Giveaway: Keys to the Universe History album

Don’t forget to enter all of the giveaways!
- Montessori Print Shop geography bundles (international)– ends 11/2
- Laughing Star geography masters and world biome cards (US only) – ends 11/3

TIME FOR ANOTHER GIVEAWAY!

Are you familiar with Jessica at Garden of Francis and the blog Catholic Hearts Domestic Church?

If you are, then you know that she is AMI primary and elementary certified, and has recently opened Keys to the Universe as an online elementary Montessori training course.

As a part of the “in the continent boxes” blog hop, she has graciously offered her History elementary album as a giveaway prize!

photo credit

The History album begins with the Second Great Lesson, and then goes through the Third Great Lesson, the Clock of Eras, fundamental needs of humans, the migration of people, ancient civilizations, and the building of multiple timelines.  You can see the complete table of contents here.

Rather than focusing on geography, as many of my other giveaways have, this particular item was chosen, because it examines the study of history as it relates to the study of geography and through the migration of various people groups. 

Here’s what Jessica has to say about this album…

The album is rich with depth on how to present and study history the Montessori way: giving the child the "big picture" (the cosmic vision), then delving into various details as interests (and/or local educational requirements) dictate; pulling out to look at the bigger picture again before looking to the details again - always looking at the connections between all peoples of all times and all places, those that came before us, those with us now, and those who will come after us; developing gratitude for those who came before and a responsibility for those who come after.

BUY IT!

You can buy this album individually (option available January 2012), or go through her affordable online course, which includes ALL of her elementary albums.  She even offers a course certification.

WIN IN!

One copy of this album will be given away, using rafflecopter.  Since this is an e-album, it is open INTERNATIONALLY!

TOS review: Lots and Lots of Firetrucks book and DVD bundle

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Do you have a fire-truck obsessed kiddo?  Then I have a fabulous product for you!  We were recently sent Lots and Lots of Firetrucks book and Fire Songs and Safety Tips DVD bundle  from Marshall Publishing.
Lots and Lots of Firetrucks is exactly what you will see in this book – PLUS plenty more!  It includes chapters on firefighter tools and equipment, types of rescue vehicles, the science behind fires and fire fighting, the history of firefighting, and a firefighting timeline.  The book is 123 pages of color, lifelike images of firemen and firefighters.

One of my favorite sections of the book is entitled “Meet Firefighter Joe”, which documents all of the clothing that a fireman wears to a fire, along with a description of its purpose.  Likewise, there’s a chapter about all of the tools used by firemen.  I’m planning on using the information from these chapters to make some 3 part cards of a fireman and firemen tools for Aikman.

We also enjoyed the history of firefighting.  I appreciated the fact that the book included facts about the greatest fires in history – from the burning of Rome to the Great Chicago and London fires, to the 9/11 Twin Towers.

Also in the bundle is Lots and Lots of Fire Songs and Safety Tips.  On this 30 minute DVD, there are two main settings – a short 12 minute “classroom” video that condenses all of the information down into one segment; and a series of videos and catchy songs about firemen and fire safety.

So, what did Aikman think?  He enjoyed the book, and has repeatedly looked at it; however, after watching the video, he has not shown interest in watching it more than once (he does sing the songs around the house, though, so something definitely stuck!).  The only criticism I have about the DVD is that they mention a pay phone and show a child using a pay phone, which is a bit outdated for today’s society.  My husband also mentioned that some of the clips of video were shot at a low-resolution, so some of the images (on a high-def TV) are not super-clear.

This bundle is available from Marshall Publishing. It typically sells for $49.90; however, right now, it is on sale for $29.95. BUT, by using the discount code TOSF1, you can purchase the set for $19.95!
The people at Marshall publishing were so sweet that they also sent an extra gift of George Washington Carver – His life and works DVD.  This product is also on sale for $19.95, but with the TOSF1 code, it is $16.95! 

Have a child obsessed with one type of vehicle?  Other products you may enjoy from Marshall Publishing are Lots and Lots of Monster Trucks and Lots and Lots of Jets and Planes.

Wanna read what other TOS crew members say about both of these products? Click here.

Disclaimer:  As a part of the TOS crew, I received this product free of charge in exchange for a review, whether positive or negative.  I did not receive any additional compensation.

