Strewing is an amazing way to inspire your child’s natural curiosity. Did you know you may already be doing this unschoolish habit? It’s a practice that can provide amazing learning opportunities regardless of your homeschool method. Plus, it’s easy! So, I’ve put together 100 strewing ideas for your homeschool! This post may contain affiliate links. […]
This LEGO Balance Math Activity is such a cool activity kids of...
Use these 7 continents worksheet pagges to teach elementary age about CONTINENTS for kids. Grab continents book printable!
Homeschool Strewing is defined as scattering or spreading (things) untidily over a surface or area. But how the heck is that a homeschooling solution?
Our adorable First Grade Worksheets for Spring are here, and they are loads of fun. Preview them now and get a fun Spring Worksheet for FREE!!
Homeschool strewing is a fantastic way to create a math-rich environment. The art of strewing math is dependent on knowing your child’s interests. As parents, we want to nurture their passions and curiosity. Creating an environment where your kiddos are encouraged to explore, question, and discover is an extraordinary way to facilitate learning. This post […]
Strewing is leaving items out that might pique your kiddo's interest. It's a stealthy way of exposing them to new or old resources.
Need some homeschool strewing ideas, this is for you. From physical to virtual to experiential, it's covered. Strewing for homeschool interest.
Morning baskets are something that are taking the homeschool world by storm. You might be wondering what even is this and do I want to do one?
Hello Everyone! What a great day to start a study on clouds!! Dark clouds this morning releasing a deluge of rain! By 1:00 beautiful clear...
? Celebrate Australia Day for kids on January 26th with these FREE Australia Day Coloring Pages. These coloring sheets are fun for all ages.
From mixed media to simple sketching, there's something here for every 1st grader.
Strewing is one of those phrases homeschoolers use and think everyone knows what they mean. What does it look like in a relaxed homeschool?
It's almost spring! Woo hoo!!! {Well...almost....I'm trying to block out the fact that I still had to scrape ice off of my windshield this m...
Measurement activities build kids' understanding by exploring weight, length, capacity, and area in hands-on ways using rulers and non-standard units.
Fraction activities in first and second grade can be hard to come by. After learning about the difference between parts and whole and going over the “basic” fractions of 1/2 and 1/4, I find that my first graders are ready for a little bit more. That’s when I introduce the fun game, Fraction Wars! […]
Here are some hands on ideas for learning first grade math concepts with LEGO®! Practice addition, greater than and less than, and measuring. My first grader really enjoys kinesthetic learning. We don’t do something like this every day (or even every week sometimes!) but he is much more engaged when we do. Greater Than/Less Than […]
Fall is here which means it's time for us to bring a little fall fun into the classroom! Incorporating hands-on activities into your instruction is an impactful way to keeps students engaged in learning and practicing the skills you're teaching them. In this post, I share one of my favorite resources which includes fall games...
So you want to start strewing in your homeschool, but you have no idea where to start. I'll let you in on a secret, it's easy, and you can be doing it in the next few minutes. Don't
Looking for extra practice with addition strategies? This FREE set of winter addition to 20 pages focuses on specific strategies for meaningful practice.
View our new spatial reasoning blog post: 10 Playful Spatial Reasoning Provocations Part 2 here. As our kindergarten team continues to learn more about children and their development in spatial thi…
Do you have Morning Chaos? First Grade Morning Bins to the rescue! Get ready to transform your morning routines with these fun hands-on activities! First
First Grade Art Project and Lesson Book 36 Weeks of Art Lessons and Projects to go along with First Grade Curriculum. This book goes along with our first grade curriculum. There are other projects …
Let’s talk, shall we? As many of you already know, I have a passion for Reader’s Theater. It is, hands down, THE BEST WAY I have found to practice meaningful, purposeful, and engaging fluency practice in my classroom. Now. You might be thinking what I first thought when I heard about Reader’s Theater. So the ... Read More about Reader’s Theater in the Primary Classroom (with a FREEBIE)
Are you ready to level up your multiplication skills in a super fun way? Well, you're in for a real treat because today's blog post is all about a fantastic printable Minecraft multiplication game that's going to make learning times tables a blast! If you're a Minecraft lover like me, you already know that it's
Wow!!! What a week! I am totally glad it is over...the kids weren't too bad but I am tired! This week we talked about the life cycle of a pu...
Grab a TON of FREE Math Mania Games to strengthen your students' addition & subtraction! Snag easy printable math games for 1st & 2nd grade!
Fun ideas for fall crafts for kids to try today. With the shorter days and cooler weather, fall is a great time for kids to craft.
