Pressing flowers tips

This week, we are participating in the Spring Learning and Play bloghop, hosted by Teach Beside Me.

Every kid loves to collect flowers, grass, and other nature items from his backyard.  One of our favorite things to do is to press those items with our flower press.  Today, I’m sharing with you simple tips for using a flower press.

One sunny afternoon, Aikman discovered a patch of clover in the backyard.  It was fun to seek through them for a four-leafed clover, even though we did not find any.  In a small basket, he collected a handful of the clovers and a few flowering weeds, designated for us to press.

After we came in later that day, we pulled out our flower press (affiliate link) and pressed his finds.  From clovers to grass, weed, and flowers, each item was carefully selected and pressed with love and care.

Here are a few tips on how to use a flower press to preserve your children’s backyard finds:

1.  Press your nature items as soon as possible.  The longer you wait, the more likely it is to become dry, and therefore fragile, which will not press well.

2.  Press flowers face down.  Red Ted Art recommends that you press flowers face down rather than trying to close the press with the flower face up. By doing this, it prevents the flower from getting a crease in it as you are closing the press.

3.  Press the items at different angles. It’s nice to press it perfectly flat, showing all of the top details. However, don’t forget trying to lay it on it’s side for a different pressed look.  Make sure you collect some items with the stems as well.

4. Using a piece of tape, label the top of the press with the date that you can open the lid.

Most flowers need 2-3 weeks of pressing time; leaves need 4-6 weeks.  I am always forgetting when we pressed our flowers, so I always determine the date range that we can re-open the press to get out our flowers.  I then write that date on a piece of tape and place it on the lid of the press.

I’d love to hear from you!  What items have you tried pressing?  How did the project turn out?  Please leave me a comment below and let me know how it turned out!

Interested in more nature posts?  Check out our Spring Nature Table.

Make sure you check out all of the posts in the Spring Learning and Play bloghop:
Monday:  Teach Beside Me ~ Nature and Play ~ Royal Baloo ~ Life with Moore Babies
Tuesday: The Pleasantest Thing ~ Artchoo ~ Smiling like Sunshine ~ Preschool Powol Packets
Wednesday: Growing Green Fingered Kids ~ Inspiration Laboratories ~ Montessori Tidbits ~ Wildflower Ramblings
Thursday: Kitchen Counter Chronicles ~ No Doubt Learning ~ Sugar Aunts~ Craft to Art ~ From a Country Road
Friday: Rainy Day Mum ~ Creative Playhouse ~ Scribble Doodle and Draw ~ True Aim Education

Have a spring post? Join in the fun below!

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Note:  All Items marked “affiliate link” in the post above are linked to the Montessori Tidbits Amazon affiliate account.  The very small amount of money that is made on Amazon is used to support our homeschool curriculum needs.  Thank you for supporting our family in our homeschooling journey.

Happy Mother’s Day

From our family to yours, have a happy Mother’s Day!

Montessori geography stamp sorting box

Montessori geography studies have always been my favorite topic to teach and study.  A few years ago, I saw this awesome Montessori-inspired stamp sorting box, and knew that I wanted to recreate something similar to it.  This winter, I started gathering materials to create our own version of the Montessori stamp sorting box that can be used not only with 3-6 year olds, but also throughout the elementary years as well.

At first, it began with just a simple stamp obsession.  I found some great deals on ebay.  Initially, I thought it would be better to buy large lots of stamps – 4 oz or larger.  The more stamps, the better, right?  I quickly learned that this is not the best option, as you often end up with 50 stamps from the same country, and only a few countries are typically represented.  Eventually, I found a vendor who offered stamps from 100 different countries for a low price.  When you buy these lots, expect the stamps to be older and not vibrant, colorful stamps.  I also purchase ones that are off-paper.  Otherwise, much of what you are buying is paper that you will eventually have to soak off the back of the stamp and throw away.  If you spend just an extra dollar or two, you can purchase the off-paper ones, which will save you the time of soaking and pressing.  Plus, these lots have more stamps, since the weight of the envelope has already been removed.

