Counting Coconuts

Remember Me?

2012-02-02T08:45:00.002-04:00

I can't believe it's been two months since I last posted! It's amazing how time flies. One minute it's Christmas, the next it's nearly Valentine's Day!

I hope all of you are well! Hugs and thanks to all who've reached out to see how we've been. Everything's great - I've just been busy busy busy traveling and taking care of my sweeties. As for my long blogging absence, well, the truth is I just haven't felt much like writing lately. I go through phases like that and rather than quit blogging altogether, I take breaks whenever I feel the need. I'm sure you all understand!

Anyway, I do have a bunch of things I'd like to share so I'm hoping to pop in here from time to time over the next few weeks to post. Just a heads up, it's mostly organizational and crafty type stuff. As I've said before, I no longer create shelf work, so there will be no more "On Our Shelves" posts. And it's been ages since I created a new sensory tub. I guess what I have to share really emulates what I'm focusing on in my life right now - *trying* to stay organized, and creating things for my little ones. : )

~Thank you for your comments!~

Car Boxes

2011-12-01T07:00:00.000-04:00

I don't know about you, but my car is a place where kids rule. Meaning, it's their car, not mine. There are toys, crumbs, and random pieces of clothing scattered around the floorboards. It's not a pretty sight!

As my life with two kiddos becomes busier and busier, I need to be as organized as possible. We are out and about a lot and oftentimes the things I need for them (e.g. sunscreen, diapers, etc.) are no where to be found. So, I made some "car boxes". This idea isn't anything new or brilliant, but it's been a lifesaver for me.

This first box is James' box. It sits between his and Juliet's car seats. When Juliet gets older, she'll have one of her own.

Here's what inside:
:: Crumb free snacks - only took me 4 years to figure out that if I don't want crumbs in the car, don't let cute little kids eat crumbly food in there!
:: Waterbottle
:: Various books (I Spys, readers), magazines, and a workbook
:: A couple of activity bags
:: Homemade notepads
:: Crayons
:: Various toys with easy to pick up pieces - these reptangles are a favorite!
:: Calculator (James loves playing with this)
:: A favorite stuff animal
:: Brain Quest deck - we LOVE these!

This next box is also for the kids, and it holds some basic necessities. Such as...

:: Blanket
:: Umbrella
:: Mini first aid kit
:: Hand sanitizer
:: Sunscreen
:: Plastic bags. These are from the grocery store and are great for dirty diapers, outdoor items that suddenly become most cherished treasures, and of course, trash.
:: Wipes
:: Diaper changing kit (it's a roll out mat that has diapers, cream, and wipes inside of it).
:: Sun hats
:: Sunglasses
:: Kleenex

This was one of the easiest bits of organization I've done in a long time. Find a bin, gather the items you regularly need, put it in all in the car. Easy peasy!

~Thank you for your comments!~

Our School Library

2011-11-20T09:35:00.002-04:00

After finding this haul of books at the local thrift shop, I decided it was high time I reorganize our little "library" of children's books and learning books.

My first job was to separate our books into piles by subject. James and Juliet helped. : )

Next, I used dot stickers to visual discriminate each subject. I couldn't find inexpensive dots in the variety of colors I needed, so I purchased some plain white dots and colored them with markers.

I created this legend to help James find what he needs. For example, for homework each night, James must read a book to his father. I tell him to go to the classroom and select any one of his readers, which are the green group. He knows where to get them and, most importantly, where to return them!

After a lot of thought, I decided to use one of the bookcases in our classroom. I know this seems like an obvious choice for school books, but I actually had a hard time giving up two of our Montessori shelves. That is, until I determined our new routine and realized we'll be using less of our shelves for tray work.

There are a couple of baskets to hold the smaller collections of books, such as our Nat Geo's for kids.

Our reference books (encyclopedias, dictionaries,etc.), my teaching books and manuals, and any other textbooks are on a bookcase just outside the classroom. James has lots of non-school type books and all of those are on the bookcase in his bedroom.

At the moment, I have no desire (read: energy) to catalog our all of books. I know there are a variety of awesome online resources that would help me do this, but our selection is still relatively small and quite manageable. :)

~Thank you for your comments!~

Our New Routine

2011-11-13T10:15:00.001-04:00

I mentioned in a recent post that I have been re-evaluating our curriculum and how we do school. With the help of Jolanthe's Homeschool Planner worksheet, I created this schedule:

There were key subjects I knew I wanted to cover, some more frequently than others (e.g., math, writing, reading). I also wanted a variety of topics within each day because while James is a creature of habit and routine, I knew it was important that I keep our school time interesting and new at the same time. For example, we do an "art study" every Thursday, but the art that we study is different each time.

Every Sunday evening I plan out our schedule for the coming week by writing in specific notes on the template. I refer to this schedule during our school time and I make a check mark as we finish a subject. I do this so that upon review I can quickly see what's done and what isn't. There are days when we may have to skip a lesson here or there, and because it's not checked I'll see that I need to cover that material tomorrow.

After I've planned our schedule, I gather together all of the materials we'll need for each day and I create "daily trays". I place these trays on the shelves of one of our bookcases. This is not unlike workboxes in the sense that the child simply goes to one spot to collect their work for the day. Each morning James goes to shelves, gets the tray of the day, brings it to the table, and knows that everything on that tray is what we have to work on.

On each tray is a clear folder that holds that day's worksheets. I purchased three Kindergarten and 1st grade workbooks and I simply tear out several pages for each day. Occasionally I add in worksheets I've found online, too.

At the end of the day we paperclip the completed worksheets and put them into this folder. My husband really enjoys seeing what James has done, and James is so proud to show his daddy his school work!

I also have a "teacher tray" where I keep books I use repeatedly throughout the week (e.g., our chapter read-aloud, our reading comp. book, etc.). This is really handy as it keeps my materials separate from James'.

At the end of each week I save the completed schedules in my organizer. This is helpful because it serves as a record of what we've done and it also provides me with a clear idea of what we need to cover. By the way, I must mention that I *love* my organizer! I haven't quite decided how to use it to its full potential, but so far it's been a great help. Inside of it I keep a copy of our monthly calendar, notes, ideas, planning sheets, Weekly Reader teaching guides, as well as pouches filled with writing tools and stickers.

That's one other thing that's been a fun new addition to our school time - the stickers! I remembered that I used to love when my teachers put stickers on my worksheets to show they were pleased with my work. I found loads of these little stickers at the local teacher's supply store. James was just tickled when I pulled them out and I've noticed he puts in a bit more effort in the hopes he'll get a sticker!

Many thanks to my wonderful friend, Terri, for this idea. I made this schedule sheet for James and I keep it posted in our classroom next to our calendar so he can see what's coming. He really likes it and often looks over to it and announces what we're doing next. We start school at about 8:30/9am (or later... depends on how motivated we are in the morning!) and the entire routine takes us about 3 hours. This works out well since our afternoons are usually busy with playing, errands, or classes. (BTW, "morning exercises" is just a more grown up way of referring to "circle time". : ) You can read more about our circle time here.)

I'm really, really pleased with our new schedule and learning method. I like that we're still using our classroom despite the fact that much of our work comes from books and worksheets. We have school every day in our classroom and work at the little table in there. Three times a week James does "shelf work" where for 30 minutes he can work on anything on our shelves. Currently, the work on our shelves is from our mini-units. (Side note: I thought we'd move through those MUCH more quickly than we have - there are 3 units we have yet to cover!) When we get through those I will create only a handful of trays each month.

For the moment, our "curriculum" is really just a hodgepodge of methods using various books, workbooks and tactile materials. Beginning next fall we'll be using more specific methods for our core subjects.

In the next week or two I hope to share about our new school library!

PS: here's a recent pic of my sweet pea. I just can't get enough of that smile!!

~Thank you for your comments!~

Baby Knit In Action

2011-10-29T20:18:00.005-03:00

It's such a treat to see my little girl *finally* wearing some of the baby knits I made for her during my pregnancy. She's just about outgrown these little booties! Here she is wearing the milo vest...

Since she arrived I've knitted another bonnet, a cardigan, and a sweet little pair of sheepy pants. I hope to photograph them and come back soon to share with you!

~Thank you for your comments!~

Reorganizing

2011-10-29T19:23:00.010-03:00

Just had to stop by to share this with those who'd appreciate it:

I found these school books - all 47 of them - at the thrift shop today! There are some real gems in this pile and the best part is the whole lot cost only $12!!

I'm now inspired to reorganize our entire library into a more coherent system. We have four 8-foot bookcases packed with books, and the above purchase will have us spilling over onto another bookcase. I'll be back (at some point) to share details and photos on how I organized our school books and James' reading books. It's going to change the look of our classroom a bit, but I'm feeling ready for a change so the timing is perfect.

Speaking of change, I've also been doing A LOT of thinking and researching about James' curriculum for the reminder of this year and the 2012-2013 school year. You may be surprised to learn that we'll be moving away from Montessori for the most part. I'll still use certain aspects of the method and many of the materials we already have because I really do believe Montessori is an excellent way to teach and learn. The fact is, there are just some subject areas where James suddenly seems to be doing better with worksheets. Not to mention the fact I have come to the sad realization that I just don't have the energy anymore to create loads of trays each month. And on that note, I should mention that I won't be doing big monthly themes anymore either, but instead we'll focus on smaller, less frequent units - sort of like our mini-units.

Of course all of the materials we already have and those that I've made won't go to waste - when Juliet is of toddler age and throughout her preschool years I'll guide her by way of the Montessori method, just as I did with James. It's peace of mind to know I already have all of that on hand, ready to go!

On a different note, I'm slowing working my way back into blogging. I'll stop in and post only when I get a chance. Truth be told, I don't think I'll ever come back to blogging as often as I used to. I've quite enjoyed this break and it made me realize just how much time I spent on the computer before Juliet came! My priorities have shifted, my "free" time has been cut in half, and my energy level hovers somewhere just above low. :) It's all good - I'm not complaining. Just sayin' you won't see me around these parts as much as you used to.

These two sweet coconuts keep me on my toes!

~Thank you for your comments!~

Just Stopping By...

2011-09-27T08:30:00.012-03:00

Hello, friends! Remember me?

So many of you have very sweetly sent me mails wondering and hoping that we're settling in. Thank you for your warm thoughts - you're all very kind! I'm not ready to come back to full time blogging just yet, but I thought I'd pop in to say hello and to give an update on how things are going with us.

