Collection of Winter Books for Kids

Christmas books are back in storage, and winter books are out for us to explore! Here are some of the books we own and will read throughout this winter.

Merry Christmas Pinay Homeschooler Readers!

Wishing all our family, friends, readers and followers near or far a blessed Christmas!!

Advent at Home

How do you observe Advent?  We are doing Jesse Tree (more on this later) and Advent candles at home.  Each Sunday of Advent, the boys and I would light up a candle in our Nativity.  These are beeswax candles that Vito made and used it together with our candle stand from Grimm’s.  He totally enjoys this simple tradition!

Using the Four Seasons Addition Clipcards

Enjoy the fun in learning addition with this winter-themed addition clipcards.  Vito is currently obsessed with adding numbers so I made these seasons addition clipcards  for him to work with to help enrich his skills in addition.  These are so easy to prepare and use.  Below are the recommended manipulatives that you can use with the cards for a hands-on approach in learning addition.

Ideas on How to Introduce Land and Water Forms to Kids

We have worked on a few activities on land and water forms over the years and so I came up with a roundup post for reference.

Christmas Preschool and Kindergarten Learning Materials

Christmas is just around the corner, and I am so excited to share what’s within our preschool unit in this happiest and most colorful time of the year!  These activities are perfect for home and school settings.  They are designed for preschoolers and kindergartens specifically for kids ages 3 to 6 years old.

Thanksgiving Pattern Blocks Spin and Build

Here’s an activity that Vito and I enjoyed playing together lately.  It is an extension work for our Thanksgiving Preschool Unit where we integrate math (shapes) to Thanksgiving symbols and icons.  We call this activity Spin and Build because we spin the spinner for the shapes we will be using to form the puzzle.

Solar System and Space Preschool Mini Unit

Introducing our SPACE UNIT for kids from 3-5 years of age! Lots of hands-on learning activities!

 

Fun Thermometer Reading in Space

Vito loved our penguin thermometer reading activity , and because of this, I have to include something similar in our Outerspace Preschool Mini Unit.  This is great for learning how to recognize “tens” and how to read a thermometer.

Christmas Themed Counting Activities

Can you believe that it’s Christmas time in less than 2 months?  With this holiday season coming, I’d like to share this fun Christmas tree decorating and counting activity.  I made this last year but didn’t make it to the blog and shop.  The boys had so much fun putting “decors” into their tree with playdough.  You might want to check this out.

Montessori Addition, Subtraction, and Multiplication Booklets

I finally completed organizing my materials and I am so happy to share some of our favorite materials in math, the addition, subtraction, and multiplication booklets!  These goodies are some of the most downloaded free materials in our shop and I am so glad that it’s helping a lot of school teachers and homeschoolers.  These Montessori booklets are used with Montessori math materials but can also be used as worksheets alone.  These booklets are perfect for practice and repetition works.

Seasonal Pattern Blocks Mats (with FREE Download)

I am so excited to share the latest craze in our house lately, the pattern block mats!  I made these printable materials because my boys are totally obsessed with making “pictures” and objects using our pattern blocks (bought from Amazon).  We own this and the magnetic version since Vito was a baby but the boys’ needs keep growing and I decided to provide them with picture mats so they can create not just plain pattern block objects but objects that integrate in beautiful backgrounds for a more imaginative play.  The best thing about this printable is that we can print and reuse them over and over again!

Pumpkin Themed Activity Trays for Kids

We are halfway through with our pumpkin activities and I'm sharing some of the highlights in this post!  Below are learning activities on pumpkins which are perfect for homeschoolers and those in the classroom.  I made a short description of each activity and added links to the materials that we used for you as reference.  Enjoy!

Our Collection of Autumn Books

I have a growing list of autumn books which I’d like to share with you.  This is a collection of fiction and non-fiction books, so they are perfect for kids of all ages.  We read them day and night these days to understand and appreciate this beautiful season!

Halloween Themed Monster Letter and Number Cards

Happy first day of October!!! I can already smell Halloween in the air! The boys got their costumes yesterday and are so excited for Halloween! Speaking of which, I'm pleased to introduce our Monster Lab Letter and Number Cards. These will be perfect for your Halloween-themed activities for October. 