Delight-directed learning is a lot like giving a mouse a cookie. One great learning resource always leads to another.
Inspire the kids to create with 100 Invitations to Build, a free printable filled with fun & unusual building materials inspired by Iggy Peck, Architect.
Summer Is Ending “Summer is ending!” Father bear said, “In yonder tree hollow I’ll build me a bed.” “Summer is ending!” said all the gold weeds, And so softly sighing they scattered their seeds. “Summer is ending!” the hurricane cried, Hurling and whirling harsh rains high and wide. “Summer is ending!” said fiery King Sun, “My flame must grow fainter, then fade out to none!” March started off feeling very Summery with no real signs of the change of seasons, but as the month progressed the nights started noticeably drawing in and getting cooler, and we often woke to a light mist in the hills. Then the first Autumn rains finally came to our little mountian side after a very warm, dry summer, not enough to fill our tanks or really noticeably benefit the garden mind you, but the thirsty, dry ground soaked up every drop and we could almost hear it sigh with relief. Circle Time verses this month have reflected the change in the seasons. Our complete collection of seasonal Autumn verses can be found . Week 1 Snippets from our week... Form Drawing We read Chapter 4 of our Form Drawing story this week which can be found . This week we practised wavy lines, some gentle and small like wind on the lake, and some large and bold like waves crashing on the beach. LHS: Mr 7's Wavy Lines RHS: Free drawing from the story Language - Letter O This week we received another Key of Knowledge, this time it was the Letter O. We explored the long and short sounds of the letter O and used the poem 'Mouse Goes Looking For A House' by Karen Lonsky which can be found on page 220 in the book 'Tell Me A Story'. I altered the original poem a little changing the 'rabbit' to an 'Owl' to suit our letter, and it gave the poem a lovely therapeutic quality addressing the issues of sharing and inclusion. Story: ‘Mouse Goes Looking For A House' TL: Story Puppetry TC: MLB Picture Alphabet TR: Wax-resist Letter O ML: Needle-felting the Letter O MC: Modelling the Letter O MR: Walking the Letter O BL: AUSLAN Letter O BC: Letter Practise BR: O tastes like... Oatmeal cookies! We also read Beatrix Potter's 'The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin' as a second owl story this week. Social Studies Mr 7's March calendar Our monthly calendar project continues to be a way to help Mr 7 unfold the concept of the passage of time, a precursor to History studies. Mr 5's concept of time is still mostly based in observing the seasons, the natural world, and celebrating the seasonal festivals that mark our year. He also has his own 'weekly wheel' to mark the cycle of days and activities we do regularly. I used the concept of turning wheels from , where you can download and print a wonderful free pattern. Mr 5's Weekly Wheel After having to redraw the whole 'Weekly Wheel' a few times, I decided to add little drawings to denote activities and stick them on with blu-tack, so that as our rhythm is tweaked or changes through the year, it is easier to adjust. We also add a drawing for special events or festivals that are coming up in the week. Mr 5 loves his own 'Weekly Wheel' and takes great joy in turning it every day and knowing what activities he can expect. It's also helpful for him to be able to 'count down' the days to a special event he is looking forward to. Our weekly rhythm this year is set around the regular external activities we have committed to. We have our Waldorf-inspired homeschool group on Tuesdays, we begin yoga classes on Wednesdays and have swimming lessons on Thursdays. These outings are all morning activities, so we try to do something at home in the afternoons. The other home days are we follow a different rhythm. Our Yearly Wheel I have started very preliminary watercolour sketches on an Australian-themed seasonal wheel which I am hoping to finish in all of my spare time (haha). Social Studies also encompasses the study of Geography. We have been drawing 'treasure hunt' maps for a while now and introduced the compass last year. This week Mr 7 and Mr 5 completed a mapping project of their bedroom. We used compasses to work out the direction the room faced, and then mapped the rooms on paper. We also used blocks to make a 3D version of the same. Both boys enjoyed this project. The idea is to begin with their bedroom, gradually expanding outward to our home, our neighbourhood, our town, state, country and finally the world. Mr 7's bedroom map and model Creative Writing Both boys continued to dictate and illustrate stories in their Creative Writing Journals this week. TL & TR: Mr 5's Creative Writing BL & BR: Mr 7's Creative Writing Other Happenings... This week marked the first official gathering of the new Steiner-inspired homeschool group, 'Children Of The Valley', held in a little cottage in our local area. We met together for bread making, free play, circle time, morning tea, outside play and a beautiful story about the summer seed babies being tucked into their warm earthen beds in Autumn, told by a very clever mama who skilfully holds the attention of the children so beautifully. The