TOS Review: Dive into Your Imagination

We love studying the ocean – from the coral reefs to the dark depths of the ocean.  I was given the chance to review Dive into Your Imagination’s Dive into Diversity DVD curriculum.

Annie Crawley, the founder of Dive Into Your Imagination, is a photo and broadcast journalist – turned – scuba diver and underwater cinematographer. She is the narrator behind each product, and shares with the viewers her expertise about ocean life!  Annie’s passion for conserving the ocean and sharing the joys of the amazing underwater world with children shine throughout her products!

Dive into Diversity is a 44 minute DVD and corresponding pdf teacher’s guides that walks through each chapter of the DVD.  The DVD is designed for grades preK – grade 3; however, the teacher guides are dividing into more specific abilities and reading levels – one for preK and kindergarten; the other for grades 1-3.

Topics on this DVD include: 

• night diving
• diversity within the ocean
• Submarines
• invertebrates
• vertebrates
• crustaceans
• coral reefs
• the kelp forest.

The segments on the DVD are filled with Annie’s underwater footage, and then narrated with interesting facts about the different animals seen in the shots.

For each lesson on the the PreK-K teacher’s guide, you will find lesson objectives, a character education trait, vocabulary words, materials needed, lead-in questions, imaginative play script, activities, extension ideas, suggested books, follow-up activities and discussions, transcript of the DVD, and printables.

So, what did we think?

I believe the true test for a DVD is how often it is requested.  Aikman asked to watch it one afternoon.  The following day, we were heading on a weekend getaway with my family, and I let him choose any of the DVDs from our extensive movie collection to take with us.  He chose to take Dive Into Diversity!  In fact, after watching it once on the way there, he and his cousins begged to watch it 3 more times that weekend!

Personally, I was quite impressed with how well this DVD is put together.  It is very informative, with quite captivating scenes that have been filmed.  I even learned quite a bit by watching the clips.  It will definitely be a DVD that we will reference again and again.  I also appreciate her use of real terminology that she uses within the narration; she doesn’t “water down” terms or explanations because this is a kids product. 

In fact, in the fall, we will begin a biome study, including an in-depth study of the ocean, and I am already planning on buying Exploring Coral Reefs since we have enjoyed this one so much!  (See below for the SWEET deal that she’s offering!)

You can purchase Dive into Diversity or any of her other products through her store.  The DVD sells for $19.95, while the educators guides that contains all of the lessons sells for $299 printed or $69.95 as a pdf.

The best news is that Dive Into Your Imagination is offering FREE SHIPPING on all orders in June!

PLUS, if you mention to her that you are a homeschool parent who saw these reviews, you will receive the educator’s guide for the products you purchase for FREE!!!  (Educator guides are available for Dive Into Diversity, What Makes a Fish a Fish, and Who Lives in the Sea)  That’s more than a $70 savings!

Read what other Homeschool Crew members think of the Dive Into Your Imagination products here.

Disclosure:  I received a free copy of Dive into Diversity DVD and the corresponding educator’s guide for free, in exchange for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any other way!

Montessori math organization using a tacklebox

 

For the past few weeks, I have been working hard on organizing our supplies and classroom.  After seeing this post on Making Montessori Ours, I knew that I wanted to change our old sound bins cabinet so that it would hold our math materials.

I use this hardware cabinet from Lowes, but I’d actually think this one would be much better, since it has 4 rows across the bottom – perfect for holding the operations work horizontally. 

 

 

 

To divide the drawers into compartments, I cut chipboard so that it fit into the boxes perfectly; however, you may prefer to purchase the small and large dividers that go with this set.  To the right, you can see where I’ve added additional pieces of chipboard, taped into position, to divide the static and dynamic operations.  I also added a piece of construction paper behind each section, as a visual divider for the different sections.

 

So what’s inside?

Row 1:  nothing mathematical… in fact, it’s storage until I purchase a new cabinet to store our language materials in!  However, it will eventually hold dice, positive and negative snake game, math related card games, and other math manipulatives.

Row 2: 

• shape sticks (popsicle sticks that create the different 2D shapes, similar to these, but ours go up to a decagon and the sticks are color coded)
• geometric shape sorting cards
• geometric solid sorting cards
• blank (it is labeled constructive triangle command cards, but they were too large for the slot and have been moved to the bottom right box)
• detective adjective command cards
• strips for addition and subtraction strip board

Row 3: 

• Stamp game (I have a set that I’ve made, but you can print a set and instructions on how to use it here)
• box 1:  number cards
• box 2:  plastic tokens
• box 3:  wooden skittles
• measuring cup command cards
• box 4:  amounts to 1 cup
• box 5: amounts to 4 cups**
• measuring spoon command cards**

Row 4: 

• addition equation strips
• multiplication equation strips
• subtraction equation strips
• division equation strips
• fraction command cards (as seen in this post)
• rulers**

Row 5:

• addition finger chart cards  (finger charts are stored separately – that’s a future post!)
• multiplication finger chart cards
• subtraction finger chart cards
• division finger chart cards
• small number cards (can be found here, but I made my own)
• number command cards (I made mine, but you can use these place value cards)

Row 6: 

• addition command cards
• multiplication command cards
• subtraction command cards

Row 7: 

• addition booklet (sequential and random order)
• multiplication booklet (sequential and random order)
• subtraction booklet (sequential and random order)

Row 8: 

• division command cards
• division booklet (sequential and random order)
• blue constructive triangle cards from here and here

Note:  Items marked ** are files that I created that will be coming out in future posts.  As these are posted, I will update this post with the corresponding links.