~my two loves~

I'm happy to say all is well! Life with two kiddos has definitely been an adjustment, though. Thankfully, James has accepted Juliet whole-heartedly and that alone has made the transition easier. It's finding time in the day that's been the real challenge for me. Especially when Juliet first came home - the days just flew by. I think last week was the first week when I finally felt like I had a grasp on time. I actually managed to read, knit, and take a shower!! (The latter being the real luxury!)

~we call this look "the church lady" ;D~

My husband was off work for three weeks and then my wonderful sister in law flew over to help for two weeks. And oh my goodness was she ever a help! Not only did she cook, clean, and take care of the kids whenever I needed her to, she found the energy to do school and a variety of fun projects with James (I'll share more about those later). She was also an enormous source of wisdom and support with regard to breastfeeding and childcare. She just left on Saturday and I'm already missing her!

~(at the beach) *yawn* this is the life!~

So, with hubby back at work and my SIL gone, I'm officially on my own now. That was a scary concept to me at first, but after some thought I now feel really good about it. I realized there's not much we haven't already done so there really shouldn't be any major surprises. We've ventured out many times for errands, meals, appointments, fun excursions - in fact, Juliet has already been to the beach and had her little toes dipped in the ocean! I've nursed in public several times (a huge anxiety overcome!), and I've experienced the joys of both kids having a public meltdown at the same time. I'm ready for life with two - bring it on!

~itty bitty feet~

I can't believe our little girl is already 5 weeks old! She's a sweetheart, a cuddle-bug, and one very determined girl. She has one of the loudest cries I've ever heard from a baby! As of last week she weighed 8lbs., 13oz. - up over two pounds from when we left the hospital (she lost some weight during our stay there)! Needless to say she's eating well. :) I'm exclusively nursing her on demand around the clock. She only wakes up a couple of times in the night to eat and then, thankfully, always goes right back to sleep. We're co-sleeping and I think that's the reason I feel surprisingly well rested each morning.

~teeny tiny hands~

My body is still resetting to its pre-pregnancy state. It's strange and amazing at the same time to feel things shifting back into place. Recovery-wise I'm still a bit sore from the c-section, but otherwise I feel quite normal. One thing that's not normal for me is just how hungry I am. Like all.the.time. I feel like I eat non-stop! I've heard this hunger is common for breastfeeding mothers and thanks to the huge calorie burn that occurs while nursing, I've lost over 20 pounds since giving birth!

~beach bum~

James is doing well, too! He's been such a good boy, so helpful and sweet. He's still very much in love with his sister and dotes on her constantly. She's very taken with him, too, and whenever she hears his voice she'll move her head around until she finds him. James has also been enjoying our mini-units and so have I! I love how compact and portable they are.

Well, that's about all for now. I'll try to update again in another few weeks. I have SO many ideas and activities I want to share with you all and I often find myself writing blog posts in my head! Oh, but there is one last thing I do want to mention... in the last 6 weeks I've received dozens of emails with questions - I apologize for not being able to respond to any of them. I can't say exactly when I'll be able to as life is a bit busy for me at the moment. :) Thanks for your understanding and patience! In the meantime, please be sure to check my FAQ post to see if I've already addressed your question(s).

Hope you're all doing well and that your school year is off to a wonderful start!

~Thank you for your comments!~

Our Littlest Coconut

2011-08-28T14:30:00.001-03:00

She's here! She's here! Ohmygosh she's here!!!!

(clearing throat) Sorry, I'm still just a little excited. Our sweet and wonderful baby girl is finally here with us and let me tell you she is nothing short of amazing! Of course I'm not at all biased. ;)

Meet our little Juliet

Juliet came into the world on August 22nd at 12:52pm. She weighed 7lbs., 8oz. and was 18.5" long. She has soft brown hair and the most kissable cheeks ever!

James is absolutely head over heels in love with her. His first words to her were: "I love you, baby sister!!". He has showered her with so much love and affection that it has brought me to tears on more than one occasion. It's heaven seeing the two of them together.

My husband and I are just as proud as can be and feel so very blessed to have these two loves in our lives.

PS: I am beyond happy to report that, despite a very rough start, exclusive breastfeeding is going beautifully!! I owe so much to my friends and local La Leche League consultants for their support!

~Thank you for your comments!~

Baby Leave

2011-08-19T15:15:00.000-03:00

Well friends, it's time I say good-bye for a while. Our sweet baby is due any day now and I have a feeling she'll come sooner than later. I can't say for sure when I'll come back to posting as I have no intention of rushing anything during this precious and fleeting time. I'll do my best to pop back in to share a photo of our new love and to announce her arrival since so many of you have very sweetly expressed an interest in her and my pregnancy.

I truly appreciate the warmth and well wishes so many of you have sent my way - thank you for that, your words mean more to me than you know. I'll certainly miss all of your positive and encouraging comments over the coming months, especially since that's when I'm likely to need them most! Wish me luck in this new journey as a mother of two!

I hope you all have a lovely fall season! Blessing, hugs, love and all that good stuff. :)

Mari-Ann

August Sensory Tub - Back to School!

2011-08-18T08:00:00.001-03:00

One last sensory tub for the road. I sure will miss creating these over the next few months!

Since James will still have school with my husband, I decided to go with a 'back to school' theme for this tub. I've been wanting to make this for a while, but opted for a fall/apple theme last year instead.

Here's what's inside:
:: Shredded notebook paper (James, under my supervision, used a shredder machine to make this)
:: Personalized pencil case (I won this in a giveaway. James can pack the supplies in the pouch and I know he'll love using the zipper!)
:: Crayons
:: Pencils
:: Erasers (which can be added to the pencil tops for a fine motor activity)
:: Pencil sharpener (to be used with the pencils, of course)
:: Scissors (James can further cut the shredded paper)
:: Paper clips (these can be used to make chains - see our recent activity involving this)
:: Wooden alphabet tiles with little holes at the top (to be used with the lacing string in the pencil pouch)
:: Number beads, 0-10 (can also be laced)
:: Foldable ruler - no clue where this came from; I've had it for years.
:: Tiny yarn apples knitted by me last year
:: Colorful shapes (they link together)
:: Mini homemade notebook (James can use the pencils he's sharpened or the crayons to draw inside of the notebook)
:: Small alphabet book
:: School bus calendar cards
:: Back to school novelty buttons (found at Joanne's years ago)

James had since grown tired of the transportation tub and the pond tub so this new one was welcomed with opened arms! His favorite thing so far is the foldable ruler. :)

Click the button below to see a full list of my sensory tubs or click here to view my slideshow on the Counting Coconuts Facebook page.

~Thank you for your comments!~

Homemade Notebooks

2011-08-17T10:15:00.004-03:00

You guys have been making me laugh lately - whenever I put out a new post, I'll undoubtedly get an email or a comment telling me to "just relax and rest!" before the baby comes. I suspect you think I'm running around like a crazed pregnant women stuck in a crafting frenzy? Well, minus the running part, I suppose that's a pretty accurate statement. But what you must realize is that 1) I LOVE crafting and 2) creating things is a very relaxing pastime to me. Laying around and watching TV makes me anxious - I need to be doing something with my hands. Since we're officially done with school for a while, I've had more time to just sit and craft, hence my recent posts. It's been wonderful and very restful!

And thanks to the plethora of ideas out on Pinterest I've been at no risk for running out of crafty projects. I ran across this idea from Simple Home Stuff and went right to my happy place in making some homemade notebooks.

These are actually a much needed supply in our classroom since pre-made store-bought notepads (the kind with blank pages for drawing) are ridiculously expensive here. And my child is one of those who likes a fresh sheet of paper for, oh say, every new line he draws. Sure I gently encourage him not to do that and sure we use scrap paper and the back of old documents, etc., but when it comes to creating I understand the need for a clean slate. Also, there's something alluring about a book of paper. At least to me and James, anyway.

I won't bother sharing a full on tutorial since these are SO easy to make. Basically I just used cardboard boxes from various food items, I cut them into a variety of sizes and folded them in half to make a book. Then I folded sheets of printer paper (fyi, here's where the cost saving lies - when looking at the paper ratio, the price of a ream of paper is FAR cheaper than a pre-made notepad), and then cut the paper down to the size of the cardboard. After that I simply stacked and then stapled the paper in middle at the fold of the book. Easy peasy.

I know James will get a kick out of the images on the cardboard, but I'm a little.... particular... when it comes to how things look in my classroom. :) So, I covered some of the books with interesting scrapbook paper (see first photo). Those will go on our shelves for various works while the others will be for everyday use outside the classroom. The great thing about these is that they fit right into my purse, so bringing them to a restaurant or doctor's office or adding them to one of our activity kits will be a cinch.

I made some mini-notebooks, too. Just because I thought they were cute. :) I added a couple to the sibling gift I made earlier this week.

Another great thing about these notebooks is that they're reusable - all you have to do is pull out the staple and add more paper!

~Thank you for your comments!~

Fruits & Numbers Giveaway Winner!

2011-08-16T21:15:00.000-03:00

I can't tell you how much I loved reading everyone's baby predictions and well wishes! Thanks SO much for taking the time to share them with me - what a warm community of women we are, don't you think?! I feel blessed to be a part of it. :)

The winner of the fruit manipulatives and jumbo numbers is...

Jen Raubenolt!

Congratulations, Jen! Please email me at countingcoconuts1@gmail.com within the next 48 hours with your contact details.

To James, With Love

2011-08-15T18:25:00.002-03:00

The bassinet is ready, the hospital bag is packed, countless lists have been made... everything's all set and ready for our little baby girl's arrival!

One final preparation was this gift to James from his new sister. I read that it's a good idea to get an older sibling a special gift from the new one - I suppose so they get off on the right foot. :) Ha!

I was inspired by this idea from Ms. Martha Stewart to put together a little package of goodies. In one of my handmade gift bags I included some of James' favorite things: a disposable camera (he loves taking pictures and I thought it'd be cute for him to take some of his new sister), a mini homemade notebook with a tiny pencil (he's really into writing "notes" lately), some fun bugs, a small container of gummy bears, a wrapped gift (dollar store binoculars), and a special homemade card.

I'm bringing the gift to the hospital with me and we'll give it to James when he meets his sister. I can't wait to see my two loves together for the first time!

~Thank you for your comments!~

Pattering With Paper Clips

2011-08-15T09:45:00.001-03:00

I heard about these links and patterning cards and went around the island in search of them, but not surprisingly I came up empty handed. That's one fun benefit of living in a place where resources and selection is limited - you're forced to become inventive!

