Learning Together Hands On Math for Tots and Tweens

It is sometimes challenging to find things that both my Tot and my Tween can do together as school.  But I thought maybe by using the same manipulatives, but age appropriate content, they could learn together.

The Manipulative

Fruit Loops

(It was on sale, I really, really like it as a sweet snack, and it was rainbow colors)

I made some FREE PRINTABLES to go with this actives.  The printables are both pdfs. 

The Tot's Counting and Sorting Grid and directions 

The Tweens Fractions, Decimal, and Percent worksheet 

Tots

This is all about counting and sorting.  Pour a small bowl of Fruit Loops.  Using the grid to sort the o's by color, then count them.  Ask more/less/same questions.  Like is there more red or green?  Is there less of green or purple?  

You can also use the grid to play a dice counting game with.  The grid has 60 squares.  Roll the dice count out the number of o's and put them on the grid.  This helps tots not only with counting, but also one-to-one correspondence. 

Tweens

For Zippy I made a fraction/decimal/percent worksheet.  

Pour out a small bowl of Fruit Loops.  Count out the total number (that's the denominator).  Then find the fractional number of each color.  Then change the fraction into a decimal and percent.  You can check the work at the bottom to see if each column adds up to 1 or 100%.  For extra math fun there is a blank space at the top to graph the findings. 

  

This post is a part of 5 Days of Teaching Creatively Blog Hop.  Check out other's posts on Toys, Games and Puzzles by clicking on Blog Hop Linky at the bottom of this post. You can click over to the TOS Review Crew Blog to find out more.  Don't forget to enter to win one of three great homeschool prize packages in the Teaching Creatively Giveaway

Homeschooling Through a Crisis

How to homeschool when something unexpected happens.

My Story

The night of Thanksgiving the Little Dude vomited. (It does seem that these things always happen near a holiday).  For the next three days he was sick as a dog, sleeping a lot, not eating, not drinking, just generally feeling icky.  We adjusted his medication as the doctor told us, but after three days, he was not better, so I called the endocrinologist and, as expected, she told us to go into the Emergency Room.  I expected them to hydrate, run some blood tests, have many conversations with the endocrinologist, perhaps adjust medications and be sent home.  Instead the Little Dude was admitted to the hospital due to his very low sodium levels.  This was out of the blue.  I was not prepared to spend 20 hours a day in the hospital with my son, for a week.  This was a crisis.  We got through the best we knew how.  In the meantime, I had a child at home, who was homeschooled, what was I to do?  She stayed with her grandmother most days. She worked  independently. We touched base once a day.  Did she do all I planned that week? No.  Was it an educationally fulfilling week? No. Was it ok? Yes.

Five Lessons I Learned

There are so many different kinds of crisis in life.  I am hesitant to give blanket advice but here are five lessons I learned about homeschooling through a crisis.

1. Don't sweat the small stuff
2. Do what you can
3. Don't be afraid to ask
4. Accept grace
5. Love unconditionally

In times of stress, the best thing we can do for each other is to listen with our ears and our hearts and to be assured that our questions are just as important as our answers.  

~Mr. Rogers 

This post is a part of 5 Days of Teaching Creatively Blog Hop.  Check out other's posts on Toys, Games and Puzzles by clicking on Blog Hop Linky at the bottom of this post. You can click over to the TOS Review Crew Blog to find out more.  Don't forget to enter to win one of three great homeschool prize packages in the Teaching Creatively Giveaway

DIY Toys - The Cardboard Box

When is a box not a box?  When it is in the hands of child.  Then it becomes a train, a racetrack, a sled, a car, a hideout, a dollhouse and anything else they can imagine.

When a big box comes into our lives, generally speaking I just leave it out, they play with it until it is dead, then I recycle it.   No extra instruction necessary, but sometimes it is fun to give their imaginations a boost.
Here are fifteen ways to use boxes (big and small) in play.

