f is for fireman {free printable}



Because CJ had asked to study firemen for "school" this year, I was excited to learn that October 7-13 was National Fire Safety Week. I had already searched the childrens' section of our library for books and videos on fireman.  But I had not found even half of the items that our nice librarians gathered for their Fire Safety Week Display. It was tempting to check out the whole pile of books ('cause that's what homeschoolers do, right?), but I controlled myself.

Yes, I know it looks like a tail,
but it is fire hose. Really, it is.

We will be spreading our study out over much longer than a week, but the fact that there is  a National Fire Saftey Week made it much easier to find resources. It's nice when lessons can be both fun and easy to plan. And since we are almost to the letter "f" in our Alphabet Notebooks, we skipped "e" (temporarily) so we could do "f is for fireman."

This fireman bears a strange resemblance to our "d" dinosaur. I wanted to add a face to make him more man-like, but I got out voted by my children. Feel free to get creative if you would prefer a face.

f is for fireman coloring page and pattern

Here some additional resources that I found online:

THE SNACK
I'm putting this first because, as far as 3 year old boys are concerned, the snack is the most important thing. Family Fun has a cute little campfire made out of cheddar cheese, pretzels, and green grapes and  Taste of Home has some cute fire trucks made out of graham crackers. (We are actually avoiding gluten and sugar right now, so I won't do either of these as written. But I'll try to adapt them for him.)

PROPS FOR PLAY ACTING

• Fireman Paper Doll
• Community Helper Stick Puppets
• Construction Paper Helmet Pattern and 10 Little Firemen finger play (print 10 of the stick puppets above to act out the poem).
• Community Service Badges coloring page from Crayola (sheriff, state police, & fire department).

THE EDUCATIONAL STUFF

• Fire Station Math  using lima bean "dalmations" for counting practice.
• Fire Safety Preschool Pack
• Firemen Printables
• Sparky The Firedog Website

How To Make A "Leather-Look" Vase

You will need:

* a glass jar or vase

* masking tape

* paper towels

* brown shoe polish

Tear small pieces of masking tape off the roll and place them, randomly but slightly over-lapping, on the glass jar. The edges of the tape should be jagged and not square. Make sure you put the tape on flat so you don't create wrinkles. Cover the entire surface of the jar.



Place a small amount of shoe polish on a paper towel and apply it to the surface of the vase. The shoe polish should gather in the cracks along the edges of the tape.

Do NOT polish the surface, but wipe gently as you apply so you don't have too much build-up on the flat sections of the tape. Be careful that you do not rub polish up under the tape or it will no longer stick. Let the shoe polish dry, then spray with a clear sealer. Add flowers to you vase and display with pride!



Five Free Downloads {5 Fab Freebies Friday}

Betsy Stout over at Notebooking Nook has created a new link-up for sharing freebies every Friday. Here are the rules:

Post 5 freebies to your blog or website, along with a link back to the 5 Fab Freebies Friday link-up. The freebies can be downloads you have created, or links to great resources you have discovered. (Just don't break any copyright laws.) Then head over to Betsy's blog and share the link to your post.

I probably won't be participating every week, but I have a few new printables to share this week so I thought this would be a fun way to do it. And since tomorrow will be absolutely crazy-busy around here, I'm taking Betsy's lead and posting a day early. Here are my 5 "Fab" Freebies:

1. Color Mixing Chart

I've mentioned before that I don't actively try to teach my preschoolers their colors, but I'm also not against activities that just-so-happen to teach them. For instance, my three year old, CJ, has had fun using the color sorting card I made him. His siblings and I also like to name the colors of different objects he sees. And he has had the opportunity to see what happens when colors mix together when we made "fireworks" in a glass of water and when he played with colored vinegar and baking soda. Here is a page I made for him to experiment with color mixing while he plays with his finger paints.

2.  A-D Letter Recognition Cards
I've been using these cards with CJ to help him learn his letters. Since we've only made it through "d" in our alphabet notebooks, the cards I've made only go through the letter "d." I printed these on cardstock and cut them into strips. My original plan was to have him use clothespins to mark the matching numbers, but so far we have just pointed to the letters and talked about which ones were the same. If your child enjoys using the clothespins for this activity, you might also want to download my free clothespin counting cards.