I realized the links are really nothing more than paperclips without the clip. :) The point is the link and you can certainly do that with paperclips! And the cards were easy enough to create (in Word). James will use the them as a guide to create various patterns (ABAB, AABB, etc.).

I'm making these cards available to you - just click this link to download. As with all of my printables, these are for your personal use only. Please do not sell or offer them in a giveaway. Thank you!

Oh and here's another paperclip activity James came up with. He began creating letter and number shapes with the clips, so I dug out these jumbo cardboard numbers for him to use as a template. BIG hit! (FYI, I *think* the cardboard numbers were found at Michael's Crafts.)

~Thank you for your comments!~

Autumn Calendar Cards

2011-08-13T09:45:00.001-03:00

A while back, on my CC Facebook Page, I took a poll about which style of calendar cards I should make next. Quite a few of you gave your input (thank you!) and it was a tight race, but I ultimately chose an Autumn/Harvest theme. I hope you find them useful in the coming months!

Click here to download

Keep in mind that I format these myself, so they're not perfect, but they'll certainly get the job done. : ) Also, as with all of my printables, these are for your personal use only - please do not sell or offer them in a giveaway. Thank you and enjoy!

~Thank you for your comments!~

Tic Tac Toe, Jumbo Numbers & A Mini Giveaway!

2011-08-12T09:00:00.005-03:00

~This giveaway is now closed~

There! How's that a for a creative blog post title? Ha! Can you tell I'm just really running out of brain power and energy? (Btw, only 10 more days 'til baby comes!!)

We've been taking things really easy lately. Really easy. I haven't felt like doing much and thankfully my sweet boy is quite content to do anything as long as it means we do it together. So there's been a lot of reading books, coloring, and playing simple games like this one...

I made this tic tac toe board on Word (you can find the download link on my Free Printables Page) and I found a variety of things to use as the game pieces. Game piece options are endless (think legos, mini erasers, coins, die cuts, toys, etc.) and changing up them up keeps the game interesting.

In addition to the flat marbles, we also used these fruit manipulatives. You've seen us use them in the past and they really are just the most versatile things - aside from game pieces you can use them for counting, sorting, mystery bags, poetry baskets, practical life work, etc. I bought them at a garage sale here on the island, but you can find them at Lakeshore Learning.

Another fun learning tool we've been working with are these jumbo cardboard numbers. I've had these for quite some time and I can't be sure where they came from - I *think* Michael's Crafts? Anyway, these too are quite versatile in that you can use them in art projects, counting activities, math games, or even as classroom decorations!

Ok, as for the giveaway, I realized I have an excess of both the jumbo numbers and the fruit manipulatives. With a class size of just ONE child, I really don't need all the extras that come in these packs, so I thought I'd share them with one of you!

Here's what I'm offering: one set of jumbo numbers (0-9) and 20 fruit manipulatives - 5 of 4 different styles (apples, bananas, oranges, and grapes). Basket NOT included.

I don't want to make a big deal out of this giveaway because, as I said, I'm just keeping things light right now. If you'd like to win this little combo pack, simply leave a comment on this post.

But wait - now that I think of it... if you're in the mood whilst leaving said comment, I'd sure get a kick out of any baby predictions you'd like to make (i.e. what day/time you think she'll arrive and maybe even her height/weight - just for fun!). And who knows, perhaps I'll send a little something to whomever guesses everything correctly! For those interested in taking a guess, it may help to know I'm already 3cm dilated, I've been having strong Braxton Hicks contractions a few times a day, I'm scheduled for a c-section on the 22nd (which is exactly 39 weeks for me), and my belly is measuring on schedule. And not that this really has much influence in this pregnancy, but James was 9 days early, born at 5:54am, weighed 6lbs. 11oz. and was 19.25" long. :)

The giveaway is open to US residents only and will end on Tuesday, August 16th at 9:00pm Atlantic Time. Good luck!

~Thank you for your comments!~

Busy Hands

2011-08-11T10:15:00.002-03:00

Yes, we have school in our jammies. : )

James working on our foam (dollar store) clock and the fabric numbers I made last year.

~Thank you for your comments!~

Yarn Along - Baby Toys

2011-08-11T08:45:00.004-03:00

Our little babe has plenty of warm knitted things to wear now, but as I went through all of James' old baby toys, cleaning and sanitizing them, I realized she has no new toys of her own!

The first thing I made was this little bunny blanket (my nod to her being born in the Year of the Rabbit). I was inspired to make it after seeing it on Frontier Dreams (she makes the most lovely things for her children). She suggested wetting the paws on the bunny and then popping him into the freezer which will make a nice teether for sore little gums. This was very easy to knit and is oh so soft and cuddly! You can find the pattern here. I used 100% organic cotton (sorry, I don't recall the brand).

These are teething rings. I really hemmed and hawed over whether or not I should make these. Bermuda is such a moist environment year round and mold has a knack of growing everywhere. These just seemed like mold traps waiting to happen. Then I read a bit more about them and read other's suggestions and I realized since they're felted, I could wash them in the hottest water over and over again. And, like the bunny, I can dip them in water, set them in the freezer and know that my baby's gums are being comforted by a natural fiber instead of plastic. For all the colors I used Malabrigio 100% merino wool in the colorways: Ravely Red, Tiger Lily, and Pollen. You can find the knitting pattern here.

These aren't knitted, but I thought I'd share them anyway. I made these "crinkle blankets" on the suggestion of my very best friend who just became a mama herself! She said to me, "I have something you can make for the baby! You take a chip bag..." and there I had stop her and laugh. Somehow 'baby toy' and 'chip bag' just didn't seem to fit together to me! But they do - the chip bag (or any other similar kind of "material") is where you get the crinkle! I did a quick search online and found this tutorial. Still without a sewing machine, I stitched these by hand. I had planned to make several, but just one took me over an hour to make! I used flannel (just cut up one of James' old receving blankets) for one and some cute Very Hungry Caterpillar fabric for the other. The ribbons are from my scrapbooking fibers stash.

Not included in the head photo (since I knitted these later) are these balls I whipped up using this pattern. VERY easy knits and a great way to use up some of those tiny balls of leftover yarn!

Since I'm linking up to Ginny's Yarn Along I have a book to share as well. I thoroughly enjoyed re-reading (for the 3rd time) Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, and Anne's House of Dreams all by L.M. Montgomery. I have all three stories combined in one volume. and they've been some of my all-time/long-time favs. Have any of you ever seen the Canadian version of Anne of Green Gables? The TV mini-series from the 80's? It came out when I was about 12 (Anne's age when the story begins) and I felt I found a kindred spirit in her character. Like Anne, I was a wide-eyed dreamer with an imagination sometimes too big for my own good. :)

~Thank you for your comments!~

Me On The Map

2011-08-08T22:00:00.007-03:00

I saw this nifty idea over on Finally In First and knew we had to make our own version. James can already recite his "place" on the map, but I thought he'd enjoy making and having a visual guide, too. And he loves when things are personalized.

We had such a great time putting this together and spent the entire school day just working on this project! James had so many questions, thoughts and opinions on various aspects of this - it really was quite educational for him (and very entertaining for me, too!).

The idea here is to teach a child that the world is much bigger than what they know and it gives them a sense of where they are in the grand scheme of things.

~our planet~

I printed this coloring page off the internet, James colored it in and then added star stickers to symbolize outer space. He loves anything that has to do with numbers and letters and was giddy about the letter stickers we used to spell out 'Earth'.

~our continent~

I found a North America outline on Google Images and I printed and cut it out. James pin punched that onto orange foam paper (orange being the traditional Montessori color for NA) and I cut it out from there. The little orange dot to the right is Bermuda. James insisted we add a dolphin to the ocean. :)

~our country~

It was fun to be able to use up some of my old scrapbooking paper. The water paper was a huge hit with James. I found an old deck of cards that had an image of Bermuda on them, and we decided to add the national bird, flower and flag, too. Oh and the airplane - that was a must as far as James was concerned for "How else are we going to get home?", he said. :)

~our parish~

Bermuda is made up of parishes, which are basically small towns.

~our street~

James said he likes this one best because of the green car. Our car is green and at the moment he's very attached to it and imagines it has feelings and sees, hears, and thinks things. (This is thanks to the movie Cars 2 we recently saw in the theater). I purposely blurred out our street name in the photo for security reasons.

~our home~

All of the homes in Bermuda have quirky house names (one of my favorite things about Bermuda). Again, I blurred out ours for privacy. James LOVED the little cut out of himself and it made me think that I should create mini cut outs of our little family and paste them onto popsicle sticks - he'd get such a kick out of it.

On the back of each circle is a little factoid sheet I made. They all start with "5 Facts About My....". These are just simple facts, nothing overly textbook-ish, especially the facts about the street and home - I had to get really creative there! I wrote things like, "My street has 3 bus stops", and "My home has blue hurricane shutters".

To create all of this I used cardstock for the main circles and whatever fun papers I could find to match. I chose my color scheme ahead of time, got everything ready to be put together and then I had James do all the pasting and decorating. I didn't use a template for the circles, I just drew them freehand, and I don't know the dimensions. I paper punched a hole at the top of each circle and connected all of them with a cute little brad.

This was one of my favorite projects we've done so far and even after we move, I plan to hang on to this as a sweet keepsake. :)

~Thank you for your comments!~

Free Printables

2011-08-07T22:00:00.004-03:00

All of my printables are free and available to you for your personal use only. Please do not sell them or offer them in a giveaway. If you use them and write about them on your blog please be sure to link back to Counting Coconuts. Thank you!

Nomenclature Cards
Instrument Nomenclature Cards: download / original post
Adult/Baby Farm Nomenclature Cards: download / original post
Nut Nomenclature Cards: download / original post

Poems
December: download / original post
Weather: download / original post
Springtime: download / original post
Farm: download / original post

Misc.
Life Cycle of a Star Cards: download / original post
Life Cycle of a Star Control Sheet: download / original post
Seed Graphing: download / original post
Toddler Lego Counting: download / original post
Weather Words: download / original post
Alphabet Box Cards: download / original post
Gender Chart: download / original post
Island Scavenger Hunt Chart: download / original post
US & Bermuda Coins: download / original post
Large (blank) US Flag: download / original post
Small US Flags: download / original post
Star Sizing : download / original post
Daily Food Chart: download / original post
Halloween Bingo Cards: download / original post
Halloween Bingo Sheets (there are only 2): downloa d / original post
Robot Cutting Strips: download / original post
Robot Memory Game: download / original post
Tic Tac Toe Grid: download / original post
Paperclip Pattern Cards: download / original post

Circle Time Songs
Weather: download / original post
Springtime: download / original post
Dinosaurs: download / original post
Farm: download / original post

Calendar Cards
Fourth of July: download / original post
Summertime: download / original post
Autumn/Harvest: download / original post

I hope you enjoy my printables! If you've seen something on my blog and don't see a printable for it here in this list, feel free to leave a comment in this post and if I'm able to I'll add it when I get the chance.

