Posted by Cindy on May 31, 2007
Whether it’s a unit, a special holiday, someone’s birthday or just something you want to do to peak your children’s interest in a certain subject, think about creating a special place of learning in your home to create a buzz of inquisitiveness in your children. We call them learning centers, but you call them whatever you like.
Insects Anyone?
In this learning center I’ve placed some bumblebee fabric (that I already had) on a little table in our hallway. I’ve included a bowl of plastic bugs, some insect books (nonfiction and fiction), a bug box with built in magnifier, sketchbooks and colored pencils, insect life cycle cards (handmade from internet photocopies), bug stickers and some fun reproducibles I found on the internet.
Since we’re not really “schooling” right now, I’m using this table as more of an exploration center for the time being. I’ll probably change a few of the current items out in a couple of days.Maybe adding the Cootie game, some play dough for bug sculpting, some insect coloring/labeling sheets and a self-explanatory experiment.
In two days’ time, my children have LOVED this display and have soaked up every book and goody I’ve put out. I’m off to plan more displays………..
Posted by Cindy on May 29, 2007
If you’re anything like me, art tends to take somewhat of a back seat to other subjects during the school year. So, I’ve decided to make an art center that will stay around all summer long!
I plan to fill it with all sorts of goodies, but only a few at a time. I’ll change out the supplies every week or two to keep the center fresh and exciting. I’ll also check out a couple of books on a new artist every couple of weeks to put in the center, too.
The center is in my kitchen (where we spend a lot of time!), with an old sheet underneath. There’s plenty of wall space for the artists to display their work, too!
Here’s what the first week’s table looks like - a Picasso book, colorful clay, tie-dye kit, oil pastels and plenty of paper. I picked really colorful supplies because Picasso used lots of bright color in his art.
I don’t know what other artists I’ll spotlight, but here’s a list of supplies I have on hand to use throughout the summer: watercolors, acrylic paints, sponges, food coloring, paint pens, marbling kit, markers, crayons, colored pencils, toothbrushes, pastels, charcoal, face paints, craft scissors, foam shapes, foam sheets, glitter glues, fabric, scrapbook paper, construction paper, pipe cleaners, wood shapes, wood scraps, beads, yarn, brayers, colored sand, sequins, feathers, old cards, old magazines, sculpey clay, glitter, goodly eyes, pom poms, stickers, tissue paper, ribbon, styrofoam…….
Remember to keep an eye out for some of these things at yard sales and Goodwill! I stock up on many things in July at the Back-to-School sales. I also use a lot of recyclables.
Whether young or old, I think all ages can benefit from an art center. Even if you school year ’round, you could easily incorporate this sort of center into your regular schedule. Personally, a summer’s worth of art in my kitchen will be enough! Until next summer, that is.
Related Tags: homeschool, summer, art, crafts, artists
Posted by Cindy on April 22, 2007
I call it summer break because we put aside the normal daily work load, but the summer is far from a break from learning. We have so much fun, though, that I have been able to disguise the learning part so far!
Mom is “off duty” for the most part, but I always have a stash of planned out activities. I try to give them something planned by me everyday – an art project, a science experiment, a trip to the library, maybe even a math page to keep the skills up. For the rest of the day, I try to provide them with lots of neat ideas to keep themselves busy. I don’t demand that they do the extra things. If they want to hang out in the kiddie pool the rest of the day, that’s fine by me. But most days, I hear the words, “I’m Bored!” too many times. So here’s a list of some of the things I have available to them:
Art - a stash of idea books, some old Abeka Art books I found at a curriculum sale, and lots of materials
watercolors, tissue paper, glue, markers, colored pencils, foam shapes, foam sheets, pipe cleaners, clay, play dough, chalk, pastels, oil pastels, tempera paints, lots of paper types, fun scissors, scrapbooking materials, old magazines, crayons, rulers, googly eyes, pom pom balls, sponges, rubber stamps…………
Crafts – I keep on hand (for Mahayla mostly), books on knitting, crocheting and sewing with all the materials for these, lots of beads, and the occaisional cheapo craft set from the dollar store or WalMart.
Science experiment books – I’ve run across many of these at yard sales. My kids love to try experiments on their own!