After I had purchased several lots of stamps, I sorted them by the continent that each country is on.  I matted each stamp on their corresponding continent color and laminated them.  If you have a 3-6 aged child, then this is all that you need to do.  However, I wanted this activity to last a while longer than just for sorting by continents, so I added the country name to the back of each stamp.

Living in North America, the Caribbean has a very different feel from the rest of the continent – even compared to the Latin American countries.  I wanted to differentiate these countries from the rest of North America, so I matted them on Caribbean blue cardstock, before putting them on the North American orange paper.

I also wanted to differentiate those countries that no longer exist or have changed names.  The Montessori color for history is black.  So, I double matted these stamps on black first, and then their continent color.  On the back of the stamp, the former country as well as what the country is currently known as are listed.

The one exception is the Nazi Germany stamp.  Since it was such an emotional and volatile time in history, I felt that it was important just to note its significance.

I created a sorting box that will hold all of my International stamps (and coins – but that’s a later post!).  You’ll noticed that there are only 6 sorting boxes – orange for North America, pink for South America, red for Europe, green for Africa, yellow for Asia, and brown for Australia.  I did not add in a box for Antarctica, because there are not any countries that are on this continent, as there are no “countries” that reside on Antarctica.

Unfortunately, I now wish I would have added a 7th box for Antarctica, because I’ve discovered that many of the territories that claim Antarctica have stamps.  The most notable one is the AAT – Australian Antarctic Territory.  I’m quite excited because they just had a new series of stamps come out that is the mountains of Antarctica.

photo credit

In a few weeks, I’ll be sharing a tutorial on how to make the sorting box, as well as additional activities and extensions that I am currently creating to use with our box.  It has already been a lot of fun to play with, and stirs up a lot of cultural questions.

I love hearing your thoughts!  Please share with me what you think about our Montessori stamp sorting box.  Do you have other ideas how we can study geography in a hands-on way?

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To the overwhelmed homeschooling mom {guest post}

Are you a homeschooler that is feeling overwhelmed right now?  School hasn’t been going as you thought it would.  On top of this, everything else seems to be crumbling.  Today’s guest post is from Wendy at Hip Homeschool Moms, with encouraging word to relieve your feelings of stress!

Image courtesy David Castillo Dominici | FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It's April, and we aren't anywhere near being finished with our homeschool work for this school year. That's my confession. It's the honest truth! Is anyone else in the same spot with me? And while I'm at it, I have another confession (or two) to make. My house is a mess. There are dirty dishes in my sink. There are 5 (and I'm not exaggerating) baskets of laundry waiting to be hung up or folded and put away. My younger daughter's arts & crafts things are all over the living room. I have piles (literally) of books, reviews, to-do lists, errands to run, and who-knows-what-else waiting to be done. I'm feeling a bit swamped. Ugh.

But I'm here to say that it's ok if you're not yet finished (or nearly finished) with school! It's OK! There's no need to feel stressed and upset. If your house is a mess, your dishes aren't done, and you're way behind on your to-do list, it's ok. Really!

Honestly, it is important to make sure your children do their homeschool work. It is good to keep a clean house and cook healthy meals. It's wonderful to keep your to-do list manageable and not let things get out of control. But you know what else? Sometimes all of those things are going to happen! Sometimes, you will get behind. Sometimes you will get discouraged and your to-do list will continue to grow while your energy continues to wane.

At times like these, I try to remind myself that this is real life! My kiddos are growing up! They need to know that they will face times in their lives when things aren't going as planned. Sometimes the situation will be easily handled, but sometimes it won't. They will need to know how to take a deep breath, keep things in perspective, and deal with whatever is going on or needs to be done.