Halloween Themed Counting Activities

Are you getting into the Halloween spirit already?  I have fun counting activities for your kids this Halloween season if you are celebrating!

Candy Corn Letter and Number Cards

Happy first day of October!!!  I can already smell Halloween in the air!  The boys got their costumes and are so excited for Halloween!  Speaking of which, I’m so excited to introduce our Candy Corn Letter and Number Cards.  These will be perfect for your Halloween-themed activities for October.  Read on and take a look!

Learning About Leaves

The last week of September has brought us to explore more about leaves.  The rapid change in colors and the rate of how they fall from the trees has ignited Vito’s interest on leaves thus we worked on some activities based on these interests.  Below are some of the activities (and ideas) on leaf studies and links to the resources that we used.

Montessori Inspired Apple Activities

I'm sharing our apple activities for the past weeks.  Autumn is definitely apple season and it’s the perfect time to explore this amazing and nutritious fruit!  Below are our top 5 Montessori-inspired activities that you and your kids will love in learning about apples.

Fall Leaves Counting Activities

It is finally autumn, and counting leaves has never been this fun!

Apple Letter and Number Cards

I love creating matching letter and number cards for themed units! I've been doing this since I homeschooled my eldest, and Vito loves it too! Today, I'm sharing our beautiful apple letter and number cards, which we've used for years, so you, can enjoy these beautiful learning materials. These cards can be used in so many ways. I'm giving a few ideas below, but the possibilities are endless!

Apple Number Bond Activities

Using our Apple Number Bond learning materials is a fun way to learn number decomposition this autumn. Vito is currently learning tens and number bonds as preparation for early addition.

Fall Autumn Preschool and Kindergarten Learning Materials

I am so excited to present our beautiful Fall Autumn Preschool Unit Pack (also for kindergarten).  I carefully designed this one big bundle so my child and yours will have the best experience in learning about this colourful autumn season.  Like all of our MEGA PACKS, this unit contains 30 hands-on learning activities your kids will truly enjoy.  Below are some of the activities that we have started working on already.  Some of the materials included in this pack are old activities from last year, which I haven't shared and published, and Vito still loves doing them!

Pumpkin Letter and Number Cards

The pumpkin season is here!  Take a look at our beautiful pumpkin cards which are perfect for the harvest season!

Life Cycle of Apples for Preschoolers

Autumn time is apple season and the perfect time to learn about them! We started our "apple" week last Monday, and today, Vito and I just finished learning where apples came from. I was so inspired by our Water Cycle activity (Vito loved this activity so much!) that I decided to do the same approach with our Apple study.

Learning about Insects for Home and School

Assembling unit studies is one of the things that I like doing.  Last summer, we worked on insects and I made a compilation of work which the boys did over the years on learning about these amazing animals.  You will absolutely love these ideas and they are perfect for kids from 5 to 10 years old.

Montessori Teens and Tens Extension Work

A few weeks ago, I shared some of the extension works that Vito was doing on the teens and the tens on my Instagram. We didn't own the complete set of Sequin Boards, so I decided to make our own materials to do more exercises and not be limited by the boards. I have talked about learning about teens the Montessori way here and in this post. In this post, I will give you a walk-through of how we learn more about the tens and how we practice counting bigger numbers (from 11 to 100).

FREE Pinecone Letter and Number Cards

My freebie of the month is no other than the pinecone letters and number cards!  Our pumpkin and apple has been very popular lately so I wanted to share these pinecone cards for free!

Apple Counting Activity

We’ve been working on apple-themed activities for the past few days, and I just have to include this fun counting activity.

Learning About Number Bonds for Kids

Help your child understand number bonds with our fun and engaging learning materials.  They are so easy to use and prepare!  These number bond activities will aid your kids, and students in understanding "Parts of a whole", basic addition, subtraction, and number recognition.  These will keep your little ones engaged as these learning materials encourage the use of manipulatives which promote hands-on learning and real-world experience in object manipulation and counting.