children each took home a small handful of seed babies to plant in their own gardens and their very own playgroup bag to bring their fruit, drink and handwork in each week. Peleverata Falls walk On the weekend we took a break from house building and went on a lovely family walk to Pelverata Falls. In my mind I had not remembered this walk to be quite so challenging and, now in my third trimester, I had to stop right before the very end of the walk when the track became too difficult for me to navigate. I use the term "track" loosely, it becomes more of a boulder scramble at the end! :D It was a really lovely family outing though, and we are all looking forward to Stage 2 of the building being completed and having more time for family day walks again. That same evening we removed the temporary wall in the house which divided Stage 1 from Stage 2 of the build. A very momentous occasion and now our teeny house suddeny feels huge! Week 2 Snippets from our week... Form Drawing This week we read Chapter 5 of our story which can be found . We practised a form called Wind Dance. This form proved challenging for both boys to master, particularly left-handed Mr 7, who found it easier to draw this form mirrored as that way he could view the loops as he drew them. LHS: Mr 5's Wind Dance form RHS: Free drawing from the story LHS: Mr 7's Wind Dance form RHS: Free drawing from the story Just briefly on the topic of teaching left-handed children, it has been an interesting experience helping Mr 7 master his letters and writing. It is certainly brought home to me that it really is a right-handed world! Simple things like left-handed scissors and left handed tools had never even crossed my mind, so it's been a learning curve for all of us. I found blog post by a paediatric occupation therapist immensely helpful when helping Mr 7 learn to write. Also, definitely buy left-handed scissors for your lefty child! Top tip :) Language - Letter U The final Key of Knowledge to unlock the written word, was given to us this week: the Letter U! We explored the long and short sounds of the Letter U and the form of the letter by using this sweet little poem about umbrellas. 'The Elf & The Dormouse' by Oliver Herford Under a toadstool crept a wee Elf, Out of the rain to shelter himself. Under the toadstool, sound asleep, Sat a big Dormouse all in a heap. Trembled the wee Elf, frightened and yet Fearing to fly away lest he get wet. To the next shelter—maybe a mile! Sudden the wee Elf smiled a wee smile. Tugged till the toadstool toppled in two. Holding it over him, gaily he flew. Soon he was safe home, dry as could be. Soon woke the Dormouse—"Good gracious me!" "Where is my toadstool?" loud he lamented. —And that's how umbrellas first were invented. Story: ‘The Elf & The Dormouse' TL: Chalkboard drawing - U is for Umbrella TC: Story Puppetry TR: MLB Letter U ML: Walking the Letter U MC: Modelling the Letter U MR: Wax-resist Letter U/u BL: Handwork: Modelling from the story BC: Needle-felting Letter U BR: AUSLAN Letter U We also read the funny story from Madge A Bingham's book Overheard in Fairyland called 'The Origin of Toadstools' which can be found . The boys loved this story. Other Happenings... This week we had a theme of 'Apples in Autumn' for Children Of The Valley homeschool group. We listened to the story 'The Apple Cake' during morning tea and visited the sweet little community garden across the road to pick apples from the orchard trees there. The children then stabbed and dipped their apples in toffee to make their very own toffee apples. What a treat! We finished with a retelling of favourite story of ours 'The Little Round House', a version of which can be found . Storytime: 'The Little Round House' During the week we went apple and quince scrumping in a nearby abandoned orchard. We spent a delightful warm, stormy day picking apples, pears and blackberries by the river. Apple and pear scrumping At the end of the week, we visited the local raw, organic/biodynamic honey producers Miellerie Honey. The children were taken through the honey shed and shown how the frames and honey is extracted. They even got to taste the different flower honeys and dip their own beeswax candles! I wasn't able to attend due to an appointment but the boys tell me it was a wonderful morning. Miellerie Honey Tour Mr 5's journal entry (dictated to me) This week we had another tooth-fairy visit, this time to Mr 7 who swallowed his tooth! He wrote this sweet little note for the tooth fairy, and popped it under his pillow with his tooth-fairy pouch. Rest assured the tooth fairy did indeed visit to collect the note and leave a beautiful crystal in the pouch. Phew! This night it is a special night: Lithe fairies dance upon the roof; All the prancers must alight, For .......... has now lost a tooth! The Fairy Queen gives her commands: Twelve bright fairies must join hands And together in the circle stand To guard .......... while he sleeps. The Tooth Fairy into the circle now leaps, And the hidden tooth she takes; Oh, she has so far to go, Before sleepyhead .......... awakes. Three times around the world she flies, O'er valleys deep and mountains high; She skirts the storm clouds thick with thunder, And wings o'er waves all wild with wonder. Deep within their earthly home Finally she finds the