3. Thanksgiving Acrostic Poem

I found a really cute pumpkin clipart alphabet that was just begging to be used. I was also trying to find some fun activities for the kids to do during Thanksgiving vacation. Ta-da! A fun little page for creating an acrostic poem about Thanksgiving.

4. Thanksgiving Notebook Pages
Notebook pages are like shoes. Sometimes you don't really need new ones, but they are still fun to have. That must be why I end up making a new set every Thanksgiving. Here are three new ones to add to your collection. I also have a set of Thanksgiving Copywork available for sale at Currclick.

5.The Study of Five Lapbook
Limited Time Freebie! Many years ago there was a request on one of the Yahoo Groups I subscribed to for ideas to create a lapbook about the number five. The mother who asked for suggestions was wanting to create a lapbook for her daughter's fifth birthday. Since my own daughter was also nearing that eventful birthday, I started brainstorming ideas. Due to a computer crash, the lapbook I started was lost. However, I recently went back and recreated that project. This lapbook will be available free through the month of October. Sorry, this lapbook is no longer available.

That's all for Fab 5 Freebie Friday here at Lilliput Station. Head on over to Notebooking Nook for more fabulous freebies.


This post is also linked up at:

 

D is for Dinosaur {free printable}

alphabet notebook page

I knew when I started making an Alphabet Notebook with my son that it would be a hit-or-miss activity. With seven older childer to educate and a baby to care for, it is hard to find time to time to squeeze in preschool projects. But I had no idea it would be over a year before we made it to the letter "d"!

This is actually the second page we have done for this letter. The first time, we followed the example on the Totally Tot's website and made a daisy. It was a disaster. There was no way to make it look right AND make it look like a "d." Besides, daisies don't really hold much appeal to rough and tumble little boys.

handprint dinosaurs

Yesterday CJ and I made handprint dinosaurs like the ones on Red Ted Art's Blog. He had so much fun that today I got up early today and made a pattern for a "d is for dinosaur" notebook page. He was thrilled and ran upstairs as soon as we had finished putting it together so he could show it to his oldest sister. I hope you enjoy it as much as he did.

d is for dinosaur coloring page and pattern

Traditional Textbook or Math Notebooking: Can You Do Both?

Just because you use a traditional math curriculum doesn't mean you can't take advantage of the benefits that come from math notebooking. As with any other subject, the lessons learned in mathematics can be recorded using the notebooking method. While the problems contained in the textbook give the student an opportunity to put into practice the concepts taught, the math notebook is a place where the student gives voice to those concepts. Math notebook pages can include notes on what is being learned (a great reference to use in solving this type of problem in the future), visual illustrations of the concepts learned, and examples of problems from the lesson. The math notebook can even be a place to copy and solve those problems.

Generic Concept Notebook Page

Multiplication Concept Page

Additional Ways To Use Traditional "Textbooks" With Notebooking:

• Upcycle Workbooks- The drawbacks to workbooks are that they are consumable, disposable, and the information is diluted throughout a large space of pages. But workbooks can be a good solution when you or your students need a change of pace, or for times when you just need something to keep them in practice while other subjects receive a more intense focus. And when you have finished a workbook, it can be upcycled and put to new use in math notebooking. Directions for completing the workbook pages contain formulas and definitions which can be copied into- or cut out and glued into- a math notebook for later review. Charts and diagrams provide inspiration for additional math notebooking. And colorful clipart cut from old workbook pages can be used to add color and interest to math notebooks.  Even those who are opposed to the use of workbooks can find thrift shop cast-aways to repurpose. (Mad House Academy has a Flickr Photo Set with examples of notebook pages created in this way.)



• Work Your Way Through Some Library Books- Check the shelves of your library for books on math topics or math puzzle book and do notebooking on the concepts you learn. We have created notebook pages based on our studies using the book Go Figure! by Johnny Ball and my Math Notebooking: Geometry pages were a result of our studies using Figuring Out Geometry by Rebecca Wingard-Nelson. We found both of these books in our library.

Links To Other Bloggers Who Use Textbooks With Notebooking:

• The MacRAK- using a combination of living math, Saxon, Life of Fred, Ray's Arithmetic  and Teaching Textbooks with notebooking.

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

*Go to Part One of the Math Notebooking Series*

*Go to Part Two of the Math Notebooking Series*