~Thank you for your comments!~

Mini Unit - Halloween

2011-08-07T07:45:00.007-03:00

Here's the last mini unit! This makes seven total. More than I had originally planned to make and the recent ones have been more involved (compare the robot mini unit to the transportation unit - it's laughable!), but that's how I roll. I get an idea and then I run as fast and far as I possible can with it!

Certain themes we've covered in our 2 years of homeschooling have been more interesting to James than other themes. Halloween is one he looks forward to all year. So, since my teaching hiatus will occur over the month of October, I thought I'd devote a unit to all the fun and not so scary aspects of Halloween. To see my posts from Halloween past, click here and here. :)

~an overview~

Tweezing Spiders (Practical Life). This activity reminds me of the game "Operation" because you have to be careful to get the tweezers into the small opening, pinch a spider, and then carefully draw it out of the pumpkin without dropping it!

Finger Puppets (Just For Fun!). Ha! Love the little orange arm peeking out of the bag! :)

Pencil Sharpening (Practical Life). These pencils, like the finger puppets in the above photo, are things James received while trick-or-treating last year. Hooray for non-candy treats!

Lacing Spiders (Practical Life). These spider rings have nice, big loops and bunch up in a fun way to create a spooky spidery necklace!

Patterning Cards (Language/Math). I made these last year using clip art from abcteach (yes, I have a membership, and yes, I think it's worth it). :).

Pumpkin Manipulatives (Math/Sensorial). These acrylic pumpkins are very pretty and come in a variety of colors and sizes. I found them at Micheal's in the US. James can use them for sorting, math, imaginative play, and as our bingo counters.

Mini Sensory Tub. To see past sensory tubs, click here and here. This one is full of all sorts of goodies: feathers, chip board signs (found at a scrapbooking store), spiders large and small, puffs, erasers, skull beads, purler beads in black, purple, and white, and letter buttons that spell out the word "Halloween".

Make A Pumpkin (Art). James isn't much into art whether it be free creation or prepared crafts. He is, however, a big fan of pumpkins so I think he'll enjoy the end result of this craft. I've prepared everything he needs to create two cute little pumpkins.

Skip Counting (Math). As in some of our other mini units, I created some blank skip counting cards (on Word) and then added puffy stickers to make them more interesting. This set counts by 5 up to 100.

Parts of a Skeleton (Science). I printed the booklet from Montessori Print Shop (note: it's actually a set of 3-part cards - I just used the title cards) and I included a little glow in the dark skeleton (found at the dollar store). James can match the parts from the booklet to the corresponding parts on the skeleton.

Stamping (Art/Just For Fun!). As a photo, this activity looks extremely dull. :) But James loves stamping and will cover page after page with stamped images.

Life Cycle of a Pumpkin (Science/Language). This is also from last year and I printed it off from the Montessori For Everyone website.

Scissor Practice (Practical Life). I love these stickers - they're puffy, shiny little candy corns. :)

Punching (Practical Life). I just strips of scrapbooking paper for this activity and there's a little container (not pictured) for James to dump the punched pieces into.

Counting Cards (Math). No counters with this activity. James enjoys numbered items and spends a good amount of time simply putting them in order and creating new numbers.

Poetry Basket (Language). Also from last year - in fact, it was our first poetry basket and the poem was written by me. :)

Books (Language). Pumpkin Eye by Denise Fleming, Arthur's Halloween by Marc Brown, Clifford's Halloween by Norman Bridwell, and Happy Halloween by Rosemary Wells.

Bingo (Language). I made this myself using clip art I purchased from here. You can find a link to download this here on my printables page.

Worksheets and Mini Activity Book (Language/Math/Art). The color pages were found free online and the worksheets were created by me. The activity booklet was another trick-or-treat giveaway.

Collage (Art). These are foam stickers in Halloween shapes. James likes stickers, so I'm thinking he'll enjoy sticking them on the paper and also tearing the paper to make a collage. He has access to scissors, paste, and other art tools in our supply basket.

Pumpkin Playdough (Sensorial). This playdough, like last year and the year before, is scented with pumpkin spice and smells de-licious!

All packed and ready to explore!

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~Thank you for your comments!~

Felt Fractions

2011-08-05T09:30:00.001-03:00

These have been on my "must-make" list for over a year and it wasn't until I saw them on Pinterest that I moved them to the very top of the list and finally put them together.

I love tactile ways of teaching math. I've said time and again that I would probably have had better luck with math in school had I been taught with Montessori math materials and other hands on materials such as these. It's great to be able to FEEL math when you're one of those that just can't wrap your brain around it!

These were very easy to make. I used two layers of regular ol' eco-fi felt, fabric paint and a blanket stitch around the edges. I didn't use any particular template to make the circles, I just outline the bottom of a bowl and then eyeballed the segments. Easy-peasy!

~Thank you for your comments!~

Yarn Along - Baby Knit

2011-08-03T09:00:00.003-03:00

So... yeah, I'm sharing yet another baby knit. Are you non-knitters just really, really sick of these posts?!
This week I'm excited to show you this little gem, the "In Threes: A Baby Cardigan" knit up in uber soft and smooshy Malabrigio in the Ravelry Red colorway. You can see my Rav. notes here.

My husband went out of town recently and since he wasn't home for me to cuddle with in the evenings, I really focused on this project and finished it in less than 24 hours. It knit up so quickly and I think that's because it was an enjoyable pattern - as the pattern indicates, it is written "with a basic design suited to a beginner, but with enough interest to entertain a more experienced knitter."

One note I made to myself during this knit was that working with 100% wool during the summer isn't much fun - my hands kept getting really sweaty and the wool kept pulling as a result.

One book that's been on my nightstand for the past month (I only read a few pages at a time) is The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.

Linking up to Ginny's Yarn Along - be sure to pop over to her blog to see more knitting goodness!

~Thank you for your comments!~

Our Reward System - The In-Home Store

2011-08-02T15:30:00.004-03:00

Now that James is 4 he's become really quite helpful around the house. Some of his "chores" include assisting with the laundry, feeding the cats, making his bed, cleaning his room, and distributing toys and other mislaid items back to where they belong in the house. Once the baby comes we've explained to him that we'll be expecting him to help out even more (he is SO excited about this new responsibility!). His endless energy and cheerful desire to help has been greatly appreciated by this very pregnant mama. I can't tell you how much waddling around the house he's saved me from doing!

We decided to reward James' contributions by giving him a quarter each time he helps out in a big way. He doesn't get a quarter for EACH thing he does since we want him to understand that things like making his bed and cleaning his room are his responsibility and things he simply must do as a member of this household.

My husband bequeathed to James a very special wallet that he himself made as a child. It's in this wallet that James saves his coins and up until now they've just been collecting there. Initially I told him we could go to the store someday and he could choose something to buy. Thanks to our recent Money Matters lesson, he now understands the concept of money and buying things.

Then I saw this idea on The Idea Room and was totally inspired. I set to work slightly modifying it to create a version that will work for us. Here's what I came up with....

~our in-home store~

Inside of this basket are various items which James can buy with his quarters. I opted to include very few food items (I'm just so wary about using food as a reward) and what edibles I did chose are healthy. I found just about everything you see at our local dollar store. Some of it is from my own stash as I've long been in the habit of keeping books, stickers and other simple items on hand for those rainy days or those 'I-completely-forgot-to-buy-something-for-so-and-so's-birthday' days. : )

All of the items are color coded with star stickers. This tag is attached to the basket as a price key. I priced things in such a way that James can choose to buy something straight away after receiving a quarter or he can choose to save up for a more expensive item. I think this will give him a great introduction to saving since there are actually very few items that are just a quarter.

The options for what to include in an in-home store are limitless! For those interested, here's a list of what's inside our store:
:: Go Fish card game
:: Various sticker sheets
:: Grow capsules
:: Paint your own wooden snake kit
:: Cat pencil
:: A book
:: Markers
:: A die cast airplane
:: A bag of unpopped popcorn
:: Welch's fruit snacks (large and small bags)
:: ABC silly bandz
:: Super balls
:: Stretchy bugs
:: Set of 5 small frogs
:: Game of Jacks
:: Mickey Mouse keychain
:: Mini tubs of playdough
:: A bottle of bubbles
:: Ping pong balls
:: Paper clips with magnetic container (James is SO into magnets right now)
:: Alphabet stencils
:: A glow stick (in orange, James' favorite color!)
:: Mini play scene
:: Mickey Mouse stationary set
:: Individual balloons

We'll replenish only once all of the items have been purchased. I'm curious to see how this system will work out and which of the things James really likes.

One final thought: I know to some this looks like just a big basket of "junk" and others may even think that rewarding a child in such a way is wrong. To that I say: "To each his own". I'll admit I'm not a big fan of plasticy toys and knick knacks, but I chose items that I knew would be interesting to James and my intent is for him to learn about responsibility, helping others, and money matters in the process. And I should also note that we are always sure to thank James for his efforts with hugs and praise. :)

~Thank you for your comments!~

Mini Unit - Mickey Mouse

2011-07-31T12:45:00.002-03:00

I have to admit, I don't usually buy into the whole mainstream commercialism thing, especially when it comes to my classroom. It just seems a bit distracting to me. But, I decided to bend a little just this once and I created this Mickey Mouse themed mini unit for James. He's digging Mickey right now and I figured if I could make the activities educational, why not let the Mouse come over for a visit? :)

I should note that because Bermuda has limited supplies when it comes to specialty items and because I have zero interest in adding to Bob Iger's bank account, I opted to make many of these materials myself. In the rare case that I did purchase items, they were cheaply found at our local dollar store, thrift shop, and party supple store.

~an overview~

Here's a closer look at what's inside this unit:
Mini Sensory Tub (Sensorial/Language). I thought about making a full size version of this tub, but with only 3 weeks left to go in this pregnancy, I just haven't the energy. I used red pony beads and black marbles and foam squares as the main filler. Also included are bottlecaps (dollar store), buttons, letter beads to spell with, poms, tiny Mickey Mouse buttons, a couple of vellum stars, and a Pluto Pez dispenser.

