Fabulous Finds Friday!

Looks like a local teacher decided to get rid of some wonderful resources, as my mom found these awesome finds at our local thrift shop -- all for $1.50!

The sight word books (published by The Short Books company) are all there, except #24 -- that's 32 books! These are an incredible find, as this is exactly what we are working on right now.

She also found 2 poem books, that include activities to do, in order to promote literacy.

Finally, a bag of chips, which can be used for math, language, bingo -- you name it!

So, what great finds have you discovered lately?

Do boys need that extra outlet for energy?

I would classify my son as being overactive. He is always doing something. He runs. He jumps. He builds. He has wars with his transformers. He CAN sit still... but would rather be moving.

In fact, when he was a tiny infant, we would lay him on our bed at bedtime, and he would kick and kick and kick and kick... and kick... until he finally let out a big sigh, and was out like a light an instant later.

He is still super-active, until his body literally gives out each night.

Tammy, a homeschooling friend of mine, once mentioned that if her son was too fidgety, that she would make him get up and run laps around the house or do jumping jacks, until he could concentrate again. Now that her son is older, whenever he notices that he has lost focus, he will get up and do jumping jacks on his own.

This is a practice that we've adopted in our house. After breakfast, when our morning school time begins, Aikman runs laps around our living room and kitchen. I actually measured it out the other day, and each lap is about 15 yards. He's currently averaging around 40-45 laps in one setting (which is growing daily!). That's between 0.3 and 0.4 of a mile!

Surprisingly, he actually ASKS to run in the mornings before he even wants to sit down.

We also play games and try to do as many hands-on learning activities as possible.

So, do you have an active child? What do you do to help them focus on learning?

Fabulous Finds Friday -- from a wonderful friend!

One of my dear friends, Sandra, recently sent us a wonderful package in the mail. Sandra lives in Canada, but is from Bosnia (former Yugoslavia -- geez, I need to learn more about modern geography and European history). She picked these items up on a recent visit back to her hometown. I cannot wait to add them to our Europe continent box -- that is, if I can swipe them away from my son long enough for him not to notice!

She sent us....

- Little Red Riding Hood, written in the local language

- handmade slippers

- coins and banknotes from Bosnia and Serbia

- Tahan-halva, which is similar to Turkish Delight

- a bag of Lavendar from Hvar, Croatia -- smells AMAZING -- and a traditional pepper mill

- a small handmade woolen rug, and a triptych made in Monastery Slanci

- flute from Sarajevo

- Bosnian newspaper and tea

- a handmade piece of cloth

- London brochure

- feather, golf tees, and triangular colored pencils (okay, so these items aren't European, but she did send them to me!)

- German Mark, now replaced by the Euro

I must say, I am absolutely FLOORED that Sandra sent me the handmade piece of cloth. This is because it was made by her grandmother, and is over 70 years old! During WWII, the German army came into many of the villages and raided/burned the homes. Her grandmother (and other ladies) wrapped their belongings in these pieces of fabric, placed them in boxes, and buried them, with the hopes that the Germans would not find them. Amazingly, their family belongings were not found, and now she has generously shared these sacred pieces of fabric with me!

So, what great educational finds have you discovered this week?

Addition already?

Yesterday, I introduced Aikman to the bank game. For those of you who aren't familiar with Montessori math practices, it is similar to taking pennies to the bank, and exchanging it for different coins. For instance, if you have 10 units, you exchange it for a ten-bar (a long tens unit), and if you have 10 ten-bars, then you exchange it for a hundreds square.

Please note that we don't use Montessori bead materials, as Aikman doesn't like the beads. Instead, we use Math-U-See blocks --green units, blue ten-bars, and red hundred squares... which also match the Montessori colors for place values.

Today, Aikman drew a snowman, and put the numbers of 4 and 7 inside of his belly. He then came to me and asked, "Mom, what is 4 plus 7?"

WHAT?? Really?? My son WANTS to add? Oh, NO..... is the multiplication before reading joke coming true? (I know... I know... I still have to post the "Sound it Out" series I mentioned in that post... which IS coming soon, I promise!)

Anyways, I went with his lead, and we laid out our little unit blocks, and then talked about how addition is putting all of the blocks together, and then recounting them. Since, we already played the bank game, he LOVED that there was a connection with exchanging 10 units with a ten-bar -- just like yesterday. You can see him in the above photo counting out 10 blocks, and is about to exchange it for a blue ten-bar, which is in the pencil box there to the left. Yesterday, I had not introduced the label cards with the bank game, so today was perfect timing for showing how the label cards work with exchanging the values. (ie 12 = 1 blue ten-bar + 2 green units = 10 label card + 2 label card = 12 when you put the two label cards on top of one another)

One more note: I haven't done a 3 period lesson on the plus and equal symbols, so I didn't want to introduce formal "written" problems to him yet.