I suppose what I'm saying is that you have a choice. You can show your children how to get anxious and worried and how to give up, or you can show them how to assess the situation, make a plan, and get things back in line! It's not always easy--that's for sure! And it often takes time to get things back under control. If I keep a positive attitude and a happy disposition, though, that's half the battle right there! I'm much more likely to get things back under control when I'm happy and positive than when I'm anxious and worried.

So what do I do now? I take things one little bit at a time. I set small goals and attempt to reach them in a reasonable amount of time. Then I set more small goals and try to reach them.

I've learned (after 16 years of homeschooling) that even though we get behind sometimes, we can catch back up or alter our schedule even if it means homeschooling a day or two each week over the summer. I've learned that it's better to do that than to start trying to cram in 2 or 3 days' worth of work from now through the end of May. (Some homeschooled students might handle that well, but mine don't.) And I've learned that, sooner or later, we will get it all done and be ready for the next school year.

I've also learned that, if I make a reasonable plan, the housework will eventually come back under control. I must take the time each day to catch up a little on what needs to be done, but I don't have to tackle it all at once. I get overwhelmed easily, so here's what I've started doing. I set a goal each day to clean or catch up on one project. For example, if my daughter's craft stuff all over the coffee table is driving me crazy, my goal that day might simply be to help her clean off the coffee table. Not a big goal, I know, but it's a step in the right direction. Then I might plan the next day to take just one stack of clutter or papers to go through and sort and put away. If I try to go through 3 or 4 (or more) piles of stuff and clutter in one day, that might be more than I can deal with. But I can handle one.

Another thing I'm learning is to ask for help! When all of my children were very young, their ability to help was limited. Now, though, they are all in the double digits, so they can help get things back under control! I just need to remember to delegate and have them help out around here! Honestly, they will need to learn how to handle these situations in life too, so I figure I'm doing them a service by teaching them to handle these situations now. Then (hopefully) when they have homes of their own, they will have the advantage of knowing how to deal with "real life" when it happens!

Do you have a particular strategy for dealing with things when they get out of control? How much do you have your children help in the house? I would love to hear any tips or bit of wisdom that you have to share!

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Wendy lives in the South with her wonderful hubby and 3 great kiddos! She is a Christian, homeschooling, work-from-home mom. She is co-owner and social media director of Hip Homeschool Moms. She and Scott were high school sweethearts and have been married for more than 20 years. Her oldest child has autism, and Wendy began homeschooling her at age 2. Her son, a typical boy, would rather do anything than school! Her youngest child is a little social butterfly and people lover. Wendy loves reading and quilting and will hopefully return to scrapbooking some time soon. You can find her personal blog at Homeschool Blessings. She's also on Facebook and on Pinterest. 

Symbols of France rock craft

Welcome back to another month of Around the World in 12 Dishes.  This month’s country is France.  We enjoyed making the symbols of Ireland rock craft so much that we decided to do the same with France.

We started by pulling out our Europe continent map.  We reviewed where France is on the map, and then I pulled out a new little treasure – a little peg doll that is painted with the French flag.  (Isn’t he adorable?  I just love these little peg dolls from LaLutine, which Aikman received as a Christmas gift.)

After talking about France and reading several books, Aikman decided that he wanted to create rocks for the flag, Eiffel Tower, Louvre, and the Arc de Triomphe/Arch de Triumph.

Other ideas that you could add to your collection:

• cheese
• perfume
• bike to represent the Tour de France
• Napoleon Bonaparte or a bicorne hat
• beret
• French instruments: bodega or hurdy gurdy

My favorite one is the Eiffel Tower.  I’m not sure if you can see it in this picture, but Aikman found a rock that stood vertically on its own, and then painted multiple sides as the Eiffel Tower.  That way, he could see it no matter which direction the rock was turned.

After they dried, I painted the country on the back, so we could use them for sorting in the future.  A top coat of mod podge was added to all sides. 

When it gets warmer, we’ll add these to a small flower garden in our front yard!

Make sure you check out the posts by the other ATW12D members, who will be posting Irish ideas all month long!