Telling Time (Math). I made this myself by using the back of a Mickey Mouse paper plate. I purchased the button embellishments from a scrapbooking store (years ago) and then cut the clock hands out of cardstock and pinned them loosely to the plate with a brad.

Lacing (Practical Life). Another use for the paper plates - I simply punched holes around the perimeter and added a shoelace.

Pin Punching (Practical Life). I create the Mouse heads in Word and printed a few of them so James can repeat the work as desired. I provided a sheet of black foam paper to absorb the pin. I've been asked a zillion times about the jumbo pins I use - I found them at our local dollar store over a year ago, but I've seen them available on Amazon as well.

Dominoes (Math/Language/Sensorial). These dominoes are another dollar store find and boy are teeny-tiny!

Bingo (Language/Sensorial). Two kinds - one is homemade and involves reading, the other is a thrift store find and focuses on shapes. I had already created the homemade version (by using clip art), but couldn't pass up the other one when I found it for only 25 cents.

Worksheets (Language/Math/Art). I made all of these myself using free clip art I found online. While I would normally share these with you as PDF's, I don't feel comfortable doing so this time around. I'm fearful of some unknown copyright I'd be breaking if I shared them. Sorry!

Books (Language). Going through our bookcases I found only these three Mickey Mouse books. In fact, these were MY books when I was young and I *think*, perhaps with the exception of The Sorcerer's Apprentice, they're now out of print.

Activity Books (Math/Language/Art/Just For Fun!). Birthday gifts from a couple of years ago.

Manipulatives. I found these at our local party supply store. I envision them being used for sorting, sequencing, math, storytelling, and whatever else James comes up with. Oftentimes I will just put materials out there and sit back to see what HE decides to do with them. His ideas are usually much more creative than mine!

Stick Puppets. I used some of the above manipulatives and pasted them to popsicle sticks. Again, I'm curious to see what James will do with these.

Memory/Matching Game (Sensorial). These are paint chips, which I believe you can find at most large home-retailers. The ones in the photo were a gift from my sweet bloggy friend, Susan. :)

Pasting Practice & Collage Making (Practical Life/Art). The paper and stickers are several years old and from my scrapbooking stash. I cut up various aspects of the papers and it'll be up to James to arrange them however he'd like.

Cutting Practice (Practical Life/Math). As with all of our sticker cutting strips, James will need to cut in between the stickers. He can then use the snipped pieces for a sequencing or sorting activity.

All packed up and ready to explore!

~Click the button below to view more of our mini units.~

~Thank you for your comments!~

Montessori At Home! Giveaway WINNER

2011-07-31T11:00:00.002-03:00

A huge thanks to all who entered the Montessori At Home! giveaway this week - there were 659 entries!

The winner is Samantha Lee, who wrote:

"Montessori At Home looks like an awesome resource to have. I love the penny extensions to the math exercises. Thanks for this opportunity!"

Congratulations, Samantha Lee, please email me at countingcoconuts1@gmail.com with your contact details.

To all the rest of you I'm excited to announce that John Bowman, author of Montessori At Home!, is offering a huge discount to Counting Coconuts readers. For the entire month of August, you can purchase his e-book for only $5.95 (that's a $2 savings!!) by clicking the button below!

Or, if you'd like something to hold in your hands, John offers a paperback version (under the title Help Your Preschooler Build A Better Brain) for just $9.95! Such a great deal either way!

Multi-Tool Sorting Activity

2011-07-28T15:10:00.000-03:00

This is really just a sorting/transferring activity, but with a little twist...

To do this work James will need to choose which of the tools in the tray will transfer which of the items in the bucket. Oh - ha! I see a little stray cube found its way onto the tool tray in the photo. :)

I tried to make it so only one tool applies to each kind of item. There is an overlap in that the tweezers can be used to pick up the large homemade poms. I think James will enjoy trying various tools all at once and discovering which ones work best. The bucket provides an added challenge as the depth will make scooping or tonging a bit more difficult.

As with ALL of the activities I put on our shelves I'm always sure to test them out myself first to make sure the materials work well together and that everything needed to complete the work is made available.

~Thank you for your comments!~

Mini Unit - Space

2011-07-26T08:45:00.002-03:00

The great thing about putting this unit together is that it was pretty much already put together. (You may recall we spent the month of January focusing on space.) There are some new things, but for the most part I reused many of the same materials and, because I'm lazy (and very pregnant), I'm reusing many of the photos and text from my January post, too. :) Just note that the trays aren't included in the mini unit.

~an overview~

Here's a closer look at what's inside this unit:
Felt Planets (Sensorial/Just For Fun!) Made these myself and I'm proud to say they've held up quite well considering how much they've been loved. :)

Poetry Basket (Language). I made the sun out of felt, the Earth came from the top of a Toob, and the little baggies is filled with star shaped beads.

Worksheets (Language/Math/Art/Science). Many of these worksheets were found in various places around the web - Google Images, Making Learning Fun, abcteach, and Homeschool Creations Astronaut Preschool Pack.

Lacing (Practical Life). I found this image on Google, laminated it and then punched in holes about 1" apart.

Stamping Stars (Practical Life/Art). This is a self-inking star-shaped stamper and a little booklet of scrap paper stapled together. Simple, but fun!

Skip Counting (Math). This counting mat came from here. I made that little blue envelope as well as the ones in a few of the other photos. They're really easy to make and perfect for small cards that would normally slide around on a tray. I made my own version after watching this video.

Life Cycle of a Star (Science). I made these myself! This is very similar to the phases of the moon work in that James will need to order the cycle according to the control chart. As with all of these activities, I keep it light and fun - I am well aware of the fact that James is only FOUR and so there's no need to delve into the cosmological significance of black holes or anything. ;D The important thing to me is the fact that he LOVES doing this kind of stuff!

Phases of the Moon Cards (Science). We use these regularly on our classroom calendar, but I'm putting them all on the shelf along with the control chart.

Build A Rocket (Math/Sensorial). I found this idea on Making Learning Fun, but I modified and recreated it with card stock and added a 6th shape to account for the 6 on the die.

Solar System Flashcards (Science/Language). These cards have really beautiful photos and are full of significant, yet easy to follow facts on the reverse sides. You can buy them here.

Space Magnet Pages (Language). I don't actually use magnets with these, I use flat marbles instead. These came from Making Learning Fun.

Memory/Matching Games (Language/Sensorial/Science). These are three separate games focusing on planets, parts of the Earth, and constellations.

Space Mat (Science). These little things are the UK version of Shrinky Dinks (they sell A LOT of UK brands here). Basically they are drawings cast on to plastic sheets which you then color and heat in the oven. They shrink down and become very sturdy. The solar system mat came with the kit.

Pin Punching (Practical Life). I found these jumbo pins at the dollar store and printed out the constellation cards from here. The added bonus to this activity is that once James has them all punched we'll go into a dark room, shine a flashlight behind them and project the images onto a wall!

Books (Language). My Place in Space by Joan Sweeney; There's No Place Like Space by Dr. Seuss; and On The Moon by Anna Milbourne.

Cards & Counters (Math). I made these cards and used stone pebbles ("moon rocks") as the counters.

Astronaut Figurines (Just For Fun!).

Planets (Science/Sensorial/Just For Fun!). These are made of styrofoam (I think). I found them at the local thrift shop. They aren't the greatest, but James loved using them in our space lessons.

Planet Photos (Science). Not sure who makes these (another thrifty find), but their large size and detail make them perfect for studying.

Solar System Card (Science/Just For Fun!). My wonderful sister in law sent this card to James. It is SO cool! Pop up things have come such a long way since my childhood days!

Three Part Space Cards (Science/Language).

All packed and ready to explore!

~Click the button below to view more of our mini units.~

~Thank you for your comments!~

Montessori At Home! Review & Two-Part Giveaway!

2011-07-24T13:00:00.016-03:00

~This giveaway is now closed!~

Have you heard of Montessori At Home!, the wonderfully resourceful book written by John Bowman? Yes? Then you know just what a treat one of you will be receiving!

For those that aren't familiar with the book, allow me to quote the author's website:

"Montessori At Home! shows you how to easily and inexpensively create over 200 brain building experiences for your preschooler. These Montessori activities are not complicated and require no special training for parents to do at home. We show you everything you need to know to give your child the benefits of these early learning experiences."

John was kind enough to offer me a free copy of his book to review and while the above quote is absolutely true, there's so much more to this fantastic how-to guide. (View sample pages)

Inside of this book you'll find:

::An extensive list of which Montessori materials work well at home as well as a comparative price list.
::Detailed activity guides complete with what age the activity is geared toward, the materials needed, the goal(s) of the activity, how to present it, and potential extensions.
::An informative, yet concise history of Montessori.
::Lots of links and shopping recommendations.

::Over 30 printable activity sheets including the Hundreds Board, Numeral Cards, and Land/Water Forms!

I was delighted to find several activities in Montessori At Home! that we had yet to try - here are just a few I've added to our shelves since reviewing the book:

100 Penny Layout with the Hundreds Board

Pipe Building. The book suggests using real piping materials, which I think is a really fun idea! We happened to have this marble run on hand and used it instead.

Tees & Marbles

Magnetic vs. Non-Magnetic

Fun stuff, right? Montessori At Home! is an excellent in home guide for those wanting to incorporate the Montessori method into their child's learning experience. It's perfect for teachers, parents, grandparents, and anyone with a passion for Montessori!

Now for the giveaway:

John offers Montessori At Home! in two formats: CD and e-book. His paperback version, titled Help Your Preschooler Build A Better Brain, is a bit more condensed though it too is a fantastic resource.

You can try your hand at winning a FREE copy of the CD and the book by entering this giveaway! Open to anyone, anywhere!!

~Please note: the CD and paperback copy of the book is available only to those in the US.
All other locations will receive a downloadable e-book.~

AND because I'm feeling very "mother hen" right now (thanks, pregnancy hormones!), I'm throwing in a little something, too!

~Please note: this portion of the giveaway is only available if the winner is located in the US.
(Sorry - international shipping is just too expensive!)~

I'm such a believer in providing Montessori activities at home that I really want one of your kiddos to benefit from something my son has enjoyed time and again. I'll be gifting the winner ONE of the following:

~photo source~

This juicing kit (from Montessori N' Such) - it comes with everything you see minus the oranges. :)

~OR~

~photo source~

This set of Sandpaper Numerals (from Kid Advance) - a must have in any classroom.

The winner can chose which of the above materials they'd like to receive.