Back to School: Our Math Learning Resources

We are using Montessori Math albums in our homeschool so our math works revolve mostly on classic Montessori materials.  I also integrate seasonal activities in our learning activities to add some twist.  I got my albums from Montessori Parent and KHT Montessori for early childhood.  These are amazing resources that have helped me understand the order of materials to use and basically how to use them.  We tend to do a lot of extension works, something that are not included in most of these albums.  I share these activities mostly in my Instagram account and hopefully I will have some time to share them here in the blog as well.

Note that this list is for our personal homeschooling only.  It doesn’t reflect what’s in a Montessori classroom.  The list serves as my guide in the subject area and Vito's possible activities this school year.  Although I have a plan and a guide it doesn’t mean that Vito is forced to work on all of these for the next 10 months.  Depending on Vito's interest and progress, we will choose which activity to do and prioritize.

Back to School Preschool and Kindergarten Learning Materials

School is just around the corner and I have prepared a COMPLETE back to school set that you will totally love!  All activities that you need to get your kids and students to be in the mood for exploring, learning, and practicing their fine motor skills are included in this set of preschool activities.  There are 30 activities in this set, all engaging and encourages hands-on learning.  I am sharing a few activities here so you will have a better idea of what you will be expecting from our BACK TO SCHOOL PACK.

Human Body Montessori-Friendly Learning Materials

In today’s post, I want to share a few Montessori-friendly materials that we use in learning about the human body.  I’ve been often asked about this topic so I prepared a dedicated post to specifically tackle this.

Preschool Learning Zoo Unit Pack

I am so happy to share our Zoo Preschool Literacy and Preschool Math Learning Materials with you. Like our popular Ocean Unit Preschool Learning Materials, our Zoo Unit also contains 30 fantastic and engaging learning activities that your little ones will definitely love!  Below are some of the activities that Vito worked on early this month to give you an idea of what learning activities can be done with these unique materials.

Learning Number Bonds with Ten Frames

Years ago, I made a post about number bonds and how my eldest used it at home to learn basic addition.  And now I’m working with it again with Vito, my almost 5 years old boy.  Months ago, he discovered the joy of adding numbers using his fingers so we started with basic addition using the Montessori Addition board.  He got tired with it quite a bit so I introduced number bonds.

Spin and Trace: Alphabet Writing Game for Preschoolers

Last month, I made these tracing and writing sheets for Vito to add some spice in his writing activities.  He loves the salt tray and Montessori sandpaper, but these sheets are so helpful as they require less preparation and no mess.  The activity sheet requires you to create a spinner using a paper clip and a pencil (or a pushpin if you have one).  Colored pencils or markers are also needed.

Preschool Unit Ocean Learning Pack

Summer is finally here, and look what I have for you! 30 OCEAN THEME ACTIVITIES for your PRESCHOOLERS are all about sea life and the ocean! This learning pack is a collection of activities we worked on for years at home with my two boys and has everything you need for weeks or month-long learning. These are engaging, educational, and, most importantly, fun! Most activities encourage the parent/teacher to use manipulatives, promoting hands-on and play-based learning. These activities are designed for 3-4 years old (preschoolers or kindergarten), and they aim to immerse the child in the concepts rather than force them to memorize them.

4th of July Math and Literacy Centers

This 4th of July Math and Literacy Centers for preschoolers and kindergarten was made to provide for the needs of our American friends all around the world.  This learning pack is perfect for schools and homeschoolers who are doing work and "school" during summer.  Below is a preview of what you can expect in this learning set. Enjoy!

[FREE Printable] Feed the Snake Number Representation Activity

I finally had the time to put this up and share it with you.  It’s a number representation game we played weeks ago while working on our letter S and it’s about feeding the snake. Vito loves this activity and enjoyed the idea of feeding the snake with the matching count or number representation.

Go Find It: A Montessori Friendly Summer Game

If you are looking for ways to entertain your kids during the summer days (longer days), here’s one of the games that we love to play after dinner.  Yes after dinner!  My kids are finding it hard to sleep nowadays  because our sunset is literally around 9-9:30PM.  So for this 12 Months of Montessori Series, I am sharing Go Find It, a FUNtastic outdoor game for kids of all ages!

