Showing posts with label Unit studies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Unit studies. Show all posts

October 30, 2014

I am so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers

I have always thought of summer as my favorite season, because the beach is my absolute favorite place to be. I have to admit as I have matured and had kids I have grown fonder of the beauty of autumn. It is a time I find myself pulled back into my love for nature and all of the amazing things surrounding us. Our love of autumn runs deep, so grab yourself some hot cider and stay awhile. We have so much to share. 


We love to make natural creations outside. Little B and Bells created this nature camp (their sweet imaginations).


You can't beat nature walks in the fall with the whole family.


We have spent several days enjoying Sweet Smelling Natural Cinnamon Play dough 



Tot schooling with pumpkins is definitely fun. If you are interested in the printables they can be found here.




Fun at the Farm Stands. A great hands on sensory and learning experience.



Pumpkin Patch Picking



I hope all children have a love for autumn. 


In our house we try to remember "never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed." 
- Maria Montessori

That is why I decided it was the perfect time for a washing station.


Nothing Fancy just good old fashioned markers, glue and glitter. It was perfect! 



A simple yet lovely autumn nature table.


The bowl is filled with daily treasures that the children find on our nature walk. We also have a huge basket on our porch filled with acorns, pinecones, leaves, and sticks.  



Our Play Space is set up for autumn. 


I hope you enjoyed your glimpse into our amazing autumn days. We always love having you and hope you come back soon.

October’s Party

October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came—
The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,
And leaves of every name.
The Sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand,
Miss Weather led the dancing,
Professor Wind the band.

The Chestnuts came in yellow,
The Oaks in crimson dressed;
The lovely Misses Maple
In scarlet looked their best;
All balanced to their partners,
And gaily fluttered by;
The sight was like a rainbow
New fallen from the sky.

Then, in the rustic hollow,
At hide-and-seek they played,
The party closed at sundown,
And everybody stayed.
Professor Wind played louder;
They flew along the ground;
And then the party ended
In jolly "hands around."


~George Cooper

Interested in our beautiful playstands :) They can be found at Elves and Angels

The lovely Playsilks you see and beautiful rainbow silk scape is from Sarah's Silks

I can't imagine our house without them. 


Have a wonderful autumn.

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for daily pictures, activities, inspiration. Or just to chat. See you soon.



October 28, 2014

Montessori Inspired I Spy Continents

If you've been here for awhile you know that we LOVE geography. We have traveled through Asia, braved Antarctica and took a fabulous run through Australia with The Pumpkin Runner and Little Passports. Now we are busy visiting Europe. With all this traveling, I always try to come up with fun educational ways to include the younger children. Today I'm sharing our icy I Spy Continents Activity. We are also having a fantastic Montessori inspired giveaway. Woohoo!!!    
Affiliate links might be found on this blog. A great big thank you in advance. 


If you are not familiar with I Spy it is a game or book where there are several items that seem alike, everything might be yellow, or there might be 25 things on a shelf and you need to find certain objects. Similar to a hidden picture find. These are just a few examples, but I'm guessing you understand. My children have several I Spy books and puzzles that get used often. That is why I knew an I spy Continent activity would be so much fun.    


Of course just placing several objects in a basket wasn't enough for this momma, however it's actually a great idea. I might do that next time for something different. This time I decided to use our DIY Light table, our perfect continent molds and Montessori 3 part cards. I prepared the day before making sure I had the cards laminated for easy wipe off, and added the colored water to our molds.  I also used a regular ice tray to freeze colored ice cubes. They would easily freeze in a couple of hours, if you wanted to prepare this in the morning for some afternoon fun. I set everything out on our light table and let them enjoy the activity.


They were so happy. Their little faces just lit up with excitement and they went to town finding their ice continents. Did I mention they enjoyed eating them too. 

These sweet smiles were totally worth the little bit of effort, plus we had such a great time learning our continents. If you would like to see our continent crayons, follow us on Instagram. I post fun pics and activities often.  

Are you ready to see what we are giving away?!
 I've teamed up with The Natural Homeschool and Trillium Montessori to offer you free printables and this fabulous giveaway. You can win Montessori continent insets, continent biomes 3 part cards, and a fun continents mold. I'm so excited to share this with you. 


Click here to see The Natural Homeschool continent lesson and get her free 3 part cards. 

GIVEAWAY TIME!

This giveaway is open to US and Canada. 
You must be 18+ years old to enter. 
Void where prohibited. 
No purchase necessary. 

Winners will be notified via email and have 48 hours to respond before another winner is chosen. 