 

Like our labels?  I added an image beside the text, so Aikman could easily see what was included in each box, without necessarily having to read the words.  The images came off of the MPS website.   Jennifer at MPS is allowing me to share my printable for the labels with her images included.  You can download the math cabinet labels here.

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If this is your first time visiting Montessori Tidbits, don’t miss the great activities and ideas that are shared on our Facebook page and G+ profile!

I’m linking up to Montessori Monday and Math Monday.

Disclosure:  Hardware cabinets and accessories above are linked to my Amazon affiliate code.  The very small amount of money that I make on Amazon is used to support our curriculum needs for each school year.  All other links are to the Montessori Print Shop store, to which I am not affiliated.

Wordless Wednesday: Graduation

Organizing your books with Library Thing

With school being officially “out”, I’ve been working hard to organize our classroom and resources.  After searching high and low, I’ve settled on organizing our books using Library Thing.

Library Thing is extremely useful, as it allows me to categorize and tag books.  I’ve removed most of the default categories, so that the only ones left are my library and wishlist. 

I search for a book, either by title/author or by ISBN.  If it is there, then I click on the thumbnail on the side of the page, and it adds it to my collection.  If not, then I manually add the book, which is quite painless, other than filling in a few database fields.

I also like that you can review the book, add a rating, add comments, list when the books was read, from it was was acquired, o even to whom it was loaned.  Library Thing even links to paperbackswap and Amazon, if you want to purchase this book.

I’m also tagging a lot of my books.  Some will have only 1 tag, but most will have 2-3 tags.  I love the flexibility to display tagged books on a subject, which will help me plan out supplemental books for studies.  Likewise, most of my books are already sorted by subject; by looking at the tags, I will have a good idea of which box each books is located.  For instance this is a sampling of the ancient civilizations book collection that I have, in preparation for our upcoming study of ancient civilizations and history.

What I’m most excited about is that it is an online service.  While I am out shopping for used books at our favorite used bookstores or yard sales, I can check to see if I already own this book, or I can pull up specific books that I know I want to look for.  In particular, I am DYING for field guides, so categorizing the field guides that I own and/or adding the ones that I want to our wishlist prevents me from buying a book I don’t particularly need.

Wanna see our library (so far… I’ve only used it for 2 days!)?  Here’s the link!

The best news – it’s free for the first 200 books (which I used up on our history books and 1/10 of our animal books).  After that it’s $10/year or $25 for a lifetime membership, which is a steal of a price for an online service.

Do you use Library Thing?  Please let me know what other features that I haven’t discovered yet!

Sun Scholars review and giveaway

A few weeks ago, Rachel at Sun Scholars offered me the chance to review her 2012 Sun Scholars program.  Man, was I impressed!  It is a flexible 12 week program that is fun, but educational at the same it.  Weekly, the program encompasses all major subjects – reading, writing, math, art, social studies, science, health, and life skills – with each week focusing on a different theme.  Each day includes four 15-minute lessons to complete.  One day’s lessons takes no more than 1-1.5 hours.  Then if your child is interested in the subject, you can take the time to explore more.  Each activity for the day is listed on a printable 1/2 sheet of paper, detailing directions, materials needed, extensions, and adaptations for younger and older children.

The weekly themes are:

• Getting started
• Mail Mania
• Animal Fun
• Mice, Cookies, and More
• The Great Outdoors
• Beach Party
• Secret Agents in Training
• Fun with Fairytales
• Space Explorers
• Back to School
• Hocus Pocus
• Incredible Me

I love how the program incorporates writing using a journal, calendar skills, and creating an address book – all great practical life activities that are then applied.  For instance, in week 1, you build an address book.  In week 2, the child writes a letter to someone.  Later, in week 6, the child creates a letter in a bottle, and uses the address book to write the address on the outside of the bottle.

This same idea of creating a useful finished product that is repeatedly used throughout the program – for the journal, calendar skills, and other aspects of the program.  Plus, an illustration of the final product as well as any printables needed are included within each task card!

We decided to explore week 9 – Space Explorers.  There were so many great activities in it.  I loved that it incorporated math, science, writing, and art all together in the unit!

Here’s a sample of what one of the 4 daily task cards looks like:

…. and here’s our finished result of it!  (Complements of my cute 4 year old nephew, who participated with us one day!)