Here's how you can enter to win:
Mandatory entry:
1. Leave a comment on this post.

Extra entries:
2. Like Counting Coconuts on Facebook and leave me a separate comment on this post letting me know you have/already do.
3. Follow Counting Coconuts and leave me a separate comment on this post letting me know you have/already do.
5. After today come back and leave me one comment per day on this post until the end of the giveaway.

A couple of notes:
:: All comments are moderated - they will NOT appear immediately after you post them.
:: Do not leave your entry comments on the Counting Coconuts Facebook page - they will not be included.
:: Regarding separate comments - each entry will be counted as a chance to win. If you put all of your entry requirements into just ONE comment, you'll only have ONE chance to win.

This giveaway ends at 9pm (Atlantic Time) on Friday, July 29th. The winner will be announced the following day.

~Good luck, everyone!~

Practical Life - Cherry Pitting

2011-07-23T08:30:00.002-03:00

Another summer time treat - cherries!

James love to help me pit cherries for our fruit salads, so I decided to make it into a shelf activity.

Pretty self-explanatory - James removed the stems and pitted the seeds, placing both in the little white bowl. As with our watermelon work, he placed one toothpick in each piece of food and then offered them as a snack to others in the house (meaning me and his stuffed animal friends :).

It's the little things in life: James was excited to see two cherries stuck together and said, "They're best friends!"

~Thank you for your comments!~

Magnetic vs. Non-Magnetic

2011-07-21T14:15:00.000-03:00

As you can see I've been banging out a lot of posts lately! With just a handful of weeks left in the pregnancy, I'm trying to squeeze in as much as I can before I sign off for a few months. Plus, I have a feeling this cute little babe is going to make an early appearance!

Ok, onto the activity: magnetic vs. non-magnetic is a very common Montessori activity and I'm sure you've seen it all over the blogosphere, but it's something new on our shelves and I thought I'd share it anyway. :)

We had a lot of fun using our jumbo magnetic (from Learning Resources) to determine which items were magnetic, which weren't and which were a bit of both. I credit The Adventures of Bear for using the Venn diagram in her presentation. I created the diagram and the labels in Word.

I set out to find LOTS of things for James to sort through because I knew this would be an activity he'd enjoy. I did not purchase this as a kit, I simply searched through my manipulatives and alphabet box items. Some of the items I chose:

Magnetic
:: Safety pin
:: Nail
:: Nut
:: Lock
:: Key
:: Little wagon
:: Spoon
:: Cookie cutter
:: Bottle cap
:: Paper clip
:: Bobby pin
:: Earring
:: Staples

Non-Magnetic
:: Pine cone
:: Bit of leather
:: Wooden cube
:: Piece of wax
:: Scrap of paper
:: Dice
:: Sponge
:: Crayon
:: Eraser
:: Felted ball
:: Feather
:: Small Plastic toy
:: Tiny tea kettle

Both Magnetic & Non-Magnetic
:: Scissors
:: Clothespin
:: Tack
:: Pipe cleaner

Most of the magnetic things I found were shiny, so I made a point to choose some shiny materials that were non-magnetic just to prove that not all shiny things are magnetic.

This work was a HUGE hit with James and he's done it several times this week.

Here's how it looks on our shelves. :)

~Thank you for your comments!~

FAQ: Montessori Materials

2011-07-20T12:00:00.009-03:00

I've had quite a few people ask me which Montessori materials I think are best and which are not worth the investment. Montessori materials can be pricey even when purchased at a discount supply store and I too asked fellow bloggers the very same question when I first started out in Montessori!

The truth is, I'm hesitant to recommend specific materials for a homeschool because a) each child responds to the materials differently and there's no way to determine if they'll love it or leave it, and b) since the materials are costly I'd feel badly about suggesting something only to have it be one of the things your child doesn't enjoy or get much use out of. Again, there's just no way to determine that in advance. In a regular classroom this would be a non-issue since out of 20 some children surely a handful would like whichever materials were in question.

All that said, I can share with you what materials James has enjoyed. Please know I am in no way responsible for whether or not your child(ren) will feel the same way about them. :)

James' Favorite Montessori Materials:
::The Knobbed and Knobless Cylinders
::The Moveable Alphabet
::The Continent Puzzle
::The Continent Globe
::The Binomal Cube
::The Hundreds Board
::The Sandpaper Numerals and Letters
::Almost all Practical Life work

There are certain materials that I felt were key to providing a Montessori experience for my son and even though James liked them, they didn't/haven't received as much attention as I would have liked. I'm still glad I purchased them and would do so again if I had to. They are:
::The Baric Tablets
::The Spindle Box
::The Number Rods
::The Geometric Solids
::The Pink Tower

I must point out here that I've had other children over to join us for school and they enjoyed many of the above mentioned materials. Every child is different.

And now for the moment of truth - materials I wish I wouldn't have purchased:
::The Dressing Frames
::The Color Tablets
::The Sound Boxes

The above materials are mentioned because I realized after I purchased them that I could have easily make them. Here's a list of some other Montessori-ish materials I've made:
::Dressing Basket, Button Snake, Button Turkey, and Button Tree (alternatives to the Dressing Frames)
::Alphabet Box
::Continent Bags
::Grammar Farm
Practical Life work - I have purchased a few kits and specific supplies from Montessori stores, but the majority of this kind of work (which you can find throughout my blog in my "On Our Shelves" and "Tot School" posts) are my own creations often inspired by other bloggers and my teaching manuals.
::Cards & Counters
::Activity Board (an alternative to the nuts and bolts boards)
::Bean Bags
::Fabric Numbers
::Sound Eggs
::Smelling Bottles
::Art Basket
::Bead Bars (page down to Math section)

As you can see you needn't buy everything, but if you're wondering where you can shop please visit this post to see a list of store options.

~Thank you for your comments!~

Practical Life - Watermelon Snack

2011-07-19T09:45:00.002-03:00

It wouldn't be summer without watermelon!

I prepared this practical life work for James after seeing how much he enjoys using a melon baller in our spooning activities.

As with all of our activities, we remove the items from the tray and set the table for the work. James needed to use the melon baller to remove parts of the watermelon and then transfer them to the small serving plate. He then stuck toothpicks into each ball.

Offering a snack to me and daddy - practical life and grace & courtesy all in one lesson!

Delicious!

~Thank you for your comments!~

A Friendly Reminder...

2011-07-18T18:35:00.003-03:00

Please understand that I do my best to provide links and details in my posts whenever I can and when/if I have the time. I get A LOT of emails with questions and while I'm happy to help please keep in mind that I am no expert and that it takes quite a bit of time for me to go through and answer your emails. Oftentimes the answers you seek can be found on my blog in my FAQ post, by reading carefully through my previous posts or by using the search tool on my sidebar, so please take a few moments to take advantage of those resources. I know it seems easier and quicker to just email and ask me, but like you, I'm a busy mama, too! Of course if all else fails, go ahead and email me - I'll do my best to get back to you. Thanks!

PS: I also want to say a special thank you to those who reply back after I've answered an email - such a common courtesy is something I really appreciate!

Busy Hands

2011-07-18T17:30:00.000-03:00

~a fascination with the moveable alphabet~

I'm taking a leaf from Anne's blog and I'm going to create a recurring series of posts called "Busy Hands" where I'll share a random action photo from our schooltime. I no longer take very many photos of James while he's in school (I find it distracting for both of us), but since this blog is sort of a scrapbook of our homeschool journey, every now and then I'll bring in the camera to capture a moment on film. :)

~Thank you for your comments!~

On Our Shelves - July & August

2011-07-17T08:00:00.009-03:00

This is my last "On Our Shelves" post for a few months. The baby is due is just 5 weeks (!) and I'm now shifting my focus toward preparing for her arrival.

Our theme is summer. Keeping the theme broad like this really allowed me to put pretty much anything on our shelves, so long as it looked summery! :) As always, there are a few activities that aren't theme related. Click here and here to see what was on our shelves last summer.

Practical Life
Water Transfer. When James is ready to do this work he'll need to fill the bowl of little sponges with a bit of water. Then he'll place one sponge square into the garlic press and squeeze the water into one section of the ice cube tray. Oops - I now realize I need to add another bowl to the tray for the squeezed sponge squares. To remove the water from the ice tray, James will simply put the squeezed sponges back into the section to absorb the water and then transfer them back to the bowl.

Pencil Sharpening.

Pouring Sand. This is sand from one of our local beaches. I added a funnel to make this work a little more exciting. :) The bottle on the left is in a basket to keep it from falling off of the tray. James is really careful about transporting his work to the rug or table, but this tray just isn't that great.

Paper Punching. This is something new for us and I think James will really like it. The blue container (from Mexico) holds small paper squares of various colors, textures and weight. The silver container will hold the punches.

Tweezing & Transferring. We've done something similar to this several times before, so this is nothing really new, but I know James will enjoy it. The mason jar is what I think he will find most interesting - there are two parts to the lid and they have to go on in a certain way in order for them to fit properly.

Sensorial

Sensory Tubs. We have two available right now: Pond & Transportation

Sandy Playdough. Same as last year. :)

Creating Polygons. These colored popsicle sticks have been used for so many activities in our classroom! I printed out this chart from the internet and James will use it as a guide to create some basic polygons. I provided a control of error by using a single color for each polygon.

Still on our shelves: Knobbed & Knobless Cylinders, and The Pink Tower.

Language
Poetry Basket. I found this poem online and modified it a bit. I needled-felted the water and grass, and knitted the little fruits in the basket.

Summer Bingo. I made this myself using graphics from here. The small bingo cards are in the little box, and the colored shells will be used as card markers. (Btw, I did not color the shells - I found a bag of them at our local thrift store.)

Sequencing. These stars are filled with water (meant to be reusable ice cubes). We'll use them to create various patterns.

Tracing. James finds worksheets a bit boring, so I try to liven this kind of work up by adding fun writing utensils to the tray. You'd be surprised how often this works to entice him. These printables came from abcteach. (Btw, since a few people have asked, yes I do have a membership to this site and yes I do find it well worth the price - I use it quite often).

Moveable Alphabet. I collected a bunch of images from Google and made these cards to accompany our moveable alphabet. James will spell out the name of image. In the case of the card shown in the photo, he can opt to spell either 'shovel' or 'pail'.

Memory Game. This is one from last year when we focused on Independence Day.