For now, I think we'll keep working on the bank game, as he is still working on reading 3 digit numbers, and I'll probably go ahead and start with some simple addition problems with manipulatives, like this fun game, and possibly even move into 2 and 3 digit addition using the blocks and the addition downloads found at this website. (At this stage, I won't be asking him to memorize addition facts; only to manipulate blocks to get the answer.)

Oh, and don't forget that Montessori Print Shop is still hosting their 12 Days of Giveaways. Yesterday's giveaway, which is still open, is for math supplies; today's giveaway is for Peace makers and Art cards. Likewise, Montessori For Everyone is having a giveaway for a set of geometric solids AND four $25 gift certificates!

Australian Aboriginal rock art

One of my followers, Shona, made a wonderful set of 3 part cards that she wanted me to share with you! They are of Aboriginal rock art, which some are found near where she lives in Australia. I love them, as they show a variety of images, and she labels the city and territory where each is located. What a perfect way to sort by territories of Australia, to show locations on a map, or to compare/contrast the different drawings!

You can get the cards here.

Please make sure you leave a little *comment* love back for her!

Updating, connecting, and awarding

Updating...

I've been working hard on adding some new info on my blog, to make it a little more friendly for reviews and for others to contact me. I hope you like the changes.

Connecting...

Montessori Tidbits is now on FB and twitter! Please click on the buttons there on the side and follow me! (My twitter account is VERY new, so bear with me as I take the plunge with this social media network!)

... and awarding!

I've recently won several awards, so it is finally time to acknowledge them, give thanks to those referring blogs, and pass them on!

Sunrise Learning Lab created her own award, and had her kids draw the pictures for the award! This award has no stipulations -- only that you pass it on to your ALL-TIME favorite blogs!

I'm passing on this award to:

1. Leptir

2. Little Acorns

3. 1+1+1=1

4. Walk Beside Me

5. The Activity Mom

Leptir and Living Montessori Now both awarded me the "Me Encanta Tu Blog", which means "I love your blog!"

Here are (some of) the questions and my answers: (sorry, I deleted about 6 questions, as they really didn't have anything to do with my blog!)

1. Why did you create the blog?

As a former high school teacher (and current adjunct professor), I LOVE teaching! I honestly believe it is my God-given talent. I am absolutely LOVING teaching my own son, and I'm more than glad to share what we do, in hopes of inspiring others to try these things (or their own extensions!).

2. What kind of blogs do you follow?

Mostly homeschooling blogs -- Montessori, Christian, CM, and a few unschooling ones.

3. What countries would you like to go to?

I'd love to travel Internationally, which is something I haven't done before. However, I'd love to go to Germany, since my great-grandparents moved to the US from there when they were young.

I'd like to pass this award on to...

1. Training Happy Hearts

2. Sunrise Learning Lab

3. Counting Coconuts

4. Sunflower Schoolhouse

5. Chasing Cheerios

6. One Hook Wonder

7. Filth Wizardy

8. The Homeschool Den

9. Eclectic Living

10. What Did We Do All Day

THANK YOU Leptir for another award!

Award Rules:
1. Thank the person who gave you this award
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass the award along to 10 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic for whatever reason! (in no particular order…)
4. Contact the bloggers you’ve picked and let them know about the award.

7 things about myself:

1. I've been married to a wonderful man for the past 7 years.

2. After leaving for college, I moved back to the same town that I grew up in.

3. I go through obsessive cleaning moods... ignoring certain things for weeks, and then suddenly having to clean picky details in the room until they are spotless.

4. I named all of my pets (and son!), starting with the letter A -- Aaron, Amelia, Alpha (the Betta fish... get it?), and Aikman.

5. I'm an avid scrapbooker, and journal just about everything I can remember, for fear of someday having Alzheimers.

6. I was one of the loonies that went shopping on Black Friday!

7. I am organizationally challenged... I'm quite certain this will be a future post, as I can NEVER get everything organized and in a place!

And now passing it on....

1. Mondorfment

2. Spell Out Loud

3. Work and Play, Day by Day

4. TeachKidsArt

5. Education of Ours

6. Homeschool Mo

7. Musings of Me

8. Chalk Talk

9. Teach Preschool

10. Living and Learning

Fabulous Finds Friday!