World Continents Activity Using Playdough

We’ve done a lot of world continents activities for the past years but this has got to be one of the boys’ favorites!  We had so much fun forming the continents with our playdough.  This is such a lovely learning activity not just about continents but a fun way to keep those little fingers at work, promoting hand-eye coordination and concentration.

FREE Beginning Letter Sound Posters and Cards (SAMPLER)

We are starting a new approach to our literacy activities.  To have some variety in our literacy activities I decided to pause our usual pink series (Beginning Letter Sound Activity Sheets) and move to Jolly Phonics.  Jolly Phonics is a curriculum used here in Ireland (and UK).  My eldest loved it, especially the action sounds that went along with the letters.

Real Life 3D Activity Cards

As an extension work for our Montessori Solids and real life 2D Shapes activities, Vito and I had fun working on our 3D real life activity cards weeks ago.  We used our geometric solids so Vito can have a real understanding of what these objects look and feel like.  To know more about these solids, I talked about it here.  If these are not available, Amazon carries Learning Resources 3D materials which are perfect alternatives for these Montessori solids.

Four Seasons Sorting Activity

The days are getting longer, and we are having more sun than rain, so we are spending most of our time outdoors these days and observing the changes in our environment. I posted our nature finds and observations on my Instagram account, and Vito loves so many things in our surroundings (like insects and flowers!). With all these changes, we started rereading our tree book, defining each season and the changes we see around us.

In this Hands-On activity, you will see how Vito learned about the four seasons and the things associated with each season with the help of our Four Seasons Sorting Learning Material. You can get this printable from here or click the image below on its product page.

Color Mixing Experiment with Baking Soda

We’ve done a lot of color mixing activities in the past to learn about primary and secondary colors.  Last week we worked on color mixing with baking soda and vinegar.  It demonstrated not just the science of “what happens when you mix colors” but it was a great way to entertain kids!

Water Cycle Activities for Preschoolers

Rainy season can be a good time to introduce the water cycle to your child. Here are a few tips, resources, and activities on how to start.

Montessori Inspired Dinosaur Activity Trays for Preschoolers

This is a long overdue post because we’ve been doing a lot of outdoor activities lately.  Most kids are really fascinated with dinosaurs, especially my eldest who’s obsessed with these prehistoric animals.  So last Easter break, we revisited some of our dinosaur activities and introduced new ones to Vito.  Here’s a roundup of our dinosaur activities which both of the kids enjoyed during the break and I hope your kids will love this too.

Dinosaur Excavation Activity

I have a spare dinosaur excavation kit which I kept for years, waiting for Vito to be old enough to work on it.  Well, that time finally arrived and I gave it to him so he’ll experience what it’s like to be an archaeologist, even for a day.  Here’s a pretend play of how scientists are able to put up dinosaur bones in the museums!

Life Cycle Activities for Kids

Life cycles have fascinated my kids throughout the years. We often worked on them during springtime, but I would sometimes add them in our animal or plant studies too.  I’m often asked how do I introduce this subject area to my kids and I would always say that it really depends on their age and interest. For the young ones, it’s all about play-based learning and storytelling.  While for older kids, they are drawn towards the details and the science behind them.

To give you an idea, here’s our progressive way of learning the life cycles.

Montessori Multiplication: Extension Work

My son wants to master his multiplication tables, especially for bigger numbers.  We are using both the Chinese/Singapore math (abstraction) method and Montessori when it comes to mastering his mathematical skills. For Montessori, though we have the Multiplication board, Mavi prefers using the colored beads as these keep him engaged and he thinks that they are more “fun”.  With this, I am so excited to share the learning materials we use to aid his mastery of multiplication using extension activities that goes perfectly with the Montessori colored beads.

These learning materials were very helpful, and my son enjoyed working on the extension activities.  The best thing about these learning materials is that they grow with your child and you can print them again and again so your child can practice each multiplication table through the years.