Buy it:

You can purchase the full 12 week program on sale now for $30!  Believe me, it is WELL worth this value.  I am already planning on going back and starting at week 2, Mail Mania, and continuing through the rest of the summer, because Aikman has enjoyed this program so much!

Win in:

Wanna win a copy for FREE?

Leave me a comment below stating why you would be interested in this program.  Make sure you include your email address.  I will select a winner on May 31 via random.org.  This giveaway is open internationally.

Busting the boredom blues

Meaghan at The Tuckers Take Tennessee and one of the founders of Hip Homeschool Moms asked me to write a guest post for her blog about combatting boredom during the summer months.

Today, my post is live!  Hop on over and read the 7 Ways to Bust the Summer Boredom Blues.

5 Days of Making Math Fun: Apply it!

Thanks for stopping in today.  If you are just now joining in, feel free to check the other posts in this series:  top 25 math games and 10 must have manipulatives for teaching math.

Today, I’m sharing with you the importance of making math meaningful to kids.  As I was completing my graduate research, I learned that many kids are growing up not realizing that math relates to their everyday lives.  It’s in the everyday problem solving and number sense, which are not natural things for a child to pick up; they must be taught math! 

So, why is math so critical?  It’s in the realization that 50% off means take half of the price.  It’s in the lack of knowledge that many cashiers cannot make change without the help of the cash register.  It’s used when the carpenter wants to determine what angle to cut the wood planks for the pitch of the house, and then again when he needs to calculate how many shingles are needed for the roof.  It’s in the thinking skills for a lawyer to make a convincing and logical argument to a jury.  Even the computer you are on and the video games the kids play are based upon math concepts.  Math is truly everywhere.

… but math is just a bunch of numbers.  Don’t the kids just need to memorize the times tables?  Isn’t that enough?

NO!  That isn’t enough!  It is crucial they understand the why and the how; they must understand how it works and how to apply it to their own lives.

So, how do you teach applications?

1.  Those dreaded word problems.  Yes, I said it… WORD PROBLEMS.  However, instead of using fixed word problems that the kids can’t relate to, transform it into situations as they arise.  (So, I guess technically, I need to take out the term ‘word’, since it’s really just a real-life problem.)  Here’s an example:

Hey, Aikman, I have 3 apples.  Can you go get me 6 more?

Thanks, buddy. 

So, if I had 3 apples, and you just brought me some more, how many do I have now? 

Let’s see who can answer the fastest – me by counting them or you by thinking about it…

2.  Get out and use it.  The more kids see that math is out in the world, the more they will see value in learning it.  This website has great 1 page summaries of 24 different real-world examples that use mathematics – from earthquakes to facial recognition software to social networking.

… but my kids are small; they’ll eventually learn the math. 

There are so many ways to apply math to kids own lives, even as young as 2 or 3. 

• Play grocery story or restaurant.  Buy items, and then have the child tally up totals or make change.  Use real money.  Or, for a great real-life activity, set up a lemonade stand in your front yard – the little one gets practice with math and communication skills.
• Measure! Measure! Measure!  Measure the sofa, your height, or a blade of grass with a ruler.  Then pretend to lose the ruler and use legos, bananas, or shoes to measure items.  How many legos is the same height as the Barbie?  How many books tall is the doorway?  Lay down on the floor and let your child measure your height in footsteps rather than with a ruler.
• Cook with your kiddos. There is very little that is more interactive and mathematical than cooking!  You can double and half recipes.  It takes a lot of skill to understand and measure ingredients, especially if they are labeled with fractions.  If you miscalculate, your result may not look nor taste as you intended it.  Two of my favorite math and cooking books are Eat Your Math Homework: Recipes for Hungry Minds by Ann McCallum and The Math Chef by Joan D’Amico

Need more ideas? Check out the Everyday Math project, which has ideas and links for incorporating math in your everyday life. Also, here are some links from Canada’s Adult Literacy website that has some great math connections that can be used with kids: Kitchen Math, Home Math, and Money Math. (Make sure you preview all links first, in case there is content that you may not agree with… I didn’t see anything, but it is always better to be safe!)

3.  Learn to think.  Many kids find logic puzzles challenging, but fun.  They significantly build critical thinking skills that will be used later in life to build strong arguments. There are tons of websites where you can print free logic puzzles, such as this one, this one, and this one.  However, I prefer the Mind Bender books, and especially the “Can You Find Me?” books, as they systematically build from a very basic level up (preK) to advanced logical thinking (high school).

What other ideas do you use to incorporate math and life?

If this is your first time visiting Montessori Tidbits, don’t miss the great activities and ideas that are shared on our Facebook page and G+ profile!

Note:  Books above are linked to my Amazon affiliate code.  The very small amount of money that I make on Amazon is used to support our curriculum needs for each school year.  Photos are personal photos.  Can You Find Me? image is from criticalthinking.com and is not affiliate linked.