1. Put a steering wheel inside (paper plate) and it becomes a car
2. A sled.
3. Cut a hole in the side to make a beanbag toss.
4. Use a tissue box to make an Easter basket.
5. Make monster feet.
6. Use one big, or a whole bunch of small boxes to make a doll house.
7. Draw a road, houses, an airport. Play with toy cars, planes or trains
8. Make a robot
9. Use a whole bunch of boxes, fold out the front and back, connect, and make a human size maze.
10. Glue straws to make a tilty maze for a marble or bouncy ball. 
11. Use little boxes, taped closed, as big building blocks.
12. Make an art gallery.  Either fix the artwork to the box, or just get a bunch of markers a draw right on the box.
13. Make the box a shape sorter for the tots. 
14. Make a puppet theater.  Cut a window out of the side of a big box and fix a curtain of some sort to the inside.  Or build a wall with a bunch of little boxes to hide behind to give a fun puppet show.
15. Doll Bed, either big or small.

Here is an extra bonus.  After your box fun is done you can read Not a Box by Antoinette Portis

This post is a part of 5 Days of Teaching Creatively Blog Hop.  Check out other's posts on Toys, Games and Puzzles by clicking on Blog Hop Linky at the bottom of this post. You can click over to the TOS Review Crew Blog to find out more.  Don't forget to enter to win one of three great homeschool prize packages in the Teaching Creatively Giveaway

A Sweet Recipe for Learning in the Kitchen

The kitchen is a perfect place to learn all about multiplication, division and fractions.

Zippy is currently suffering struggling trying to master fractions.  A great way to take a break from math books is to head into the kitchen for some baking.  Learning to make a bigger or smaller amount of a recipe, is not only an important life skill but also helps hone some great math skills especially multiplying  and dividing fractions. 

We decided to make chocolate chip cookies.  This is a pretty straightforward recipe - that only makes a dozen cookies.  To make more, for a family, bake sale or a dozen for all the neighbors just multiply the ingredients by the number of dozens you would like to make.  

I've made an easy printable to help organize the math.     

Here is the recipe:

One Dozen Chocolate Chip Cookies:

½ cup butter (softened) ¼ cup white sugar ½ cup packed brown sugar 1 egg ½ teaspoon vanilla extract 1 1/8 cups flour ½ teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt ½ cup chopped nuts (optional) 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. In one bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt.

3. In another bowl cream together butter, brown sugar, white sugar.

4. Add egg(s) and vanilla, mix until creamy.

5. Add the flour mixture, stir until the batter is consistent.

6. Fold it nuts and chocolate chips.

7. Drop onto cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls.

8. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown.

9. Allow to cool slightly before removing from cookie sheet.

Eat and Enjoy!

This post is a part of 5 Days of Teaching Creatively Blog Hop.  Check out other's posts on Schooling in the Kitchen by clicking on Blog Hop Linky at the bottom of this post. You can click over to the TOS Review Crew Blog to find out more.  Don't forget to enter to win one of three great homeschool prize packages in the Teaching Creatively Giveaway

What is Delight Directed Learning?

The Delight Directed Learning approach is something I've heard a lot about lately  but I did not know exactly what it was.  I thought that I would do some research, unpack it a little bit and brainstorm how it might look in our homeschool.

Delight

According to Mirrium-Webster delight is a high degree of gratification, joy, extreme satisfaction, something that gives great pleasure. Delight Directed Learning is by definition, learning that is directed by those things that delight, bring satisfaction, joy and gratification.  In short, those things that interest a child.

Led by the Child's Interests

Little kids learn all the time, more important little kids want to learn all the time.  Go to a park or a pre-school classroom.  You will see children exploring  things that delight them.  A little boy  playing with the blocks.  What kind of tower can he build?  Will this combination of blocks work to keep the tower standing or will it fall down?  Can we put cars on the tower?  Can we build a racetrack for the cars?  And so it goes down one path of inquiry up another path of interest.

Curiosity is an integral part of who we are as human beings.  Delight Directed Learning takes that innate curiosity and turns it into a motivation.  It asks the child "what do you want to learn about today?"  What a powerful question.