Books. On The Seashore by Anna Millbourne, The Sun Egg by Elsa Beskow, Bermuda 123 by Dana Cooper, Summer (Series) by Nuria Roca, America a Patriotic Primer by Lynne Cheney, L is for Liberty by Wendy Cheyette Lewison, Coral Reef by Marcus Phister, The Scrambled States of America by Laurie Keller, Swimmy by Leo Lionni.

Still on our shelves: Dry Erase Spelling, and the Grammar Farm.

Math
Buying Water Balloons. Put on your creative hat, go into the dollar store and you'll be amazed at what you turn into a learning activity! In the past, I would have made a simple sorting/matching activity with these balloons, but since that's a bit old hat for James, I decided to go this route instead. James will need to "buy" these balloons for a penny a piece/25 cents for the lot. I provided various coins that equal that amount and it'll be up to him to decide which combination of coins to use. This activity falls in line with our recent Money Matters lesson.

Cards & Counters. It's true we're a bit past this kind of work, too, but if I've said it once I've said it a million times - repetition is a good thing. Plus, I have a bazillion of these fruit counters and I've been dying to use them. :) I bought them at a garage sale a few months ago, but I think you can buy them from Lakeshore Learning.

Less Than/More Than/Equal To. I chose sea glass for this work and I think James will really like the look and feel of it. The less than/more than/equal symbols come from this magnetic set.

Lego Math. You can read more about this here.

Skip Counting. I made these bead bars out of pipe cleaners and pony beds. Super easy. The tiles come from our Hundreds Board.

Still on our shelves: Telling Time, and Sandpaper Numerals.

Science & Culture
Discovery Tray. It's been a while since I created a discovery tray for our shelves. This one is full of ocean treasures - shells, coral, sea glass, and bits of pottery washed up after a hurricane a couple of years ago.

Examining Sand. My husband found the idea for this activity here. We'll put some sand on the white paper and make note of what colors and particles we see. We'll do the same with the black paper and see if we notice anything different. We'll use the jumbo magnet to see if any iron-rich minerals stick to it. We'll also talk about why Bermuda sand is pink!

Still on our shelves: (Parts of) the Africa Continent Bag.

Water Experiments - coming soon!

Art & Music

Composer of the Month: Verdi. I often get asked what exactly we do with our COM. Right now I'm keeping it really simple - I download that composer's music onto my iPod and we listen to those songs during our schooltime for the entire month. I also print out a photo of the composer. At some point we'll likely spend more time learning about the composer and the style of music, but for now it's just not something James is interested in.

Coloring Book. I printed this mini coloring book from abcteach.

Circle Time Songs. I can make these available, just let me know if you're interested.

Line Art. The idea here is simple - James can use the ruler to create lines in various lengths and angles. He can color the shapes in if he wishes to.

Happy summer!

~Thank you for your comments!~

Lego Math & Other Activties

2011-07-16T16:00:00.007-03:00

We are Lego fanatics. I mean, what's not to love about Legos, honestly?! Aside from building and creating, there are SO many things you can do with them. Recently, while playing with James, I had a sudden brainstorm...

Lego Math!

I created this lego "worksheet" which has several basic addition/subtraction equations on it. James will need to find the sum in the little silver bucket and click it onto the worksheet. For the symbols I used flat, "bumpless" Lego pieces and simply drew symbols on them with a permanent marker. For the sum of zero I did something similar - I used a flat piece stuck to another Lego.

To provide a control of error I made sure each equation had the same color. The thing I like most about this activity is that it has a sensory aspect to it. The little bumps on the pieces have such a pleasant feel to them when traced with a finger. I'm all about tactile learning and I love that it helps to cement concepts into the brain.

We've used Legos in our learning time in the past. Here are some other fun and educational things you can do with Legos:

:: Sorting by color, size, shape/type, number of bumps, etc.
:: Measuring
:: A mystery bag - here you'd place several different kinds of Legos in a bag and have a matching set available on a tray. Have your child close their eyes and reach their hands in and feel one of the pieces. They'll need to match it to one of the pieces on the tray.
:: Painting/stamping
:: Graphing
:: Music Theory
:: ABC/123 - simply build jumbo letters and numbers. We did this for James when he was first learning his name.
:: Bingo - there's a free printable for this!
:: "Spinny" Speller - I've seen this idea all over the web, but here's a great example.
:: Picture matching

:: Organizing! Ok, so this may not be fun to everyone, but this is my idea of a really good time - I purchased these containers and blissfully entertained myself for hours!

For even more ideas, hop on over to Pinterest and enter "Legos" into your search - holy Lego mania, Batman!

~Thank you for your comments!~

Yarn Along - Baby Knit

2011-07-12T10:45:00.000-03:00

~some more cozy things for my little girl~

This bonnet, the Small Things Bonnet, threw me for a loop a couple of times, but overall I would say it was a very quick knit. I had it done in less than a day. I opted for the pixie style and it is absolutely adorable (I tried it on a teddy bear) :) with just the right amount of pointy-ness at the top.

These booties also knit up very quickly (that's the beauty of knitting teeny tiny things). I tried a few different bootie patterns and liked this one the best. I added little yarn bows to the front because my stitching skills are less than stellar and I needed something to camouflage this fact. :)

And finally these wee mittens. I cannot wait to see the wee hands that will go inside of them! I crocheted (yes, crocheted - I learned how to make a simple chain!) a string and attached them to the mittens so they won't get lost should they fall off the baby's hands. That string makes me smile because it reminds me of the kind of mittens I wore as a child back in the 70's.

I must admit, a lot of ice cream was eaten by yours truly during the 3 days it took to knit this set. That delicious looking yarn (Dream in Color Classy in the Petal Shower colorway) kept reminding me of Neapolitan flavored ice cream (you know, the strawberry/vanilla/chocolate mix). My sweet husband was wonderful about making me ice cream shakes every day. :)

I also have to admit that I have no book to share, making this post a poor entry for Ginny's weekly Yarn Along. What can I say... I had no time to read - I was too busy knitting and eating!!

Only 6 more weeks 'til baby comes!!

~Thank you for your comments!~

Mini Unit - Transportation

2011-07-10T15:00:00.002-03:00

~an overview~

Here's a closer look at what's inside this unit:

Lacing (Practical Life). These tiny vehicle buttons have little loops in the back. James can make a sequencing game out of this or he can sort the buttons by type of vehicle and place them on the corresponding pipe cleaner (i.e. white for air, green for land, blue for water). Or he can just practice his fine motor skills. :)

Mini Sensory Tub (Sensorial/Practical Life/Geography/Language). A scaled down version of our large transportation tub.

License Plate Matching (Geography). Also from our sensory tub.

Skip Counting (Math). I created some blank numbered cards and placed some transportation stickers on them for an added point of interest.

Tweezing (Practical Life). I found some transportation themed Bandz (stretchy plastic bracelets shaped into various things) and I thought they'd be great for a transferring activity since they're so thin.

Worksheets (Math/Language/Art). Most of these sheets came from Homeschool Creation's Transportation Pack, others - like the coloring pages - came from searches on Google Images.

Parts Of Vehicles (Science/Language). I printed these booklets from Montessori Print Shop...

and hunted through James' vehicle collection to find an airplane and a car that had all the parts indicated in the booklet.

Build A Car (Science/Language). These are Automobloxs and we LOVE them! Like the "parts of" activity, this one is also good for learning the names of the parts of a car and the science of how one is constructed.

Fine Motor (Practical Life/Art). These teeny tiny purler beads require some real concentration and a steady hand. James can create various patterns or designs on the pegboards and then when he's finished we'll "cook them" which makes the beads fuse together to create a mat. You can find the kit here.

Vehicle Puzzles (Just For Fun!). James still enjoys working with puzzles and as I've mentioned here, we have quite a stash of them.

Sorting/Lacing (Sensorial/Practical Life). I found these black beads here and they kind of remind me of boulders or tires or tar, so I thought they'd fit right in with our theme.

Books (Language). Cars by Patricia Hubbell, Sailaway Home by Bruce Degen, Thomas The Train by Rev. W. Awdry, and a couple of books from our Kindermusik class. I recommend the Cars book, but the others are just ok in my opinion. They're all I could find at the thrift shop and on our bookcase.

Sorting by Land/Air/Sea (Science). I simply gathered several of each kind of vehicle from James' toy box and created category labels. I think it's so much more enjoyable to sort actual objects, rather than photos of those objects.

Identifying Quantities (Math). I've noticed lately that James is a bit overconfident when it comes to determining quantities visually. He can easily declare small quantities, but when it comes to larger amounts he tends to just blurt out a number instead of taking the time to count it. I think these cards, from HC's preschool pack, will help. And the little clothespins (found at our local dollar store) will be fun for him to work with.

Rub-Ons (Art). I purchased these online and I think they'll be a big hit. Included in the package is a popsicle stick which James will use to transfer the images onto paper. The activity requires some focus and patience because you need to make sure the sheet has been kept still during the rubbing process and that the entire image has been worked in order for it to transfer properly.

Grow Capsules (Science). These are such fun! You simply put the capsule in warm water and watch it expand into a small sponge. These sponges are shaped into various vehicles. I found them at a local store, but you can buy them online here.

All packed and ready to explore!

~Click the button below to view more of our mini units.~

~Thank you for your comments!~

Transportation Sensory Tub

2011-07-08T22:00:00.000-03:00

This is our second tub for the month of July (our other one is a pond theme). James chose a transportation theme, or more specifically, a car theme and we had lots of fun creating it together!

Here's what's inside:
:: Black beans
:: River pebbles
:: Small wooden signs (from our train set)
:: A few die cast cards
:: Plastic trees
:: Red, green, and yellow pony beads (think traffic lights)
:: Some tires from our lego set
:: Cut up pipe cleaners (think of the yellow lines on a street)
:: Small car and truck buttons
:: Cut outs of license plates from various US states

The small buttons and pony beads can be used in conjunction with the pipe cleaners for a great lacing/fine motor/sequencing activity.

I included the license plates because I thought it'd be fun for James to match up them up with the states on a US map. He's always had an interest in the states and I think he'll really enjoy this aspect. Btw, I found the map and the license plates on Google images, but unfortunately the image clip only included a small handful of states.

Click the button below to see a full list of my sensory tubs or click here to view my slideshow on the Counting Coconuts Facebook page.

~Thank you for your comments!~

Daily Food Chart

2011-07-06T14:30:00.004-03:00

Lately, James has been wanting to take a very active part in preparing his meals and so I've been giving him the opportunity to have a little say in what he'd like to eat. As you can imagine, he often makes some not so great choices and if I were to leave it entirely up to him he'd eat nothing but Jell-O and Goldfish crackers. :)

That's when an idea started formulating in my mind. What if I were to create some type of chart that would allow him the freedom to make his own selections, help him to make good choices, and also teach him the basics of good nutrition?

