and started doodling on the square.. and on the table as well.

This is what he loves to do most, removing the cap from the pen or glue stick and putting it back again.  He keeps doing it again and again, somewhat fascinated and that he can do it by himself.  I allowed him to do it anyway, so he can practice his hand and eye coordination.  I tell you, he's really good at it.

We also did "find a green color object" activity.  We looked around the house for toys and objects that's colored green.  Everytime we see one, I would say "green car", "green cup" etc.  Then we collected those objects and put it in the paperbag.  Since he likes car, I also cut out  square shapes from a piece of green art paper and constructed a car.  He doesn't like pasting the squares on the paper, but he loves the end product... green car.  Even if I use stickers, he doesn't know how to paste the on a surface yet. . Hmmm, I wonder why.  And I wonder how I  can teach him to do that.

Wednesday

Letter: B

Letter B was introduced and I didn't print the letter, I just wrote it and made him trace the letter with his finger.  He already knows the letter so teaching him was not that difficult. Same thing as letter A, he matched the right hole for the letter B by successfully dropping the letter B on it.

Since we still got enough time, we read his favorite Nursery Rhymes book and ask him to identify the letter B on the writings.  So far, he's doing well with the letters because he didn't miss any.

Thursday

Number: 2
As I mentioned earlier, to prepare for this lesson, I printed out two sets of matching frogs and clover leaf pictures on a piece of green colored art paper.  I put numbers 1 and 2 at the center of the picture.  These actually have dual purpose, first that is for counting, and then the other for our matching game.

When I showed it to him, he was amused.  I showed to him the frog in sequence, "1 frog", "2 frogs"... "1, 2". In effect, he keeps on pointing at the numbers and saying it out loud. After I while, I tried showing to him that we can match the two items.  I demonstrated this by placing the two frogs together at one side of the table and the clovers on the other side.  Unfortunately, he couldn't get the idea.  This is the first time he encountered a matching game so I know that he couldn't grasp the thought at first.  I kept on pairing the frogs and the clovers... but he just grabbed the frog and run away shouting "2!" "2!".

That afternoon, after his nap time, we draw the number 2 on a piece of paper.  I let him held the colored pencil and moved his hand to draw the number 2.  Then I cut out small squares on a piece of green sticker and instructed him to paste it on the paper below the number.  I peeled the sticker; put it on his finger indicating that he should paste it on the paper.  I guided his fingers while he put the sticker, and then we counted "1 square", and then followed by the second square "2 squares".  When we were on our last number 2, he immediately run to his other days and doesn't want to do the counting activity.  He definitely doesn't like the sticking activity and he still has difficulty in pasting the stickers.

 

Friday

Nursery Rhyme: The Little Nut tree
I posted the rhyme on our learning wall, and I kept on reciting it to him every time he plays around the house.  He keeps on pointing to the tree picture that I put beside the poem.  He's not much into the poem, even on the previous poems that we've been reading.  I think the reason for this is that there's not much picture or colors on the printouts that made.  Mavi usually prefers a book and sad to say, English books are scarce in this country :-).

We didn't do any motor skill today for I was not feeling well. Mavi just spent the day doing free-play.  Still, I wasn't able to plan for motor skills activity because I didn't have the time to prepare.  Hopefully by next week, I will be in the mood to do some fun activity with him.

The Geological Times

 

By now, you all know that my son is into history … the beginning of times.  I’m thinking of feeding this current interest and I find myself introducing topics which are unplanned.

I’m so thankful that I purchase The Universe Series (Trilogy) by Jennifer Morgan.  This book series tells the story of time, starting from the big bang theory (cosmology).. followed by the first animals and dinosaurs and the last book is about how the mammals that survived morphed into human beings.  The book is engaging (my son is only 6!) yet he reads this book on his own.   Amazing amazing book. All those science concept were explained in such a way that little fellows can understand as well. 

I got my books from Book Depository.  I find that it is much cheaper there, and ships for free worldwide.  The books are:

• Born with a Bang
• From Lava to Life
• Mammas who Morph

So we used these books to study the geological times.  We read them over and over, noted the import events and arranged them according to the period in time.

  

Information about the pictures:

HADEAN,ARCHEAN, PROTOZOIC--I used my felt planets to represent the events of the formation of the solar system (moon, planets, stars)

PALEOZOIC (early life) –- we placed Dimetrodon, appearance of first insects, amphibians, rocks

MESOZOIC –- time of the dinosaurs

CENOZOIC – evolution of humans

 

How I wish I have the Safari Toob Cambria Life and Safari Toob Prehistoric Life to make our time line much more interesting.  Maybe in another, if I have the budget :)

 

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Non-Toxic Finger Paint for Babies

I got this from a friend and this mixture is very very simple!