Facilitated by the Parents

Where do parents fit into this idea? Parents do not just sit on the sidelines with Delight Directed Learning.  Parents are just as much students as the children are, but instead of learning about history or math parents are learning about their own children.  What a profound privilege.  Parents need to figure out what genuinely interests their child, support them as they journey down the road of learning, and understand when the end of that particular trail has been reached.

First, parents provide curiosity cultivation:  read books, go on an adventure, visit a museum, provide a bin of interesting stuff to wonder about, plant something, and the list goes on and on.  Then a parent provides the curious child a bit of structure, ways to explore the topic at hand, books to research  a project, a lapbook to complete, a dinner, or a field trip.  Each topic is a different adventure.  Last the parent needs to know when enough is enough, when interest in a topic is waning, this could be a hour, a day, a week or a month.

What would this look like in our homeschool?

I've been in this classroom a hundred times:  Students sitting at desks or tables, slouched down, arms crossed, eyes roll back as I explain the day's plan.  "Mrs. Oshesky, do we have to do this.  School is so boring."  Those student's curiosity has be squashed like bug under a semi-truck's tire.  Zippy was heading in that direction and twice as hard because sitting and being in a room with a whole lot of distractions is difficult for her.  School wasn't interesting, it was endured.  

Delight Directed Learning could be a fun adventure.  Zippy's curiosity has already been revived somewhat with our reviews for the Review Crew.  Whenever I have the opportunity I almost always ask Zippy if this would  be something she would be interested in.  Those things she really liked, she wanted to work on more than the actual "school time".  Like the time when we went out and she wanted to take along her Apologia book, because she just had to know all about dolphins.  

When I decided to write this post I flat out asked Zippy  "Would you like to try learning about something you are interested in or curious about."  Her eyes twinkled when she said yes.  But then she said, "Mom, what kind of things would that be?"  It would be so fun to have her think independently, learn how to research, find things out that she wants to know.  It would be refreshing to be around a student who is not enduring her education but exalting in satisfying her curiosity.

  

This post is a part of 5 Days of Teaching Creatively Blog Hop.  Check out other's posts on Delight Directed Teaching by clicking on Blog Hop Linky at the bottom of this post. You can click over to the TOS Review Crew Blog to find out more.  Don't forget to enter to win one of three great homeschool prize packages in the Teaching Creatively Giveaway

Teaching Creatively Giveaway

I am super duper excited to be joining in my very first blog hop next week with the Homeschool Review Crew.  It should be an exciting week talking all about teaching creatively.   Topics will  include: What is Delight Directed Learning?, A Recipe for Learning in the Kitchen, DIY Toys, Homeschooling Through A Crisis, and A Hands-On Projects Roundup.  In addition to all that fabulous information there is a, wait for it, A Giveaway.  Yay.  There is lots of great information and lots of really nice prizes. Sounds a little bit like a party to me.  So buckle up, and get ready for a fun, fun week here on Possibilities and Peas. 

I'm joining in with Marcy @Ben and Me and Sam @Sam's Noggin to bring you this awesome giveaway during the 5 Days of Teaching Creatively Blog Hop, hosted by the Schoolhouse Review Crew! The Blog Hop won't begin until Monday, but we are starting the fun early by giving you the opportunity to win incredible bundles of books and homeschool resources!

There will be a total of 3 winners chosen -- one GRAND prize, a 1st RUNNER-UP and a 2nd RUNNER-UP! The contest will begin at 12am on March 9 and end at 12am on March 17.  Please use the Rafflecopter below to enter, but read the contest rules, found at the bottom of the widget, first.. 

The GRAND PRIZE WINNER will receive ALL of the following -- a $525 value!