gnomes, Who upon the tooth must work, And never once their duty shirk. Some are hammering, hammering, hammering, While some the bellows blow; Others must sweat at the sweltering forge, And then cry out, "Heigh-ho!" The tooth has been turned into a crystal bright, A glittering, glowing gem; The Tooth Fairy takes the gnomes' gleaming gift And bows to all of them. Before the sun's first rays are shown, She returns to .......... bed; Places the gem beneath his head, And then--away she's flown! (32 lines = 32 teeth) Week 3 Snippets from our week... Form Drawing This week we read Chapter 6 of our story which can be found and we practised circles as our weekly form. LHS: Mr 5's forms RHS: Free drawing from the story LHS: Mr 7's forms RHS: Free drawing from the story Finishing our alphabet journey & Container Story This week was a rather momentous week as we reached the very end of our Grade One alphabet journey and the end of our year long ! Both boys were so proud of their work, particularly Mr 7 who finally finished off his year long handwork project needle-felting an entire alphabet bunting. It was such a nice feeling for all of us to round off our Container Story and finish Grade 1 Language Arts. TL: Finishing the Container Story TR: Sorting and binding our wax-resist watercolour painting into an alphabet book BL: Mr 7's alphabet bunting project finally complete! BR: Modelling the alphabet. Numeracy - Number 8 This week we explored the Number 8 using The Gnomes Gemstones stories and a story from page 40 of the Waldorf Early Childhood book 'Tell Me A Story' called 'Mother Spider'. Story: Mother Spider TL: The Gnomes Gemstones story for Number 8 TC: MLB Number 8 TR: Handwork: Modelling from the story using beeswax ML: 8 notes in an octave MC: Modelling the Number 8 MR: Chalkboard practise BL: Cuisenaire rods to make the Number 8 BC: Skip counting by 8's using the multiplication wheel BR: MLB Number 8 work Creative Writing TL & TR: Mr 5's Creative Writing Journal BL & BR: Mr 7's Creative Writing Journal Other Happenings... We are all really settling into the 'Children Of The Valley' homeschool group and finding a lovely pace. It's really nice to see the children settling into the rhythm as they become more familiar with it each week. This week we continued our 'Apples in Autumn' theme with apple verses and songs during Circle Time, a version of the story 'Why Do Apples Have Stars Inside?' from Madge A Bingham's book Overheard in Fairyland. The original story can be found . After outside play, the children came back inside to wet-felt these sweet little apples topped with a clove for their nature tables at home. Handwork: Wet-felted apples St. Patricks Day During the week we celebrated St Patrick's Day. I finally got around to finishing our little St Patrick's Day Story Bag, the inspiration for the idea from . St Patrick's Day 2016 This week we also spent a day foraging for blackberries as the blackberry season winds down, and we spent a lovely afternoon jamming them together. Blackberry foraging and jamming We also welcomed into our home, this lovely little gnome (which the boys have named Gas hilariously enough!) and the book we have been anticipating for so long 'The Way Of The Gnome' by Sieglinde De Francesca. We bought both treasures from a lovely local homeschooling family run online store Spiral Garden. The first book in the series 'A Donsy of Gnomes' is one of our family favourites. I've lost count of the times we've read it! The author's website Teach Wonderment is . Week 4 Snippets from our week... Form Drawing This week we read Chapter 7 of our story which can be found and we practised waves as our weekly form. LHS: Mr 5's form and free drawing from the story RHS: Mr 7's form and free drawing from the story Numeracy - Number 9 This week we explored the Number 9 using The Gnomes Gemstones stories and the well known Russian folktale 'The Enormous Turnip' a version of which can be found . The story is also known as 'Hugin and His Carrot', a version of which can be found . I added 8 farm animals to help our farmer pull the giant vegetable, so there were 9 helpers in all. As I am now in my third trimester, we also explored the 9 months of pregnancy and had a brief look at baby development each month. Mr 7 decided to use this to draw in his MLB. Story: 'The Enormous Turnip' TL: Story Puppetry TC: MLB Number 9 TR: handwork: Nine-pin gnome bowling! ML: Number practise MC: Modelling the Number 9 MR: Walking the Number 9 BL: Cuisenaire rods BC: Number 9 work in MLB BR: Skip counting by 9's using the multiplication wheel Creative Writing Both boys continue to dictate stories for me and then illustrate them. This is one of their favourite activities to do and their story telling is developing nicely. They have set themselves a goal each to try to fill the entire MLB with the one story! TR: Mr 5's creative writing journal BL & BR: Mr 7's creative writing journal LHS & RHS: Mr 7's creative writing journal Handwork Handwork: Mr 7's beeswax "self portrait" Other Happenings... Autumn Equinox The Autumn Equinox fell on the Sunday this year, and we spent the day working on the house and in the garden. We dug the last of the spuds and feasted on a harvest meal sourced entirely from the garden - fresh salads, freshly picked corn and tomatoes, and new