Science craft books – these are fun. They include projects like making bird feeders, windchimes, water microscopes…………I found most of these at yard sales, too.
Nature study – We have a bag packed and ready for them to take off on their own nature walks/hunts. We live on a farm, so they have a tad bit of freedom in this area. In the bag we keep things like a hand-held microscope, baggies for collections, colored pencils and drawing paper, magnifying glass, Fandex field guides, sunscreen……………….
Library trips – We do what I call “free reading” during the summer. Books that have nothing to do with some sort of unit we’re studying or checklist we need to check off. The kids both pile up their stacks to take home and we just sit around and read, read, read all summer. The trampoline is a great place for reading, by the way.
Field Trips – I like to just get up and go a lot during the summer. We are blessed with many educational day trip destinations in Central KY!
I try to keep up with daily Bible reading to them. Like I mentioned before, I still throw in the occasional math worksheet. The kids like to buy and work through the fun dollar store workbooks, so I’ll pull those out some days. Rainy days are good for computer games. I don’t let them have too much “free time” on the computer during the school year, so I don’t feel bad allowing more in the summer.
I also make and print out a 100 Things To Do If I’m Bored list. I’ve found several on the internet that I paste into a Word Document, then tweak to fit our family. Do an internet search. The lists have great ideas!
One thing my children have come up with that yours might enjoy – they’ve created spy journals. The spy journals are just steno pads. They have the most fun creating secret codes, spying on Dad or Papaw and writing down what they’ve seen, meeting in secret hideouts to discuss a mission……Hey, it’s creative thinking and writing practice!! I love it!
Summer is not a time to slack from chores! They continue to have assigned chores daily. I love summer break!! Twelve days to go!
Posted by Cindy on February 28, 2007
Have you ever heard of Preschool In A Bag activities? Basically, they are learning activities stored in a ziplock that can be given to preschoolers to keep them busily learning while Mom works with other children. I loved the idea, but don’t have a preschooler right now. But, there are times when I need to keep Caleb (1st grade) busy when he finishes school before Mahayla, so I put together some “Busy Boxes” for him. It’s been a hit, so I thought I’d share the idea.
I bought several (12, I think) plastic shoeboxes at WalMart. Then, I went through my school room, kitchen, office, art supply box, and card & game shelf. I gathered things that were:
1. small enough to fit in the boxes.
2. easy enough for him to do without explanation or help.
3. fun, yet educational.
Then I put several different activities in each of the boxes.
All the boxes contain activities in several subject areas – math, language, science/history/geography, art…. For example, one box might contain addition flashcards, rubber stamps & ink, magnetic letters and a bird memory game. Another box might contain plastic coins, word tiles, a fabric map and stickers.
When he’s finished with his work, but I’m not quite ready to “set him free”, I’ll ask him to choose a busy box. He pulls one off the shelf and decides what activities he’d like to do from the box. My only rule is: ONLY ONE BOX. When one comes off the shelf, that’s the one he works with. Otherwise, he’d pull every one of them down looking for “just the right activity. He’d spend so long looking, that no activities would actually be done!
What can you put in a busy box?
*manipulatives – coins, pattern blocks, attribute blocks, buttons to sort, clock, magnetic numbers, tangrams, base ten blocks, linking cubes, calculator, dominoes, anything!
*building blocks
*easy puzzles
*handheld electronic games
*language manipulatives – magnetic letters, word tiles, I’m drawing a blank here!
*art supplies – stickers, glitter glue, special markers/crayons, fun scissors, pom poms, google eyes, popsicle sticks, paper punches, rubber stamps & ink, stencils, anything!
*flashcards – math, presidents, geography, any type!
*cool pens and small pads of paper
*maps to explore
*matching games
*science manipulatives – magnets, measuring cups & rice, magnifying glasses, plastic bugs/dinosaurs, small food scale, small microscope & slides, shells, life cycle cards
*history manipulatives – plastic cowboys & indians, timelines to put in order
*games that can be done by self – like Jenga, Blockhead, Rush Hour Jr., SET, Brick By Brick
*little craft packages like you might get from Oriental Trading or the Dollar Store
*playdough
Please leave a comment if you have other ideas to add to the Busy Box list!!!