Mixing a plain yogurt and food coloring (I used a small amount of organic food coloring) you will produce a yummy finger paint for little babies! The activity is intended for sensorial play and I was not encouraging him to taste or eat the yogurt.  But you know that at this age, babies mouth anything.

And the good thing about it is that big brother can join as well!  And they play with it for 30 minutes (I was able to wash dishes worry free)  Two kids (and a Mommy) happy with one activity. How cool is that?

 

The Beginnings

Hi everyone! As promised, I am sharing with you the early childhood activities I gave to Mavi when he was about 1+yrs old.  We started at 14 months and I was just giving him random activities I know of. It was then around 16 or 18 months that I learned about the importance of fine motor skills which they will eventually need in their preschool years and beyond.  So I made some research and started our journey in “home” schooling.

Reading Books

Now this is what we do since he was months old.  At first, we started with books for babies… simple stories, books with large pictures to capture his attention. 

Pre-writing Skills

Very basic activity but very important.  This will introduce them to writing, papers and pens.  I bought Crayolo jumbo for him for this.  Because I started Mavi early on writing, I never had problems with him when it comes to proper holding of a pencil/pen.

    

Transferring/Sorting

Just an introductory to sorting and colors and at the same time a practice grasping.  We are using an ice tray and M&M’s blue and yellow chocolate :)

   

Puzzles

Who doesn’t like puzzles? Don’t expect your child will immediately figure out this one or fell in love with it.  Mavi doesn’t know how to do with it at first.  He just loves to hold the puzzle pieces and admiring the pictures. 

Hand and Eye Coordination

This is a simple activity of dropping the M&M’s on a hole (we’re using a milk container).  I love watching him concentrate!

 

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Integrating Workbooks and Hands-On Materials

With math, I use workbooks and Math Montessori Album which I purchased from KHT Montessori. In this post, I will show you how we integrate workbooks and Montessori Math.

So we start with     a workbook. As you can see we are currently reviewing the place value. Using the book, we discuss this a little bit, then close the book and prepare our Montessori materials for a hands-on activity.

In Montessori, there are a number of ways on how to present place value. I have talked about this before using the Golden Beads. This time, we used the Stamp Game tiles.  Here's my presentation of hundreds, tens and ones. Each digit can range from 0 to 9.

Then I set up an activity for Mavi to see if he was able to grasp the concept.  I don't want to overwhelm him so we only worked up to tens. The number tiles you see here is from our Hundred Boards.

After the hands-on activities and when he's ready we work on the workbooks. Adding hands-on activities to textbooks/workbooks/activity sheets makes the learning less tedious and more exciting for little fellows. So either way, workbooks or hands-on activities you'll be fine.

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Learning About Southeast Asia

Here’s a summary of activities for learning Southeast Asia.

Map and Flags 

Familiarization of the Southeast Asia Map and identification of the countries.

Materials: 

• Asia in a Nutshell
• Flags of Asia Pack (Nomenclature and Pin Flags)

Lego Play

Son is obsessed with Lego, so I just have to use to my advantage heehee.  Here we are making flags of some countries in Southeast Asia.  Typically we paint or draw them, but they’re even more beautiful when you make them with Legos!

Ah and my favourite of all :)

It’s always a struggle to get things done when you Vito around LOL

People, Culture, Lifestyle

We used my homemade materials for this and some books that we owned to explore facts on Southeast Asia.

Materials:

• Asia in a Nutshell
• Major Rivers Around the World

Here we read a book about the great rivers in Asia.

  

Very helpful fact cards.  Mavi learned a lot from this one, especially about the tsunamis in Indonesia, rice paddies and fruits unique to Southeast Asia.

                 

Philippine flag, a model of Philippine jeepney, a model of bangka (fishing boat in the Philippines) and Philippine Peso play money.  These were sent to us by my sister-in-law. And the books which I purchased from the Philippines a long long time ago. 

                

Crafts and other Materials

We made a model of Bahay Kubo!  Read about it here. Surprisingly, I’ve been receiving request as well to post the details of how we made it.  I’ll try my best to post it as soon as possible.  

  

My sister in law gave us a wonderful collection of Philippine-related materials!

            

Thank you so much for taking time to view this post. Our next stop is East Asia!

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Home + School = Afterschool!