Garlic Press, Sponge and Water

Since we’re on our way to spring, and it isn’t that cold to play with water anymore, I decided that it was time for some water play.  This is a water transfer practical life activity using a garlic press and sponge.  I placed a towel underneath to absorb water spills.

It was difficult for him to squeeze water out of the press.  It was too big and heavy for his little hands.

With a little help (because he doesn’t want me to intervene) he successfully squeezed the water out.

But then he realized, why use a press when he can use his hands!

And thus the fun begin! Squeezing water out using his hands and it was more enjoyable that using a garlic press LOL.

 

Later, with all spills and mess... I was able to convince him that he should be the one cleaning up, not me :)

Large Numbers and Bead Activities

My son got interested with beads this week so we  worked on some Montessori inspired activities to make use of our math beads.   The cards were downloaded from Montessori Print Shop for free, the beads were homemade and since I don’t have hundred beads, I printed out on a cardstock a graphic version of it.  And I read a few tutorials from the web to able to present the activity in a step by step manner.

Be sure that your kids are familiar with beads works before doing this exercise.  Here are some of our activities related to bead works: Bead Stairs, tens and teens.

Exercise 1: Reading of large number cards.  I did this using the three period lesson.  After mastering the teens (10 to 19), we worked on reading the tens.  I place the 1’s on the left and the tens on the right.   This is how my 3 lesson period goes:

Step 1:  “This is 11”. (Placing 1 on the right side of 10).  10 and 1 is eleven.  I did the same thing with 25 and 32 and etc.

Step 2.  “Show me 11”.  This time, Mavi has to form the number 11 and etc.

Step 3:  This time I form the numbers and would ask him “What number is this?”

Exercise 2:  Introduced the number cards and the beads (1’s, 10’s and 100’s).  I’m still figuring out how to make a thousand cube thus the absence of it in this activity. 

Exercise 2.  Matching game of number cards and their quantities.  I demonstrated first what to do so he can understand the concept behind it.  Here I am showing him how to put quantities for 80.  Here, I would ask, “How many tens do we need to make 80?”.

Here on how we form quantities for the hundreds.  Same goes for the hundred, asking him “How many hundreds do we need to make 300?”.

 

Now after a couple of presentations, I told him that this time, he should put the right amount of beads according to the number cards I place on the tray. He struggled at first, especially with the hundreds. 

He knows his short beads very well so he didn’t find it hard if I asked him for the 1’s.

Supposedly, we were to do this the other way around, with me putting the quantities and having him match it with the correct number cards but we he was already complaining that he’s tired so we have to stop. 

Large number cards matching with beads is a great activity for child to learn the connection between written symbols and their quantities.  Montessori beads are really a favorite of mine, but sadly, they’re waaay beyond our budget so I just have to settle with DIY.

The following day we did some short beads exercises.  He loved this activity because he gets to color and write his numbers at the same time.  The bead worksheets were from The Helpful Garden which I downloaded for free!

 

 

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B4FIAR: Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?

Sharing to you the activities that we had to go along with Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? unit.  Sorry for the overdue post, we’ve been enjoying the outdoors these days... and that explains the less homeschool activities.

I dressed him in red shirt and blue pants... “Just like Jesse Bear Mommy!” he said.

  

Clipcards from Homeschool Creations.

Learning how to read, write and spell.

Sorting the foods  that Jesse Bear ate.  Surprisingly, he got it all correct.

Completing the pattern.

We use potatoes for stamping and he draw the family of Jesse Bear using oil pastels.

         

We had Bear in 4 Seasons craft.

Sort out clothing according to season.

After our sorting game, he wanted to show me his shoes too... and we arranged it according to season as well (winter, spring, summer and autumn).

Same thing with his coats and jackets LOL.

 

For math, we measure fruits and vegetables.

 

He loves to dress his bear :)

   

It was a fruitful unit.  He keeps on telling me “I love Jesse Bear Mommy, it’s my favorite!”.   And I love that fact that he enjoys the Before FIAR approach, that once in a while he gets to have an in depth knowledge of certain books and exposure to literature. 

Learning how to Measure

Another activity we did for our Before FIAR unit last week was measuring fruits and vegetables using a ruler and a tape measure.  I list the names of the objects that we used on a paper and added two lines for each object for the result (ruler, tape measure).

 

We used the ruler to measure the height and ended up measuring the circumference using the tape measure.  Anyway, using the result I discussed why the the circumference has a bigger value compared to the height of the apple.

 

For the carrots, it was easy to measure the length using both medium.

  

Then he asked what’s the number on both sides of the ruler for.  Though it’s pretty early for me to discuss centimeters and inches, I explained it a little bit to him.  I realize that he gets confused on which side to use.  Maybe I should have used a customized measuring tool wherein there’s only one unit to use :)

Our record sheet.  It was fun!  Am thinking of measuring his body parts the next time we do measuring.  For sure he would love it!

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