Please see detailed terms and conditions below the giveaway for more info.
Giveaway will run from Wednesday, 29 October (midnight, Eastern Time) - Wednesday, 5 November (midnight, Eastern Time)









October 18, 2014

Perfect Pumpkin Activities

It's October!!! The great pumpkin is coming... I can't wait! I love this time of year. The colors are absolutely lovely and the smells from all of the great fall foods are filling houses and shops. That is why this week I wanted to Feature fun pumpkin activities and fall books for kids.


An amazing Pumpkin Spice Scented Pumpkin Volcano from Frogs, Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails 


You'll find great Pumpkin Activities for Kids at Pre-K Pages 


Embark on the Journey has a really cool melted crayon pumpkin craft.


A book long enough shares a fabulous list of spooky and not so spooky books. 


Our Weekly Pumpkin post was a Montessori Inspired Pumpkin Washing Station


Link Up Time!

I am loving all of these wonderful posts we get to read each week. 

Ready to see who the other hosts have featured today?!    

Visit Natural Beach Living's profile on Pinterest.


Thanks for joining us for Share it Saturday.





October 11, 2014

Helpful Parenting Resources for Share it Saturday

I am always so happy when I find great parenting resources. As parents, caregivers, and teachers I am sure it also makes your life easier to find a lot of information, activities, and free printables in one place. That is why I am featuring several posts that are very helpful. I just know you will love them as much as I do.
 



The Natural Homeschool has wonderful Around the World and Landmarks lessons and Printables.




Stimulating Learning with Rachel shares Free Math Printables


Make sure you don't miss our Solar System Unit Study.
 It's packed full of printables, crafts, sensory play and more. 

 That was Awesome!!

Ready to see who the other hosts have featured today?!    

Visit Natural Beach Living's profile on Pinterest.


Thanks so much for stopping by. We would love for you to join us again next Saturday. 

September 24, 2014

Schooling the Littles with the Classics

I LOVE books! In fact, one thing you will find in every room of my house is books. I love many different kinds of books, but the classics... ahhhhh you can never go wrong with children's classics. So when I set out with all of my catalogs, and my notebook to figure out a schooling plan for this year, I kept coming back to great books and our love for cuddling up in one room and reading. Wouldn't it be nice for every child to hear and learn with the classics. 

Little B (6 years old) and Bells (2 years old)
Classics are tried and true books that keep people coming back year after year. Books that have been around for decades and probably will be around for many more years to come. Books that you remember from childhood and are still just as good or even better now that you're reading them to your children. Books like Caps for Sale(one of my favorites growing up), Corduroy, and Eloise Wilkin Stories (Little Golden Book Collection).  So to start off sharing what we have planned for the year we are reading through several of Sonlight Core A books and for Bells we got Core P 3/4. We have already finished several of the books and we absolutely loved them. A few favorites so far are Curious George, My Father's Dragon, and The Boxcar Children

We are also using Before Five in a Row (BFIAR) - We started rowing and have completed Blueberries for Sal, Goodnight Moon, and Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? I can't say enough great things about FIAR. I have used it for several years, and I don't think you can ever go wrong when you mix classic stories and multisensory learning.   
We are using Explode the Code with Little B for extra phonetic learning, and handwriting skills. 
 
For Math we do a lot of hands on living Math, and include Math in our BFIAR and unit studies. 
  
 All about Reading is AMAZING! We recently added it and it's really been great, I'll be sharing more All About Reading information in the future. For our family I have found that it works best when we have several things to work with. This way it breaks up the day and keeps everybody excited. The kids are happy and momma is happy. 
Spelling Can Be Easy When It's Multisensory

We really like Signing Time CollectionBooks, Cds, and Dvds. I will be adding to our language learning this year, by using books, games, and fun activities in other languages. I can't wait to show you the great things I've found for language.
Signing Time Online Dictionary: Learn ASL Signs!

Bells will be joining us for everything that she wants to sit in for. Which so far is everything. I have also made up some busy boxes with daily themes for her to explore on her own (I'll share those soon).

A few of the Unit Studies I have planned are Jellyfish which you can see part 1  and part 2 here.
Plants/Planting, Weather, The Little House Series, Anatomy, Animals, and the Frog Life Cycle.

For some it might seem like we have a lot going on, for others it might seem to be a laid back approach. For us it works.  Great books and wonderful educational activities are always around us. I'm a true believer that when I mix Montessori, Charlotte Mason, Reggio Emilia, Unit studies, and Delight directed/Free Range Learning into our life, we don't have to adhere to a strict schedule. Instead we have a lifestyle of learning all of the time.
I am not a teacher,
But an awakener
~ Robert Frost

If you would like to check out what the older boys (8 and 10) will be doing click here




Sonlight Curriculum




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