Robbie and I were both anxious to move on from all the Valentine's Day stuff, so we were super excited to bring out the first of the St. Patrick's Day items.
St. Patrick's Day Sensory Bin and More!
Robbie and I were both anxious to move on from all the Valentine's Day stuff, so we were super excited to bring out the first of the St. Patrick's Day items.
Sensory and Discovery Bins
This week, I wanted to share some of my favorite links for gathering ideas for sensory bins (and so much more, but we'll focus on the bins today).
Counting Coconuts
No Time for Flashcards
1+1+1=1
Play Create Explore
Tactile Toddler
My Obstacle Course
I Can Teach My Child
These are pretty cool posts as well:
149 Sensory Bin Ideas @ Living and Learning
Our Worldwide Classroom
See our sensory bins
Valentine's Sensory Bin
I only made a small bin for Valentine's play. Robbie isn't crazy about hearts and pink stuff, so I didn't want to go overboard. Plus, I still haven't figured out if he really likes these or not.
All items came from the Dollar Tree.
The base material is made up of small white decorative stones. They have a slightly rough texture and seem to be his favorite item in the bin so far. I also included a few closed heart ball mazes (the kind where you tilt the item to move the ball through the maze). He's enjoying these as well. The white heart containers came from the wedding favors section. I thought the clear decorative stones looked like diamonds. I also put a few Valentine's erasers in for good measure.
He also has a set of clear plastic tongs (also from the wedding section) and an ice cube tray for sorting. I keep the tray on the shelf below his sensory table.
He seems to like it, but he really doesn't spend much time with these bins. I really like having them around for him, though.
See our other sensory bins
Snow and Ice Sensory Bin
I tried to keep the items either white, silver or clear. I also dripped white school glue down the actual bin itself to simulate icicles (it looks better in person). I will be adding to and taking from this bin until he is bored with it. He doesn't play with these all the time, but he does enjoy exploring them.
Contents:
White gift basket shred (Dollar Tree)
Clear glass "rocks" (Dollar Tree)
Styrofoam balls to build snowmen (Dollar Tree)
Hot glue sticks
Imaginext penguins
Silver glitter ball ornaments
Clear tongs, spoons and a glass (Dollar Tree)
See our other sensory bins
Weekly Wrap-Up
Robbie has been up off and on all night with a fever that started last evening, so I've decided (while he's sleeping a bit) to do a quick post this week.
This week was mostly play-based. He loves his new math printables (even though ours are hand-drawn onto construction paper since we don't currently have a printer).
Here are a few photos from this past week:
He worked every puzzle in his Mighty Mind set...
He cut out the parts to make a pumpkin for our "Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater" memory work...
His daddy finally let him play pool with "those sticks"...
He had lots of quality LEGO time...
He is REALLY enjoying his new Hot Wheels Custom Motors Batmobile. The parts are interchangeable and he loves to construct, deconstruct and reconstruct the many variations. I think there may be at least one more of these Custom Motors sets in somebody's stocking this year...
Yesterday, he insisted on wearing this...
I also did a post earlier on how we're trying to make life and school more tolerable in the basement. You can find it here.
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Our other Preschool Updates
Our other Weekly Wrap-Ups
If you'd like to see how other parents are educating their preschoolers, visit the Preschool Corner.
This post is also linked up at Weekly Wrap Up (Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers). Please visit them for more weekly homeschool reports.
Life in the Basement...
I though I'd post a few pics of the (tiny bit of) progress I've made this week on our living space. While we are extremely grateful to RockerDad's cousin for his hospitality, living in an unfinished basement surrounded by horror movie memorabilia is not always inspiring.
Here is a photo of our little area not long after we arrived (please ignore Robbie's undies and jammies on the bed, he was in the shower and I had just laid them out for him):
This is how it looks now. I know it's still not great, but I think it's an improvement:
There is a small bar with two stools in our area, but this was how it looked until the other day:
Now, it is our computer/school/whatever area. I even found an unused drywall mud tray in the basement to hold our mail and such. The trivet (or whatever that circular thing is) holds electronic whatnots (cell phones, mp3 players, frequently used charging cables, etc.). You can also see a bit of our entertainment center (lol). Again, it's not ideal, but it's better:
I borrowed this unused shelf from another part of the basement and now we have a tiny little manipulative shelf:
This old Easter basket (also from the basement) is now Robbie's book basket. I even managed to clean up this old end table and found a chair to place beside it. Presto! A reading nook!
Okay, so it is what it is... an unfinished basement. It is a bit easier to be here now. I hope that the next time I post about organizing and such that it's from our very own place!