Geography Matters -- Profiles from History Package ($50 value) Looking for a way to help your students connect with history? The Profiles from Historyseries is dedicated to telling the stories of people, whose lives are worth remembering. Whether they made a discovery, led heroically in a war, created a masterpiece through music, or art, used a pen to change the world, or impacted humanity with their bravery—they made a difference. We can learn so much by looking at those who came before us. Be ready to change your mind about history, with Profiles from History, Volumes 1, 2, and 3.

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine --  1-year membership to SchoolhouseTeachers.com, a new Print Issue of The Old Schoolhouse^® Magazine, and a Homeschooling with Heart Tote Bag ($90 value)

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Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett -- Passport Geography set, consisting of the Combos (K - 12) for United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Germany ($50 value) 
Taking an in-depth look at world geography with the new Passport Geography™(PPG) series by Amanda Bennett. These one-week studies use a cross-curricular approach (covering geography, history, science, etc.) to take students on virtual journeys around the globe. Each study is interactive, including daily lessons for both elementary grades and Jr/Sr High grades, with no prep required.

Shining Dawn Books -- Early Spring Bundle ($21 value)

Early spring is known for its wonderfully rainy weather, leading to lots of beautiful fungi. It’s also the season when animals busily go about their regular activities after the relative quietness of winter. This bundle will help you to explore each of these exciting aspects of the spring season in-depth.

A+ Tutorsoft -- 1-yr subscription to the online A+ TutorSoft math program -- winner's choice from    grade levels 1st-4th ($150 value)
A+ TutorSoft, Inc. provides Multi-Sensory Interactive MATH Full Curriculum products to help students improve their grades at all levels. Our Multi-Sensory Interactive MATH helps homeschooling families as well as public and private school teachers and students. A+ TutorSoft offers everyone a FREE 30 day trial on all products. Visit the top right corner of our website: http://www.aplustutorsoft.com/. And through 3/31/13 they are offering 50% off all products with code spoffer50!

Five in a Row -- Complete Digital Holiday book ($34 value)

A complement to any lifestyle of learning, this book is different from the Five in a Row manuals. It doesn’t give a specific book to study for each holiday, rather it is a treasury of traditions, memories and ideas for making your own! Each unit also includes calendar pages, blank pages for recording your own memories, and combinations of traditions and recipes, book and movie suggestions, quotes, decorating ideas, and more! 

Knowledge Quest -- Wonders of Old Timeline Book ($25 value)

Wonders of Old is divided into four historical time periods: ancient, medieval, new world and modern. Significant dates are listed at the conclusion of each section as a helpful reference. This hardcover book measures 9x12 and is printed on extra thick 70# paper for durability.

In the Hands of a Child -- 1-Year Super Membership ($75 value)

Super Memberships Save You Time and Money! Each month Super Members receive two free downloadable Lapbooks. These Lapbooks are always brand new and have not been released for sale to the general public. Super Members also receive:

• 15% discount off all purchases of existing eBook Lapbooks.
• A free Birthday
•  Lapbook10.00 off the price of any custom ordered unit

Southern Hodgepodge -- A Simple Start in Chalk Pastels ebook ($20 value)
Looking for an easy way to add art to your days? With A Simple Start in Chalk Pastels ebook – just add chalk pastels and paper! Short lessons for a whole year, 100 pages of tutorials, art for all ages.

Tricia Goyer -- Love Finds You in Glacier Bay, Alaska ($13 value)
Singer Ginny Marshall is one signature away from the recording contract of her dreams—a deal that would guarantee success for the former foster child, who still struggles to bury the memories of her painful childhood. But When singer Ginny Marshall travels to the isolated town of Glacier Bay, Alaska, she is charmed by the town's colorful characters and stunning scenery. She discovers a box of old letters and is swept up in the love story between an early missionary to Alaska Territory and his accidental mail-order bride. Written by homeschool moms, Tricia Goyer and Ocieanna Fleiss.

Frontier 2000 -- No Regrets: How Homeschooling Earned Me a Master's Degree by Age Sixteen by Alexandra Swann and Looking Backward: My Twenty-Five Years As a Homeschooling Mother by Joyce Swann ($20 value)
No Regrets: The engaging story of Swann's experiences growing up as a Southern Baptist homeschooled child from New Mexico earning her education at a highly accelerated pace. At the age of fifteen she became the youngest student ever to graduate from Brigham Young University in its 111 year history.