Giveaway: Laughing Star Montessori geography materials

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Who doesn’t need more geography materials????  I know that I never seem to have enough of them, and am always seeking more….

Well, today I have for you that little extra “more” to add in to your continent boxes.  I’m sure you’ve already read how much I enjoy the Antarctica Blackline Masters book from Laughing Star, as well as so many of their other products.

… and today, Laughing Star is offering a really cool bundle of books/cards to add to your continent boxes!

  

Geography Blackline Masters and Continent Map Masters books

Geography Blackline Masters:  This book includes tracer sheet activities for the Solar System, Continents, World Map and Continent Strip Books. It is a favorite of 4, 5 and 6 year old students.

Continent Map Masters:  This book includes the 7 continents and geographic features of the continents. There are tracer versions for students to trace or copy versions for students to do their own writing. Features include lakes, islands, peninsulas, mountains, rivers, glaciers and dry valleys. Great for making classroom nomenclature 3 part cards and for student bookmaking work.

World biome cards (unlaminated) cards

Explore the major land biomes of the world; the tundra, tropical rainforest, temperate rainforest, taiga forest, grassland, deciduous forest and desert. This material includes 42 cards. Use it first with the biome labels which have information about that biome on the back side of the card and later with the continent labels.

WINNER’S choice of 2 of the World animals Blackline Masters

(choices include:  amphibians, reptiles, fish, birds, mammals)

Extend children's learning with writing exercises that relate to materials used in the classroom. The World Blackline Series reinforces what students have learned using the World Card Series. It can also be used with the Laughing Star Continent Cards. Activities are designed so that students trace over or copy words and sentences to develop beautiful handwriting. Activities include info, picture-name book making, parts of books, sentence tracing and copying, dot-to-dots, and answering multiple choice questions. Each book has between 48-53 pages.

This giveaway is open to US residents ONLY.

WANNA WIN? 

Enter below…

For those of you who are new to Rafflecopter (as I am), it is REALLY easy.  Click on the instructions and read what you have to do first.  THEN click on “I DID THIS” and answer the question where it says “Extra info.”  it’s that easy!

In the Continent boxes: Around the world toob review

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We absolutely LOVE Safari Ltd’s products around here!  I recently asked them if I could review their Around the World toob, and they graciously obliged!

It comes in the traditional toob packaging, and contains 10 landmarks, representing four continents – Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America.  Included landmarks are the Empire State Building, Taj Mahal, Big Ben, Parthenon, Pyramids of Giza, Leaning Tower of Piza, Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty, Arc de Triumphe, and Temple of the Inscriptions.

 

One of the minute details that I love about this toob is that Safari Ltd includes a small information sheet inside the toob which gives you facts about each landmark.  All of the essential facts are included – location, height, year built, and historical significance – for a quick “study” of each figure, without having to consult wiki.

 

By far, this is one of my FAVORITE toobs (and we own a LOT of them!)… It works SO well with geography or continent studies, as it allows the child to actually “see” and manipulate a landmark.  Plus, I love that Safari Ltd is dedicated to providing quality, detailed replicas at affordable prices! 

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been using this toob at home, as well as at our co-op.  The kids love to handle each piece, and carefully look for the details found on each.  For instance, one child asked what the raised markings were on the front of the Arc de Triumphe piece, so we researched what the markings were and discovered that they were sculptures representative of the times of war during the Napoleonic Wars and French Revolution.  How impressive that each piece has been carefully crafted to include these fine details!

Another favorite activity is to place the pieces on their corresponding continents.  (Sorry my fellow Montessorians… I made this felt map before I was sold on the Montessori colors, so it does not match the traditional materials.)  As the child gets older, he/she can also learn what countries these figures come from, and place them more specifically where they belong within the continent.

Since we have enjoyed these figures SO much, I made a set of three part cards and picture/figure matching cards for my readers!  (The picture/figure matching cards are similar to my desert toob cards.)

   

You can get them here.

You can purchase the Around the World toob from Safari Ltd for $10.99, or from various local and online dealers.