Adventures In Mommydom, Creative Family Fun, Domestic Goddesque, Enchanted Homeschooling Mom,Glittering Muffins, Here Come The Girls, Juggling with Kids, Kid World Citizen, Kitchen Counter Chronicles,Little Artists, Mermaids’ Makings, Montessori Tidbits, Mummymummymum and The Educators’ Spin On It.

 

Cincinnati Homeschool Convention top picks

I’ve just returned home from the Cincinnati Homeschool Convention.  After spending 3 glorious days attending workshops and perusing the vendor hall, I wanted to share with you my favorite products.

1. Marie’s Words

Before I even walked into the vendor hall doors, I immediately knew that I wanted to check out Marie’s words!  Marie’s words consists of 550 of the most commonly used words on the SAT.  Each card has  a catchy color illustration on the front, as well as the definition, sentence, synonyms, and antonyms on the back. The creator, Marie Bradvica, was only a teenager, when she first envisioned the cards, striving to increase her own SAT score.  The result: raising her own SAT score by 230 points – quite a feat after using any test prep program, let alone her own!

Even though these are specifically designed for high school students, I plan on incorporating several new words a week.  I think this will be a great way for both of us to increase our vocabulary.  You can also purchase these on Amazon (affiliate link) for $35.  Or you can purchase a sample of these cards for your mobile device for $2.99, or the full set for $19.99.

2. English on a Roll

This is another favorite product that I discovered.  It includes 40 dice that are color coded by parts of speech, along with a 150 page teacher’s guide explaining each lesson.  Each noun dice contains singular and plural nouns; the verb dice contain all of the forms of that verb (look, looks, looking, looked, etc.) for that verb.  After watching Linda, the creator, demonstrate the products, it reminded me quite a bit of the beginning Montessori grammar lessons, but in a game form.  I’m quite excited to give these a try and see how well Aikman likes them!  The program sells for $79.

3.  Classical Historian

I shared last year how I fell in love with the Classical Historian games.  It is still one of my favorite finds --- and I’m not alone!  If you use Mystery of History/Story of the World or take part in Classical Conversations, these products fit in PERFECTLY with these programs.  We started with the memory games, to learn the names of the historical.  Then we transitioned to the card decks, which at least 4 different games can be played!  These go great with ANY history program and are super fun!

You can purchase the memory games for $14.95 each or all 3 for $39.99.  The Go Fish games are $11.96 each or all three for $29.  Or, if you want all 6, he’s offering a mega-deal of $59 for all 6!

Want a second opinion?  Ask the many other happy homeschoolers at the conference!  They sold like hotcakes at the convention, and he was having to take orders because his entire stock sold out at the conference.

4.  Croghan Language Academy

Just days before the homeschool convention, I won a free semester of Spanish language instruction from Croghan.  I was delighted discover and actually meet Profe Krista, the instructor, at the homeschool convention.  Krista, being a former high school and college Spanish instructor, provides quality Spanish instruction to homeschoolers in an interactive environment.  This is not a packaged software program that “teaches” your child Spanish.  Rather, Krista presents lessons online, shares website for additional practice, and assigns optional homework.  She even gives feedback to the students, and is currently looking at ways to make the classes more interactive.  The classes are offered in asynchronous (pre-recorded; can be played at any time) as well as synchronous (live) formats. I am thrilled that we won the giveaway, and cannot wait for the classes to start.  If the classes are anything similar to how peppy Krista was at the conference, I’m quite certain we are going to have a great time in Spanish class.

Do you have a new homeschool product that you love?  Please share it with me! I’d love to learn about it!

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  Are you on instagram?  I’ve just joined in the fun!  You can follow me and our homeschooling journey under the username leannwarren. :D

Also, I’ve been nominated on Skinny Scoop’s Top 25 Homeschool Blogs. If you’d like to vote, you can find us on the list here. (Register, then click to view suggestions to see all of the blogs listed.)