potatoes with butter and garlic chives. During the day we also popped along to the Huon Small Farms Expo for a look. The story I chose for our Autumn Equinox gathering was from page 56 of 'Tell Me A Story', a story called 'Mother Earth and the Leaves', and as the last of our Russian Giant sunflowers have drooped their heads as their season comes to an end, I found this sweet little story to tell also, 'Why The Sunflowers Hang Their Heads' . Autumn Equinox 2016 Mr 7's carved mini pumpkin from the Autumn garden Easter We observed Easter in the following week in a fairly low key way this year. We listened to Martin & Sylvia's 'Whole World Easter' series by Sparkle Stories which offer a story every day in the 10 days lead up to Easter, and bring a nice comparison of Easter in Autumn for us in the Southern Hemisphere and Easter in Spring for the Northern Hemisphere. The audio books explain the Christian story of Easter in a way that is gentle for younger children. I also told Australian story of Easter in Autumn. We spent the Easter weekend as a family, baking hot cross buns, making hazelnut chocolate paste from nuts we collected, dipping beeswax candles, folding origami Easter Hares, and decorating the Easter Tree with watercolour painted eggs. Easter Sunday was, of course, begun before the sun rose with an egg hunt in the garden. Only a few eggs were stolen by cheeky quolls in the hours before daybreak! Easter 2016
I am always on the hunt for fun, new games and activities to practice sight words. This ode to the game, Battleship, is such a great way to keep students engaged while learning or reviewing sight words. The goal of the game is to the be first to find the other player’s buried treasure! Students […]
A list of the best children's books and videos for teaching measurement in the primary classroom. Teachers and students will enjoy learning this important math skill with these top choices.
Sight word flashcards for Dolch Sight Words Preschool to Grade 3. These easy-to-use, engaging flashcards are based on the Dolch sight word list. Try them for FREE today!
I love the whole idea of project-based learning! The idea of addressing all subject areas in the context of one project makes so much sense, and allows for better real-life application. I had dabbled in PBL a little bit, but never to the extent of this project, in which I asked students to design a zoo. This was the perfect project for the end of our strange traditional-turned-virtual school year, and the kids really took it and ran with it! They were able to complete it at their own pace, collaborating with their families, and it went so well that I'm already planning to use it again next year when we're (hopefully) back in the traditional classroom. While the task of designing a zoo sounds monumental, I broke it down into individual tasks for my students. Differentiation was easy as I gave families the freedom of doing more or less than suggested for each task, depending on the needs of their child and family. (Let's face it, crisis schooling is not the same as homeschooling; I know some families just didn't have time to go all-out on a project, and that's okay!) Using this in the traditional classroom will make for easy differentiation, too, and I've included teacher tips for both higher and lower lever learners for each task in the download which is available here in my store! This project includes all of the subjects and many first grade standards. First, students select animals to include in their zoo and conduct research on them, making notes about what they eat, what kind of climate they need, and more. Next, they design the habitats based on their research, and create a plaque for each animal exhibit. They work on mapping skills as they create a map of their zoo, and coding as they then use their map to give directions to popular destinations. Math is integrated as they come up with prices for tickets and extra amenities they included in their zoo, and also as they set a feeding schedule for their animals. After all of that work is done, they get to add in art and technology as they design advertisements and create a commercial. Some of my kids even decided to design t-shirts! It was so satisfying as a teacher to see all of the ways my students completed this project. After completing all of the tasks and research, most of them actually set up a physical zoo in their house, and they were incredibly creative! Some of them made animals out of clay, others used stuffed animals--one even used her sister wearing an animal hat! They all truly made it their own, while learning and applying skills along the way. I hope your class has as much fun with this as mine did! You can find it here in my shop or here in my TPT store. Keep teaching with heart and passion!
Inside you'll find an easy step-by-step How to Draw Pumpkin Tutorial Video and Pumpkin Coloring Page. Stop by and download yours for free.
Last week I attended the First Grade Conference in Nashville (Franklin) Tennessee. More on the amazing teachers I met there later in this post… During my guided reading session, I was asked how I tr
I’ve never really been happy with how I do morning work or you might call it bell ringers. From the moment my kids walked in they were immediately in school mode. Read this, solve that, get b…