In the Continent boxes–ANTARTICA (part 1- review and discount code)

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Don’t forget to enter our current giveaways going on…

- Montessori Print Shop 2 continent bundle (International)
- Laughing Star geography bundle (US only)

All giveaway end Tuesday, Nov. 2 at midnight CST

Recently, I’ve had the chance to review some of Laughing Star’s products. I was thoroughly impressed by her products, and love that they are different, in terms of content, from most of the other Montessori printables out there.

One of the products that I absolutely LOVE is the Antarctic Blackline Masters book. Inside, you will find large (1/2 page) black and white/coloring images of animals found in Antarctica. Each image can be copied and made into 3 part cards, matching cards, booklets, etc. (Remember that these are BLACKLINE masters, so they are intended to be made by you, and are flexible enough to be made into whatever materials your children are interested in!)

Each black and white image contains one card that is for vocabulary, followed by a sentence using that vocabulary word. Additional blank blackline images are also included, for the child to create their own booklets and/or for additional vocabulary/sentences to be made.

Animals included are gentoo penguin, Adelie penguin, emperor penguin, chinstrap penguin, skua, blue-eyed shag, weddell seal, fur seal, leopard seal, killer whale, humpback whale, ice fish, wingless fly, and flea. The scientists’ station is also featured.

What I love about this book is that it not only includes a variety of animals, but it also includes relevant handwriting practice/copywork. Each line of text utilizes Laughing Star’s Beautiful Handwriting approach to teaching handwriting. We’ve tried out this handwriting approach, and my son has really enjoyed it. Even though we do not use it for all of our handwriting practice (I own a limited number of the beautiful handwriting books), we do use it with our calendar notebooks, as our monthly calendar is printed off of Laughing Star’s website.

In addition to the above blackline masters, you also receive the masters for two animal lifecycles, quantity cards, addition strips, and animal “paper dolls.” The lifecycles of the penguin as well as the krill are featured. The quantity and addition strips show the animals in groupings, and allow the child to either select the quantity shown (think clothespin clip cards) or quantities to add together. The last item included in the book is animal “paper dolls” for the whale and penguin, with directions how how to make this fun cutting exercise!

This book is available in two font choices – print and D’Nealian, and sells for $8!

Laughing Star has graciously offered a 10% discount for the “In the Continent Boxes” bloghop. Use the code DISCOUNT10 to receive the discount, good through 10/31.

Disclaimer: I was given the opportunity to review some of Laughing Star’s products for an honest review, whether good or bad. I was not compensated in any other way.

In the continent boxes blog hop–the WORLD

Don’t forget about the MPS giveaway for geography materials, going on now through 11/2.

 

Hello everyone, and thanks for tuning in to this year’s “In the continent boxes” blog hop.  I have some wonderful blogger friends who are joining me on this adventures, and I hope this little list will be a blessing to you as you study geography.

Today, I have a guest post from a friend of mine in Australia!  She’s presenting to us a wonderful tutorial for making your own felt map.  Without further ado, here’s the guest post…

Continent Felt Map Tutorial
by Tracey H.

Creating my felt map was one of the most enjoyable things I've done this year.  Here is how I created mine:

 

The map:
From my local dollar store or book store, I bought one of these children sticker animal/atlas books.  They have a lovely large sized map normally inside them, that folds out.

 

Cutting out the continents:
Using the fold out map, I traced around each continents and islands (that I wanted), using baking paper. Please those in North America, forgive my lack of detail on your continent!  Don't be too detailed, just outline roughly, as to cut and sew it later, you don't want too many sharp lines.

One trick I read, was to then cut out my felt pieces, with the baking paper and felt together.  In this way you don't get pencil transfer lines on your felt and the baking paper holds the felt quite firmly for an even cut.

For Asia/Europe, I traced this out as one piece and traced the lines and seas that separate the two.  This is your trickiest piece.  I then cut out Europe.  When I got to the divide line, between these two continents, I snipped right through the baking paper, going around the seas that are in between.  This will give you the correct line for then cutting out Asia.  With the seas that divide the two continents, cut these out, as you cut Asia.  They are going to be seas for when you sew them and will show the exposed blue fabric.

 

For your islands, keep these in separate zip locks until you finally get to them.  I just left them with their baking paper tracers and pins in until the end.  Trust me, by the time you get to them, you've forgotten what they are.  For these islands, remember that Indonesia and Papua New Guinea share the same island, but are from different continents groupings.