Here is a photo of our little area not long after we arrived (please ignore Robbie's undies and jammies on the bed, he was in the shower and I had just laid them out for him):
This is how it looks now. I know it's still not great, but I think it's an improvement:
There is a small bar with two stools in our area, but this was how it looked until the other day:
Now, it is our computer/school/whatever area. I even found an unused drywall mud tray in the basement to hold our mail and such. The trivet (or whatever that circular thing is) holds electronic whatnots (cell phones, mp3 players, frequently used charging cables, etc.). You can also see a bit of our entertainment center (lol). Again, it's not ideal, but it's better:
I borrowed this unused shelf from another part of the basement and now we have a tiny little manipulative shelf:
This old Easter basket (also from the basement) is now Robbie's book basket. I even managed to clean up this old end table and found a chair to place beside it. Presto! A reading nook!
Okay, so it is what it is... an unfinished basement. It is a bit easier to be here now. I hope that the next time I post about organizing and such that it's from our very own place!
Number Bonds and Quantity Identification Printables
We're using sheets like these for our Quantity Identification activities. In the beginning, I will place 1-3 objects on the rectangle (truck, leaf, etc) and Robbie will either match the quantity with the objects, the corresponding number card, tally sticks, abacus, etc. without counting (I will allow counting, but I try to discourage it so that he can learn to recognize the quantities instead of always relying on counting). I gradually increase the max quantity by 1. I have made a few variations so that these can easily be printed and used throughout the year.
Weekly Wrap-Up
I know, it's been a while since I've posted. So much has happened, yet not much has changed.. here's a quick rundown... RockerDad found a job here in IL, but we're still living in the basement of one of his cousins. We're trying to save money to move out, but it's a tough and slow process. It's been rough to keep up our schooling (mostly because I believe that I'm battling a minor depression, but I'm working through that).
I haven't been great about taking photos (even when we actually do things), so I apologize for such a short update covering such a long period of time.
Pre-READING
Robbie has been sailing through his Reading Eggs lessons. He has also been steadily progressing through Phonics Pathways in two 5 minute sessions per day. Although I'm not concerned with his reading abilities at this age, his confidence and attention span are both growing rapidly.
Pre-WRITING
He completed two Kumon workbooks (the last lessons of his Tracing book and all 80 pages of his mazes book) in 3 days. I have yet to get him some new books, but I will soon since he keeps asking for them. He has also been working on his cutting skills.
He's been enjoying his Handwriting Without Tears slate. He decided to write the letters of his name one at a time one day. He actually asked me to grab the camera and take pictures.. lol.
Pre-MATH
We're continuing to use the methods outlined in Activities for the AL Abacus as the basis for our math activities. I'm still waffling over whether we'll use the full Rightstart Mathematics program in the future, but we are loving the way things are presented.
Here is a shot (another photograph request from Robbie) of his completed "stairs" on his abacus. (He has recently taken a keen interest in math over reading, so we've been having lots of fun with this.)
I also made these sheets (which need page protectors... mental note) for matching quantities in various forms.
Robbie has been helping out more and more with household chores. He doesn't have any regular duties yet, but I think they're coming soon.
I snapped a quick photo of Robbie washing the kitchen table.
...watching his new Toy Story 3 movie with his toys...
...riding in a wagon with his cousin, Meghan, while cousin Abby pulls them up and down great-grandma's driveway on Halloween...
...posing with the Peanuts crew at Bass Pro Shop...
...trampoline time with Daddy...
...working his upper body at the playground...
I guess the fact that all of his dress-up costumes are in storage in Tennessee won't stop him from being Batman... (note the Batman boxer briefs over his Speed Racer pajamas..)
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Our other Preschool Updates
Our other Weekly Wrap-Ups
If you'd like to see how other parents are educating their preschoolers, visit the Preschool Corner.
This post is also linked up at Weekly Wrap Up (Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers). Please visit them for more weekly homeschool reports.
Weekly Wrap-Up
Wow, our new lifestyle is a big, annoying adjustment. We did manage, however, to fit some learning in this week.
Pre-READING
He's been reading for 5-10 minutes daily from Phonics Pathways and completing a page or two of Explode the Code as well (we do the writing portions orally).
Pre-WRITING
He worked through some of his Handwriting Without Tears Pre-K as well as his Kumon Tracing and Coloring books.
Pre-MATH
He did quite a few pages in both his Singapore Essential Kindergarten Math and his Horizons K Math books. He's starting to count money in Horizons and he likes that. Next week, we'll resume our Activities for the AL Abacus. (We did some informal abacus activities this week.)
These are the rocks he collected. He's been sorting, examining and sequencing these (sort of a dual science/math photo).
Trio Block tower just before leaving Tennessee
Some playground fun with Daddy
Posing beside one of his great-grandma's pumpkins..
Kennedy Park (Kenosha, WI)
The Golden Pyramid House (Wadsworth, IL)
Illinois Beach State Park (Zion, IL)
Playing his geoboard harp for me...
Playing with Daddy at Lake Michigan...
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Tot School Homepage
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If you'd like to see how other parents are educating their preschoolers, visit the Preschool Corner.
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