Geometry Puzzle {free printable}

A friend shared this puzzle on Facebook and I thought it would make a nice challenge to keep the kids thinking during their time off of school- so I whipped up a little worksheet.

solution to how many squares puzzle

Menu With Cook's Notes {freebie}

Earlier this year, I took the baby and  flew to Michigan for a cousin's graduation, leaving the house and the rest of the children to the care of my husband. I was gone for almost a week. My oldest daughter (age 13) took over all the cooking during that time.

I had no doubts about her ability to cook (she's been doing it since she was about 6 or 7), however I was concerned that she might not be able to handle all the organizational details that are involved in feeding a family of  eleven nine. In preparation for the trip, I planned the menu (not unusual since I always plan my menus ahead of time) and precooked as much as possible. My secret weapon was a menu with space for "cook's notes" along the side.

my "secret weapon"

In the "cook's notes" I told her things like "Mon: Get out bread and place on counter to thaw for lunch. Get out two packages of hamburger and place in fridge to thaw for Wed. Cook rice for tonight's casserole." Her orders were to look at the menu every morning and find out what she needed to do to prepare the food for the day. Other than a couple of phone calls concerning the location of certain items, it went off without a hitch.

I'm really thinking I ought to make use of this menu for my own benefit. I don't even want to admit how often I forget to thaw the meat for supper. :)

Menu With Cook's Notes



Be Real!

"Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes don't see as well and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand" ~The Velveteen Rabbit

Home Education and The Preschooler

Although I believe strongly that children should be taught as much as possible, as young as possible, I also believe this teaching should take place in a fun and non-pressured environment. I have never set my children down to learn their colors, numbers, or shapes. They pick those up pretty easily in day to day life. Once in a while we do traditional "preschool" activities because they are fun, but not because I think they are necessary.

My children begin "formal" schooling between the ages of 3 and 4, depending on the child, learning phonics in a relaxed way while continuing natural every day learning. Additional learning is introduced casually. I try to bring home books from the library on things that interest my children, but I also use books to introduce them to new interests. Counting and math are learned with manipulatives and games; science and history through crafts, experiments, field trips, and nature walks. Geography studies are really fun to do with little ones because you can play games, do crafts, fix foods, listen to music, and wear costumes.

I try to limit writing as much as possible. Children don't usually have the physical skills for writing until about age 6, and I gave my older children a permanent dislike of writing by pushing too much too soon. Drawing is a fun alternative way to practice these skills, without the pressure (especially drawing exercises where they are supposed to copy step-by-step). Mazes and dot-to-dots also help them to practice pencil control. There are many ways to use notebooking with younger children who aren't writing yet.

Because young children absorb things so easily, it makes sense to include them whenever possible while you are teaching the older children. It also solves the problem of "what to do with the little ones" during school hours. However, it is also good to have some alternatives for the times when it won't work to include them.

Some of the solutions we have come up with are:

1. Take advantage of nap times.
2. Have the older children take turns entertaining the younger ones while you give one-on-one attention       to your older students.
3. Teach the little ones to sit quietly for short periods of time and read or color.
4. Have special toys and activities prepared which the little ones can only use during these times.
5. Place them in a safe area (a playpen or their bedroom which is closed off with a baby gate) and allow them to play by themselves while you work with the others.
6. Give them a snack (or scatter cereal or chocolate chips on the floor for a scavenger hunt- they eat off the floor when you aren't watching anyway)

Sometimes, the baby is the lesson

Preschoolers add a lot of noise and chaos to the homeschool. However, their ability to absorb information and their excitement over learning adds sparkle to the learning environment. Sometimes it is necessary to use distraction techniques in order to get the lessons done. But sometimes, the baby is the lesson. Enjoy the days with preschoolers in your homeschool. They will be gone too soon.

Using Anchor Charts In Math Notebooks {math notebooking}

One of the easiest ways to begin math notebooking is by having your students create anchor charts for key concepts they are learning. In the traditional classroom environment, an anchor chart is created by the teacher (with student help) and hung on the classroom wall. But in a math notebooking environment, the anchor charts will be created by the student (with teacher help) and placed in a three ring binder for future reference. Pinterest is a great place to search for ideas. Here are a few printable math notebooking pages I have created, as well as links to the anchor charts that inspired them:

• Equal and Un-Equal Fractions inspired by Adventures of First Grade Fractions and Contractions
• Ways To Make 10 inspired by Coaching Chronicles Math Anchor Charts
• Fact Families inspired by Mrs. Zimmerman's Learning Conservatory Math Charts & Bulletin Boards

This is post is the second in the Math Notebooking Series.

*Go to Part Two of the Math Notebooking Series*