 

Base fabric:
I used a light-weight denim fabric that I had from an old project.  Cut out your base fabric.  Now position each continent on your base fabric, by aligning it with your map.  In hindsight, I could have drawn graph lines across my map and then base fabric, to get better co-ordinates, but I'm quite happy with my end result.  Poor Indonesia is a little squished - but it will survive.  Pin each continent.

 

Sewing:
Use tack stitch to roughly hold down your pieces.  I then used either two strands of embroidery thread or double thread of normal sewing thread to back stitch each piece, in matching thread.

I tried running stitch on Asia and it was more difficult using a small stitch on heavy felt.  Backstitch is VERY forgiving.  You can make your stitches different lengths and you don't see it.  When you have points like peninsula's, you can easily sew these and the back of your fabric looks gawky, but the front looks gorgeous.

This is back stitch:
http://www.embroiderersguild.com/stitch/stitches/back.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GFFTgKay8g

This is the longest work, but so relaxing.  I did this as children bathed, or driving long distance or just general relaxing sewing weekend afternoon's.  I've suggested to another friend to get her Cycle 2 class to do the sewing for her.  Great project for elementary children.

Putting it all together:
To make the map nice and heavy, I cut out my backing decorative fabric and two extra pieces of calico.  Pin right side-to-right side backing fabric next to map fabric, then the extra two pieces on outside.  With sewing machine, sew around, leaving a gap to turn inside out.  Crop corners, turn inside out.  Then iron seams down and top stitch.

 

Here is the completed map, rolled up and ready to be placed on the shelves!

 

 

About Tracey:
I am Tracey, originally from Cape Town, South Africa, but now happily living in the nation’s capital, Canberra, Australia.  Wife to gorgeous husband, Rod, devout Christian.  Grateful to be following my God-inspired dream to be homeschool mum to 4 year old and 2 year old.  It's busy as I also do Autocad drafter at home.  Was formally a Software Developer contractor.  I mainly aim to homeschool with Montessori guide, but in typical Montessori, I try to observe my little gems and adapt to what is a fun, prepared and an enjoyable environment, which is hard for a typical messy!

Giveaway: Montessori Print Shop geography bundles

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!



Who doesn’t LOVE the MPS geography files?

I know that my little family LOVES the variety of the content contained within these cards… from animals and landmarks to food, flags, and cultural background, the Montessori Print Shop files include all the information that you need to study each continent in detail.

Here’s a sample of the Asia bundle…

Wanna win the bundled sets for TWO continents from Montessori Print Shop?
One lucky reader will win a bundled set for two continents of your choice.  Commenting will close at midnight CST on Wednesday, Nov. 2.  The winner will be selected by random and will have 48 hours to contact me via email, after I have initially contacted them.  This giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY!

Mandatory entry:

Leave me a comment stating why you NEED these bundled sets!  Please leave your email address in the comment.

Extra entries:  (Leave a separate comment for each.)

- Like Montessori Tidbits on FB.
- Follow Montessori Tidbits on Twitter, RSS, or email.
- Follow Montessori Print Shop on FB.
- “+1” Montessori Print Shop (right sidebar).
- Tweet about this giveaway: Win two geography bundles from @MontessoriPrint and @MonteTidbits! #Montessori Enter through 11/2  http://bit.ly/uvuZJl

A BIG thank you goes out to MPS for offering products for this giveaway!

‘In the continent boxes’ blog hop is returning…

Stay tuned for the rest of this week and most of next week, as we venture on a continent blog hop!  I’ve asked several bloggers to join me for this blog hop, as they share some neat ideas for studying the continents.

I’m looking for a few more bloggers to join in the fun too.  So, if you are interested, please send me an email at montessoritidbits at gmail {dot} com (remove spaces and change to appropriate symbols), and I will send you over more information!

Check back tomorrow, as I will be posting several giveaways to celebrate this fun little blog hop!

TOS review: Wits and Wagers

As you know, my son LOVES games, so when I was given the chance to review the new family game Wits and Wagers Family, I jumped on the opportunity!

Wits and Wagers Family by NorthStar games is a very family friendly game, designed for ages 8 and up, and 3-10 players at the same time.