Looking Backward: From 1975-2000, Joyce Swann homeschooled each of her ten children from the first grade through master's degrees by the age of sixteen. In this book, she discusses the methods she used to teach as well as the obstacles that threatened her success.

____________________________________________

The 1st RUNNER UP will receive ALL of the following -- a $225 value!

Geography Matters -- Cultural Geography Package ($50 value) Have you ever thought that geography was a boring subject? Then you've never used these books! Eat Your Way Through the U.S.A. and Eat Your Way Around the World are a taste buds-on approach to geography. Each state or country has its unique geographical features and agricultural products. These influence both the ingredients that go into a recipe and the way food is prepared. Why stop with only your taste-buds? Let's involve all the senses by adding Geography Through Art! This hand-son approach will supplement any study of geography, history, or social studies. Geography Through Art is sure to make a lasting addition to your home or school library. You'll find yourself reaching for this indispensable guide again and again to delight and engage students in learning about geography through the culture and art of peoples around the world.

Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett -- Discover the Senses Download N Go ($9 value) In this study, your child will investigate a new sense each day, learning what it is and how it works, as well as what it does for him. He will learn what impacts that particular sense. And he will meet some of history’s heroes, such as Louis Braille, who helped along the way. Each day, your student will explore and investigate, creating and adding more learning components to his Discover the Senses lapbook—building a wonderful reminder of all that he is learning to be enjoyed for years to come.

Shining Dawn Books -- Remarkable Rain ($9 value)

Quiet and peaceful, or wild and raging – rain comes in many forms. This NaturExplorers unit sets out to examine rain in all its beauty, observe its effects and make you look forward to the next rainy day!

A+ Tutorsoft -- 3-month subscription to the online A+ TutorSoft math program -- winner's choice from    grade levels 1st-4th ($50 value)
A+ TutorSoft, Inc. provides Multi-Sensory Interactive MATH Full Curriculum products to help students improve their grades at all levels. Our Multi-Sensory Interactive MATH helps homeschooling families as well as public and private school teachers and students. A+ TutorSoft offers everyone a FREE 30 day trial on all products. Visit the top right corner of our website: http://www.aplustutorsoft.com/. And through 3/31/13 they are offering 50% off all products with code spoffer50!

Five in a Row -- Set of Five Audio Files from Steve Lambert ($20 value)

We all need some inspiration from time to time! Steve and Jane Lambert have been encouraging homeschoolers on their journey since 1994. These Five in a Row audio files have been recorded at major state homeschooling conventions around the United States and Canada and have been chosen because we believe you’ll enjoy it for its wisdom, humor and encouragement shared by Steve. Including: Where do I Begin?, I Can't Teach All the Grades at Once, Making Your Children into World Changers, On Becoming Great Teachers, and High School and Beyond.

In the Hands of a Child -- 6-Month Super Membership ($55 value)

Super Memberships Save You Time and Money! Each month Super Members receive two free downloadable Lapbooks. These Lapbooks are always brand new and have not been released for sale to the general public. Super Members also receive:

• 15% discount off all purchases of existing eBook Lapbooks.
• A free Birthday
•  Lapbook10.00 off the price of any custom ordered unit

Southern Hodgepodge -- A Simple Start in Chalk Pastels ebook ($20 value)
Looking for an easy way to add art to your days? With A Simple Start in Chalk Pastels ebook – just add chalk pastels and paper! Short lessons for a whole year, 100 pages of tutorials, art for all ages.

