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Monday, February 20, 2012

Our New Calendar!!

Here is our new calendar!!
I bought it on Amazon and we love it.
It is bilingual. I homeschool him in Spanish so we used the Spanish side.
Since it is a pocket calendar you can add what ever you like to it!
Here is the picture:



So we go through the seasons of the year, the months, etc. It comes with cards for the special days, events, etc. We count the days and I added a little cards in the pockets. They came with the Question of the Day Chart that we have (picture below). They were left blank so what I did is to write all the subjects, for example, animals, colors, yes or no, etc.  So every day when we do the calendar he can choose a card from the box.

We do a letter of the week so we put the abc chart cards that we bought separately on the bottom part of the chart. It is nice that comes with pockets to store the cards that are not in use.

You can add things to the calendar the same way. You can make cards with chores and stick them in the pocket. So when you see it that day you have to do what the card says. Also, you can make cards with activities you want to do with your child, like art, museum visit, a game, etc. 





Monkey Hanging on the Line Fine Motor Skills Game

I just got this Barrel of Monkeys on a garage sale for 25 cents! So I thought of putting this tray together for Umi ( Ex Big Boy). He loves monkeys and I think he will love it! He's turning 3 on March.



I recommend that you put the tray there and let your child discover it on his own and let him do whatever he wants before turning into a counting game, etc.

You can use this monkeys in many different ways here are a few suggestions:

- Math: Use it with number cards. Let the child to draw a number card and he has to hang the same amount of monkeys in the line. You can also use a dice instead of number cards.

- Sensorial: Make a monkey chain first one, then two, etc. Then you can talk about which one is shorter and which one is longer.

Enjoy!

PS: Umi  just discover the monkeys!!!! I out them in the tray and came to blog about it, then he found them and knew exactly what to do. When he was done he put it all away the same way he found it! I am so proud of him!


Friday, February 10, 2012

Saint Valentine Lapbook/ Lapbook de San Valentin

This is our first lapbook that we made for Saint Valentine.
It is in Spanish. It was easy and fun to make. 



It has a couple of songs and a poem on the left, a pattern game, a
memory/matching game and the Happy Saint Valentine sign on the center, and a
heart story book on the right. And behind it BB colored a heart.

This little heart notebook it was a left over from the Valentine's Day gifts
I prepare for the class I teach. So I made a little story about two 
friends that always played together and fell in love.

I printed this patters on line and laminated them. I stuck a
magnet on the back of each row and to the cards that 
are in that heart box you see on the bottom right. That box came from the 99 c 
store. It contained stickers. So I used the stickers for the Valentine's
party favors and used the box to for it and for the matching/memory game you see above
in yellow. I just cut the boxes and turned them into the cards for the game.


BB painted the heart that is on the face of the lapbook on 
cardstock and I used velcro to fasten it so it would stay closed.

It is not totally done, I am still looking for a history on St. Valentine's Day in Spanish and that will go on the inside right part of the lapbook.


Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Songs, and Poems for Saint Valentine in Spanish/ Canciones, y Poemas para el Dia de San Valentin


Las zapatillas me apretan
Las medias me dan calor
Y la nenita de enfrente
Me tiene loco de amor!

_____________________________________

Late Late Corazon
(Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star Song)

Late, late corazon
Dentro mio y con amor
Para mamis y papas
Mis hermanos y demas.

Late, late corazon
Dentro mio y con amor.



_____________________________________



Yo me amo mucho
Asi te puedo amar a vos
Asi vos podes amarte a vos
Asi me podes amar a mi.

 The first one is an Argentinean poem. Below that there is a song of my creation (not the music of course ;-) and the last one is a song too but in order to show you how to sing it I would have to make a video and I wouldn't win  first price in a singing competition if you know what I mean :-(

You can add this songs to your Saint Valentine's lapbook. We are in the process of creating our first lapbook. I will post it when we are done!

Friday, February 3, 2012

Heart Ice Cube Tray for Practical Life Activity


I just used one glass beads for each heart. The child uses his hand to grab each bead and place it onto the wooden tray then he puts the bead back on the heart tray one for in each heart.

For a variation of this you can use tweezers, spoon, thongs, or chopsticks. Also you can replaces the glass beads with smaller beads, or red colored rice and use a small container to hold the beads or rice. You can use water and a table spoon for spooning. Make sure you have a cloth towel so the child can clean afterwards.

Saint Valentine Theme Math Tray


For this activity  the child has to empty the vase then choose
a number card then put the corresponding hearts back in the vase. He
needs to empty the vase each time to get another number card.

Tornado in a Bottle Science Experiment!

Materials:

- Two empty plastic bottles
- Water
- Tornado Tube (see picture bellow) or duct tape

Directions:

Fill 3/4 of one of the bottles with water
Place the other empty bottle on top and tape it with
the duct tape or use the tornado tube.
See what happens when you flip them over (full water bottle on top)
See what happens if you shake the bottle with water!





I bought this tornado tube in amazon and it is made in USA!!

I will be posting different variations of this experiment soon!

Ooblek!!! It will blow your mind!

Materials:

- Powder corn starch
- Water
- A bowl of some kind

Directions:

Put about a cup of cornstarch in a bow then add about 1/2 cup of water. Add more 
water if is not becoming wet enough or add more starch if is too watery. 


I really want to tell you what happens with this experiment. But I am afraid to take away the 
surprise! Try it first and mess with it. See how liquid it is and what happens when
you touch it harder and faster! It will blow your mind!!! 
Big Boy played with it for long time and we were almost fighting to see who gets to play with it!


For a variation try to make it in a bottle!!! See how the  liquid moves through the bottle when you slowly turn the bottle to its sides. Now, see what happens when you shake it!!! You can add food coloring, some aromatherapy oils and add other things like rice to see if it changes anything...

ENJOY!

DIY Sidewalk Paint

Materials:

- Liquid Corn Starch
- Water
- 1/4 cup
- Brush
- Tempera


Directions:
Put some paint, 1/4 cup of starch and half of the 1/4 cup of water in each compartment.


Mix well.

Enjoy!