The general idea of the game is that all player answer a question with his/her best guess.  Then these answers are listed in numerical order, and each person is given two little “meeples” (little painted people figures) to decide which answer is the best answer, without going over the correct amount.  Points are awarded to the person(s) with the closest answer as well as anyone who placed meeples onto that answer.

What I really liked about this game is that, even for a 5 year old, this game can be fun… in fact, that little 5 year old beat his mom and dad once (almost three times in a row).  The questions that are asked are mostly relevant to kids, such as how many Disney princesses are there and how many different webkinz are in stores.  However, there are other educational questions too, such as how many feet are in a mile and what temperature in Fahrenheit does water boil. 

There were a few instances that Aikman had no clue what number to write down, so we would help him by saying to write a number larger than 100, or your answer should be between 1 and 15.  He had no problem selecting a number, and amazingly, on a few occasions, his guess was actually the closest answer to the correct answer.

Educationally, the child is learning estimation (determining an answer for the question), number sequencing (placing the guess cards in order), and number sense (does my number make sense as the answer, or does someone else’s answer sound like a better answer).

 

Wits and Wagers family was definitely a fun game for our family, and would make a great Christmas gift.  Wits and Wagers Family sells retail for $19.99 through local retailers, or online via Amazon. Click here to read what other reviewers have to say about Wits and Wagers.

Disclaimer:  I received a free copy of Wits and Wagers Family, in return for an honest review of the product, whether good or bad. I was not otherwise compensated for this review.

TOS Review: Educating the WholeHearted Child

Wow; my first book review!  I am so excited to share this book with you, for many reasons – far more than just the normal book reviewer would probably appreciate. 

I know firsthand that this book, Educating the WholeHearted Child, by Clay and Sally Clarkson, is a book of reflection, practice, and prayer – from a homeschooliing family who loves God and has built an unshakable faith within their children.  You see, long ago, I had the privilege of living near the Clarkson family and talked with Sally on several occasions.  Little did I know at that time that God was working through them to introduce and inspire me to homeschool.

Originally, Educating the WholeHearted Child was released in 1996, and then again in 2001.  In this third edition, Clay and Sally have nearly revamped the entire book – adding an additional 130 pages, and rewriting much of the original book.  At a whopping 376 pages, this book is filled in every nook and cranny with insight, tips, and suggestions on how to raise children so that they are faithful followers and have a passionate heart for Christ.  So, if you have previously purchased this book, it is well-worth it to buy this new edition, since it has so much new content in it.

Educating the WholeHearted Child is divided into 5 main sections – the home, learning, methods, living, and resources.  Each section is broken down to several chapters that focus on different attributes.  For instance, in section one, you would find information about building a Christian home and homeschool, nurturing, discipleship, and home educating.  One of the many quotes that resonated with me in this section dealt with my introspectively reviewing my goals for my son, and whether these matched up with how God would want me to teach my son. 

“Your goal in home education should be to raise well-rounded, spiritually grounded, truth-founded Christian children whose goal in life is to make a difference for the kingdom of God, whatever life path they choose.” (p. 21)

I also enjoyed reading chapter 6:  the WholeHearted Learning Model. The chapter begins with a brief summary on the types of schooling (public, private, home, etc.) as well as the types of homeschooling.  This leads into a wonderful description of the major schools of learning (classical, unit study, Montessori, etc.), and finally into the WholeHearted Learning Model.  This model is a compilation of several educational theories, and is summarized in their 12 pillars of learning.

What I love about this book is that it not only lays out a clear Christian perspective on home educating, but these ideas also backed up with scripture (often found in the side notes on each page) as well as suggestions and ideas on how to implement them.  In the later sections on the book, Clay and Sally specifically address the methods of teaching the Bible, the 3 R’s, geography, history, and even the fine arts.  Each topic is thoroughly discussed, from teaching typing at an early age, to booklists, to music, memorization, and even creative play and study groups.  The number of topics discussed is utterly awe-inspiring!  I also love the fact that their suggestions have been used on their {wonderfully sweet} children and have been proven effective!

This book will remain on my night stand, as I read and re-read many of the sections over and over again – there truly is SO much information to glean from these pages!