If you are seeking photos for your continent boxes, then head over to Target! Right now, they have 2011 calendar in their dollar bins that have some wonderful pictures, perfect for any continent box.

Here's what I found:

Calendars for Europe: Charming Europe (homes) and the Greek Isles

calendar for Africa:

calendar for Australia:

... and don't forget to check Montessori Print Shop in their 12 days of Christmas giveaways! Today is the last day to sign up for their entire language program; yesterday, they posted where you can win 2 training manuals -- one for math and one for langauge; and I can't wait to see what they are planning to give away for their 3rd day of giveaways (posted later this morning!).

So, what great educational finds have you found this week?

I won a giveaway, and YOU should enter it every month!

Earlier this week, I got 2 packages in the mail... one from a friend of mine (which I will share with you on Friday), and one from the American Montessori Consulting.

At some point, I signed up with AMC to get emails from them, and within those emails, it announced the winners for a giveaway. Upon investigation, I discovered that they have a monthly giveaway, which is REALLY easy to enter. (Giveaway is available to US mailing addresses only.)

So, how do you enter?

Go to http://www.amonco.org/

Click on the special December drawing link (also the link for the directory).

Scroll down to the bottom of the page, and enter your name/email and that you are interested in the December drawing. Also include whether you are with a school or homeschooling. (Their form did not work for me, so I had to email them my entry at drawing@amonco.org ).

What did I win? Well, I won the 2nd place prize, which was still an awesome pack! (I can only imagine how awesome the first place prize was.) My prize package included:

Go Fish Ancient Egypt Card Game and Book from Birdcage Press

Heart Number and Animal Game from Creative Care "No Excuse" Craft Packs
Kite Game from Creative Care "No Excuse" Craft Packs

Montessori Resources CD from American Montessori Consulting

Now, GO ENTER that giveaway... and make sure you keep going back monthly to keep entering, until you win! (If you want a monthly reminder to re-enter, sign up for their newsletter, listed at the bottom of the home page.)

Good luck!

Giveaways galore for the next 12 days at MPS!

Montessori Print Shop is hosting 12 days of giveaways -- starting today! Each day there is a different giveaway, so go back often to enter in all of the giveaways.

Here is the link to today's giveaway -- their entire language collection, worth nearly $300!

Following the child -- ice blocks

Once again, Aikman decided to detour from my plans for the day, and decided to create his own learning path!

I had recently purchased a variety pack of acrylic ice cubes from Goodwill. Combined with the ice tongs, small wooden bowl, and cute sorting basket, Aikman immediately gravitated towards them, before I was about to put them up in the closet until January or February, when we actually get snow and planned on discussing winter.

First, he sorted them by size.

Then he decided to line them up and "count them by 10's," which ended up being 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 101, 102, 103.... I tried explaining that when you count by 10's, when you get to 100, it becomes 110, but he wasn't buying it.

Then he regrouped them according to their size, to see which sized ice cube (small, medium, or large) collectively formed the longest length. This quickly led to building towers to determine which would make the tallest tower. He was quite shocked to discover that whether they were horizontally or vertically arranged, the medium sized blocks always resulted in the "winner" of the 3 groups.

Finally, he decided to attempt to spell ice. Yep -- i -s = ice!

Not bad for one of his first attempts to phonetically spell a word!

So, what other ideas/activities could we use these little cubes for?

Even aliens need to hear the Christmas story!

We have been focusing a lot on the Christmas/Nativity story lately, and will continue to do so for the next few weeks. My goal is to make sure Aikman can pretty much tell the story by himself by Christmas.

One day, Aikman decided that ALL creatures -- whether real or imaginary -- need to hear the Nativity story, as his Ben 10 aliens joined us for our story story time several times this week.

Poor Joseph has gone missing, so one kind alien stepped in to fill his spot.

A number of aliens volunteered to be shepherds or sheep.

.... FOUR wise men brought gifts for baby Jesus.

One alien even played the part of the brightly shining star in the sky, but the most comical moment was when we the Angel of the Lord appeared, as well as the ALIEN of the Lord! (That happened too fast for me to take a picture of it!)

Here are a few places that have inspired me with other Nativity ideas:

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this Nativity sensory bin at Spell Out Loud (she also has some great Nativity printables on her site)

Carisa has a Nativity Preschool Pack

Erica in her Letter of the Week curriculum has some Jesus/nativity printables

Walk Beside Me has a really neat wooden nativity set

Musings of Me has some cool see, trace, and make nativity cards (as well as other printables)