Note:  All Items marked “affiliate link” in the post above are linked to the Montessori Tidbits Amazon affiliate account.  The very small amount of money that is made on Amazon is used to support our homeschool curriculum needs.  Thank you for supporting our family in our homeschooling journey.

Favorite sight word books for Kindergarten

When my son was in Kindergarten, I searched for easy sight word books that were appropriate for a kindergartener’s reading level.  I finally found an author that we fell in love with, and a majority of her books were based upon beginning sight words.

That author is Margaret Hillert, and she has published a number of books that are based around the beginning kindergarten sight word list.  She published a number of books that are based upon folk and fairy tales!  These were especially our favorites to read.  Unfortunately, since many of these were written in the 50’s and 60’s, they are only available in a hardback library edition. 

Folk and Fairy Tales

• The Three Little Pigs
• The Funny Baby – the story of the Ugly Duckling
• Little Red Riding Hood
• The Three Goats – the tale of the Three Billy Goats Gruff
• The Three Bears – Goldilocks and the 3 bears
• The Magic Beans – Jack and the Beanstalk
• Tom Thumb
• The Little Cookie – the Tale of the Gingerbread Man
• Four Good Friends – Bremen Town musicians
• Pinocchio (available in paperback)
• The Cookie House
• Cinderella at the Ball – an easy-to-read version of the classic Cinderella tale
• Not I, Not I – the story of the Little Red Hen
• The Golden Goose – an adaptation of the Brothers’ Grimm tale
• The Magic Nutcracker  -- the storyline of The Nutcracker

Looking for more Hillert books?  Here’s some others that are on the kindergarten level that are just fun little books that are all kindergarten sight words.

• The Birthday Car
• The Little Runaway
• The Yellow Boat – one of my favorites!  
• The Baby Bunny
• Circus Fun
• City Fun
• The Funny Ride
• A House for Little Red
• Little Puff
• Play Ball
• The Purple Pussycat
• What Am I?
• Fun Days
• Who Goes to School?
• Away Go the Boats
• The Ball Book – a super-fun book about different games you can play with balls on the “big ball” of Earth.
• The Boy and the Goats

She also came out with a more recent series called “Dear Dragon,” about the adventures of a boy and his dragon.  A large percentage of these books are late kindergarten to beginning first grade reading level (Accelerated Reading level of 0.7-1.0).  Compared to many beginning readers, these books actually have a nice storyline, yet continue to use just the beginning sight words (other than “Dear Dragon”).  **Note:  These ARE available in paperback form!

Here’s a list of these wonderful books:

• Dear Dragon Goes to the Market
• Dear Dragon Goes to the Zoo
• It’s Fall, Dear Dragon
• Up, Up, Up Dear Dragon
• Dear Dragon Goes to the Carnival
• Dear Dragon Goes to the Firehouse
• Dear Dragon Helps Out
• A Friend for Dear Dragon
• Happy Birthday, Dear Dragon
• I Love You, Dear Dragon
• I Need You, Dear Dragon
• It’s Halloween, Dear Dragon
• It’s Spring, Dear Dragon
• It’s St. Patrick’s Day, Dear Dragon
• Let’s Go, Dear Dragon
• Merry Christmas, Dear Dragon
• Where Is Dear Dragon?
• Dear Dragon Goes Camping
• Dear Dragon’s Colors 1,2,3
• Dear Dragon’s Day with Father
• Go to Sleep, Dear Dragon
• Happy Easter, Dear Dragon
• Happy Hanukkah, Dear Dragon
• Help for Dear Dragon
• It’s Bedtime, Dear Dragon
• It’s Circus Time, Dear Dragon
• It’s Winter, Dear Dragon

Note:  Thank you for clicking on the links above.  Items are linked to the Montessori Tidbits Amazon affiliate account.  The very small amount of money that is made on Amazon is used to support our homeschool curriculum needs.

Do you have a favorite sight word book designed for beginning readers?

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