Educating the WholeHearted Child can be found in Apoligia’s online store for $22.  Click here if you would like to see what other reviews say about this amazing book!

Disclaimer:  I received a free copy of Educating the WholeHearted Child, in return for an honest review of the product, whether good or bad. I was not otherwise compensated for this review.

Math Monday: tally marks

I recently posted about how we’ve been studying skipcounting by 5’s.  Now that Aikman has mastered this, we are now discussing tally marks, using popsicle sticks.  (For those not familiar with Montessori, this is typically NOT taught in the primary (3-6) curriculum, but a part of the elementary (6-9) curriculum as a study on numeration.)

 

I first brought interest to this material by making the tally marks in front of him one afternoon.  With a hot glue gun, he and I made 20 sets of 5 tally marks.  During this time, I let him count the sticks in each bundle, letting him see that each group had 5 sticks in them.

The next day, I set them out on the shelves for him to discover..

In terms of presentations, my first presentation was simply, “This is a collection of 5 items. Let’s count them by 5’s.” 

Subsequent presentations included:

a) drawing a number card (of the multiples of 5’s) and then counting them out.

b) picking up a group of 5-tallies from the box, counting them, and then finding the number card to match.

c) picking up a group of loose popsicle sticks, and then converting them to proper tally mark groupings.

d) rolling a dice to determine how many popsicle sticks to add, and then converting them to proper tally mark groupings.  (*** This is a personal favorite!)

e)  picking up a random number of 5-tallies and single sticks and counting them.

So far this is the last presentation that we’ve done for tallies.  I’ve discovered that he has a really hard time going from counting by 5’s to counting the single sticks (ie 5, 10, 15… 16, 17, 18), so I believe I’m going to have to do some type of practice with this… any suggestions out there?

For storage, the sets of tally marks, as well as 20 single popsicle sticks, are placed into a box together. I have also added a set of number cards to place in the box that count by 5’s to 100.

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

Scientific names and classifying animals

In our pursuit of studying zoology this year, week 2’s lesson at the co-op was over the animal classification system.

I brought in my collection of Safari Ltd animals, and let the children look over and play with them first.  Then I asked them to see if they could come up with ways to organize the animals so that they were grouped together.  I really didn’t want to give a lot of guidance on this, and I wanted them to come up with their own classification system.

My class chose to group the animals in a variety of methods that made perfect sense to them!

 

They grouped the following together…
- animals in the water -- sharks, whales, stingray, starfish, walrus, seal, and fish. 
- yellowish/light brownish animals – lions, tigers, kangaroo, and a prairie dog
- four legged animals (not including the yellow animals) – horse, zebra, gorilla, cat, dog
- “everything else” – frog, snake, and human

We then discussed that animals are grouped into vertebrates and invertebrates. We talked about how vertebrates have a skeleton, and in particular a spine.  I brought with me the skull of an animal that I had received from a nature swap, which they all thought was very cool; and then I had all of the students feel each other’s backs for their spinal cord. 

We also used the Montessori Print Shop  of vertebrate/invertebrate sorting cards.

 

The highlight of the day, though was when I showed the kids Google Body.  They LOVED that you can rotate and spin the body, and add/remove (even highlight and label) the skin/muscles/bones/organs.  One note to all of my mamas who may try this with their kiddos… watch which gender you are dealing with…. I was adjusting the skin option, and two girls giggled with they started to see male anatomy parts! (Whoops!  Sorry, Connie!)

Finally, we discussed that animals were grouped very specifically – into amphibians, reptiles, fish, birds, and mammals.

I didn’t get into the specifics of each category, as we will be doing that over the next few weeks as we study each grouping.  However, we did talk about how we call the animals by their common name and scientists call the animals by their scientific name.

One of the stations that they students could study was to match an animal to its scientific name/picture.  I used the cards found here for this activity. (If you have older children who are studying the taxonomy in more detail, check out further down the page, as there are some printables about the specifics of classifying several animals – from the kingdom, all the way down to the genus and species!  This website also has a great table that shows how to classify animals.)

 

Likewise, check out our zoology pinterest board!  I’ll be adding more links each week that pertain to what we are studying!

 

A special thanks to our sponsor, Safari Ltd, for providing many of the animals for this activity.