Tricia Goyer -- Love Finds You in Glacier Bay, Alaska ($13 value)
Singer Ginny Marshall is one signature away from the recording contract of her dreams—a deal that would guarantee success for the former foster child, who still struggles to bury the memories of her painful childhood. But When singer Ginny Marshall travels to the isolated town of Glacier Bay, Alaska, she is charmed by the town's colorful characters and stunning scenery. She discovers a box of old letters and is swept up in the love story between an early missionary to Alaska Territory and his accidental mail-order bride. Written by homeschool moms, Tricia Goyer and Ocieanna Fleiss.

____________________________________________

The 2nd RUNNER UP will receive ALL of the following -- a $190 value!

Geography Matters -- Adventures of Munford Package ($35 value) Although he's just two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen, Munford is all adventure. He can be rain, snow, sleet, or steam. He has traveled the world in search of excitement. Throughout history, he has been present at some of the most important and world-changing events. Fun and educational, Munford will inspire your children to learn more about many of history's greatest moments. These readers make a great addition to your learning experience in areas such as history, geography, and science. This book series is written on an elementary reading level, but provides plenty of read-aloud entertainment for the entire family!

Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett -- Discover the Senses Download N Go ($9 value) In this study, your child will investigate a new sense each day, learning what it is and how it works, as well as what it does for him. He will learn what impacts that particular sense. And he will meet some of history’s heroes, such as Louis Braille, who helped along the way. Each day, your student will explore and investigate, creating and adding more learning components to his Discover the Senses lapbook—building a wonderful reminder of all that he is learning to be enjoyed for years to come.

Shining Dawn Books -- Remarkable Rain ($9 value) Quiet and peaceful, or wild and raging – rain comes in many forms. This NaturExplorers unit sets out to examine rain in all its beauty, observe its effects and make you look forward to the next rainy day!

A+ Tutorsoft -- 3-month subscription to the online A+ TutorSoft math program -- winner's choice from    grade levels 1st-4th ($50 value)
A+ TutorSoft, Inc. provides Multi-Sensory Interactive MATH Full Curriculum products to help students improve their grades at all levels. Our Multi-Sensory Interactive MATH helps homeschooling families as well as public and private school teachers and students. A+ TutorSoft offers everyone a FREE 30 day trial on all products. Visit the top right corner of our website: http://www.aplustutorsoft.com/. And through 3/31/13 they are offering 50% off all products with code spoffer50!

Five in a Row -- Volume 4 Digital Unit of Winner's Choice ($9 value)

Five in a Row was created by Jane Claire Lambert, a successful homeschool teacher with more than 17 years of experience. To use Five in a Row, just pick one of the 70 books used in Five in a Row, locate the corresponding lesson plan in your teacher’s guide, read the story aloud each day during the week and use Jane’s suggestions and lesson plans to lead your children on a wonderful learning adventure. It’s that simple! Each unit covers Social Studies, Geography, Language Arts, Applied Math, Science and Art in a way that causes children to fall in love with learning.

In the Hands of a Child -- 2-Month Super Membership ($45 value)
Super Memberships Save You Time and Money! Each month Super Members receive two free downloadable Lapbooks. These Lapbooks are always brand new and have not been released for sale to the general public. Super Members also receive:

• 15% discount off all purchases of existing eBook Lapbooks.
• A free Birthday
• Lapbook10.00 off the price of any custom ordered unit

Southern Hodgepodge -- A Simple Start in Chalk Pastels ebook ($20 value)
Looking for an easy way to add art to your days? With A Simple Start in Chalk Pastels ebook – just add chalk pastels and paper! Short lessons for a whole year, 100 pages of tutorials, art for all ages.

Tricia Goyer -- Love Finds You in Glacier Bay, Alaska ($13 value)
Singer Ginny Marshall is one signature away from the recording contract of her dreams—a deal that would guarantee success for the former foster child, who still struggles to bury the memories of her painful childhood. But When singer Ginny Marshall travels to the isolated town of Glacier Bay, Alaska, she is charmed by the town's colorful characters and stunning scenery. She discovers a box of old letters and is swept up in the love story between an early missionary to Alaska Territory and his accidental mail-order bride. Written by homeschool moms, Tricia Goyer and Ocieanna Fleiss. 

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