Online I went and discovered this link. LOVE when I run across a like-minded mama! Megan's method is wonderful and if I had a magnetic refrigerator I may have just gone her route, but as I do not I needed to modify it in a way that works for us.

Here's what I came up with:
This is my "all-in-one" version. James can see his food choices (he's very visual like that) and make his selection. I think of this as a menu of sorts as the food images I've chosen are all things James regularly eats. (Yes, you do see a hot dog there. Here I must ask that you don't judge our food choices - I don't claim to be a nutritionist, the best cook, or the healthiest person in the world!)

Alongside each food group shown in the pyramid is an indication of how many servings he'll need per day. The same information is shown in the smaller boxes below the pyramid. Using those numbers as a guide, once James puts together his meal, he'll check off the amounts in the small boxes alongside the corresponding food group. I've added a few extra boxes for special occasions and/or for those instances where food items cross over (e.g. celery with peanut butter and raisins - a favorite of James'). Obviously we'll do the checking off part together since it does take some cross referencing to be sure he's had the proper servings size.

That's where this document comes in useful. On the reverse side of the chart is this handy-dandy reference guide. I've laminated the two back to back for convenience and so we can reuse the chart over and over.

A couple of side notes: If we don't happen to have a particular food item on hand, then James simply makes another choice. Certain graphics, like the cheese graphic, is just a symbol for whatever kind of cheese we have (i.e. slices, string, various flavors). If we go out to eat, we just make a point to fill the chart out when we get home.

As I mentioned, this chart has been specifically tailored for James, but for what it's worth I'm offering it as a free printable to you. Click here to download. You can easily create one of these yourself. I'm by no means computer savvy - I created this in Word, found the images on Google, and cut and paste it all together. Easy-peasy!

~Thank you for your comments!~

Mini Unit - Pond

2011-07-05T15:00:00.002-03:00

~an overview~

Here's a closer look at what's inside this unit:

Nomenclature Cards (Language). The cards are from Homeschool Creation's pond preschool pack and the wooden letter tiles are from Michael's Craft Store. I got the idea of combining the two from Totally Tots. I know James will like this work, and especially the little jar that's holding the letters. :)

Sensory Tub (Sensorial/Practical Life/Math/Language). A mini version of our larger pond sensory tub.

Graphing Game (Math). Also from HC's pond preschool pack.

Life Cycle of a Frog (Science). This is a fun one - I found this life cycle kit and these cards/chart and put them all together for a great tactile learning experience.

Worksheets (Language/Math/Art). The sheets came from a variety of places: Homeschool Creations, abcteach.com, Google, and KidsSoup.

Stamping (Art). I've had these teeny tiny stamps for years. James will need to visit our "supply basket" for the stamp pad.

Speckled Frogs Felt Set (Language/Music). This adorable set comes from Storytelling Fun. I cut a bit of regular felt to use as our story board since I didn't have room for the actual felt board.

Create A Dragonfly (Art). I found this at our local craft store.

Beginning Sounds (Language). Admittedly, James is past letter sounds, but I'm a big believer in repetition when it comes to learning. Also, I just know he'll love the frog paper clips (which I found here on the island). Cards are from HC's pond preschool pack.

Addition/Subtraction (Math). For this activity I combined these dragonfly beads and the magnetic symbols from this set. That adorable Goldfish container was a gift to James from grandpa - no idea where he got it. Knowing him he sent away for it via snail mail. :)

Bead Transfer (Practical Life). This activity has tongs with it, but I see they didn't make it into the photograph - oops! The frog bath mat thingy came from here.

Poetry Basket (Language). Sans the basket. :) I searched and searched and could NOT find a decent pond poem that I liked (I'm kinda picky about the poems I use for our poetry baskets), so I wrote my own. It's cheesy and I'm sure I broke every rule in poetry, but ah well. It'll work just fine. I needle-felted the pond and dragonfly, the lily pad is cut from a piece of foam paper, and the little wooden duck is from here. There's also a wooden turtle (hard to see him from this perspective), but he's super cute! I won him in a giveaway.

Counting Fish (Math). See my post here about these cute little fellas.

Books (Language). Titles are: In the Pond by Anna Milbourne, Five Little Ducks by Ian Beck, Frog and Toad (Early Reader Series) by Arnold Lobel, and The Tale of Jeremy Fisher by Beatrix Potter.

All packed and ready to explore!

~Click the button below to view more of our mini units.~

~Thank you for your comments!~

Sponge Bombs!

2011-07-03T08:15:00.000-03:00

These are our new favorite water toy! Cheap, super easy to make and so.much.fun to play with!

You can find the tutorial on how to make these here, but I will mention that instead of dental floss (which broke very easily) we used electrical ties. I think a strong thread or string would work just as well, but if you do decide to use electrical ties please make sure you sand or file down the sharp edges left after cutting the tail off of the ties.

Hooray for summer!

~Thank you for your comments!~

July Sensory Tub - Pond

2011-07-02T18:45:00.001-03:00

I've had this one on my "to make" list for well over a year now! One of our mini-units is going to be a pond theme, so I thought I'd make a full size tub for James to enjoy as well.

Here's what's inside:
:: Multi-colored aquarium rocks
:: Flat glass marbles, large and small
:: Fish net
:: Jar (for collecting pond specimens) :)
:: Mini frog and turtle erasers
:: Little green fish (I cut these from felt) - you may need to click on the photo to see them more clearly.
:: Plastic duck, turtle, and dragonfly
:: Multi-colored purler beads
:: Lily pads (cut from fake plant leaves)
:: Letters

These chip board letters are from my scrapbook stash, which I've had for years, but I *think* I purchased them at Archiver's. I added the entire alphabet to the tub and James will need to dig them out. He can use them to spell the following pond-related words:

Duck, dragonfly, fish, pond, water, turtle, net, frog, lily pad, and rocks.

Click the button below to see a full list of my sensory tubs or click here to view my slideshow on the Counting Coconuts Facebook page.

~Thank you for your comments!~

Yarn Along - Baby Knit

2011-06-29T01:15:00.002-03:00

I'm in love with this little sweater, The Boheme, which I knitted using Madeline Tosh in their "Fragrant" colorway. You can see my Rav. notes here.

This was my first time following a lace pattern and I found the challenge surprisingly enjoyable. I learned a couple of things about my knitting personality in the process of making this:
1) I need a pattern that's interesting - no straight garter or stockinette for me. Too monotonous.
2) I really do not like purling. That may or may have to do with the fact that I'm just really slow at it. :)

I did have a bit of trouble with the lacing portion at first (read: I had to rip out 14 rows of hard work!), but thanks to YouTube, I was able to figure out my error. There are still a few mistakes in the overall sweater, but if I can live with them I'm sure the baby can, too. :) Thanks also to Ginny for helping me modify the border - I opted for a garter finish instead of the picot written into the pattern.

I found myself really drawn to this project and I spent pretty much every free moment I had working on it. I did, however, find some time to thumb through a back issue of my favorite magazine, Living Crafts.

Hop on over to Ginny's Yarn Along to see what others are knitting and reading.

Oh and because several of you have sweetly asked to see...

~My (big) bump. 31 weeks... let the countdown begin!~

~Thank you for your comments!~

Mini Units

2011-06-27T20:30:00.014-03:00

Once our little baby girl arrives in August, and until we are able to find our new rhythm as a family of 4, I've decided I'll be taking a break not just from blogging, but also from our usual way of schooling. So, I'm planning ahead and putting together some mini-units that will allow us to keep educating James, but with a bit more of an "on the go" style.

This page is a work in progress, and I'll be updating it throughout the summer as I post about new mini units. Here's what's currently available for viewing:

Robots

Candy

Pond

Transportation

Space

Mickey Mouse

Halloween

A few notes about our mini units:

These units, which are meant to last us a few months, are a bit of an eclectic union whereby workboxes meet Montessori. Two very different schools of thought, but I think the meld will work well for us temporarily. We won't need to be in the classroom to do these and they are very self-directed (meaning James won't need much guidance), but should he need help they are also very user-friendly (meaning daddy doesn't need special training in order to explain anything). :)

Each of our units is, for the most part, color-coordinated (the folders, the containers, the pens, the labels, etc.). I'd like to say this is to help James visually identify each unit and because it's a Montessori thing, but really it's just because I'm weird like that. I like things to match! :)

Within each unit I incorporated activities that address each of the following subjects: Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, Math, and Art. Certain themes opened themselves to a few Science related activities. I also made sure to include fun and sometimes theme related containers for added points of interest and fine motor practice.

After the baby arrives I'll place all of these units, in their bins, on the shelves in our classroom. James can choose any bin he'd like to work with, but there are two rules: he may not mix the bins and he needs to put everything back into the bin when he's finished working with it. In addition to the bins, he'll be welcome to use whatever other materials are out in the open in the classroom.

Each unit requires certain tools (i.e. pencils, scissors, etc.) and since I didn't want to purchase several of each item to go inside of each bin, I've created one "supply basket" that will remain on the shelf. James can visit this basket whenever he needs a tool for whatever project he's working on.

I purchased the clear snaptop bins here on the island, but I found them on the manufacture's website here.

~Thank you for your comments!~

Mini Unit - Candy

2011-06-27T20:30:00.008-03:00

~an overview~

Here's a closer look at what's inside this unit:

Sensory Tub & Playdough (Sensorial/Practical Life/Math/Language). This sensory tub is just a mini version of our larger candy tub, and the playdough is chocolate scented. :) Yum!

Alphabet Beads (Practical Life {lacing}/Language {spelling}).

Worksheets (Language/Math/Art). Most of these printables came from 1+1+1=1's fantastic candy preschool pack. Other sheets came from abcteach.com. I also found some chocolate scented stickers (Sensorial) and I printed out a recipe for Peanut Butter Fudge (Practical Life) for James and his daddy to make together. :)

Cutting Practice (Practical Life/Art). These cutting strips came from here and are unique to Montessori classrooms. I had been making my own strips, but ran across these recently and thought they were much better. There's an entire series of them which we'll gradually work our way through. I added the jelly bean stickers for an added point of interest. After James cuts these he'll put the pieces in the envelope provided.

Memory Game (Language/Sensorial). These were a part of the candy preschool pack I linked to above.

A mini gumball machine, just for fun! Also an excellent fine motor activity as James will need to press down the little yellow lever to extract the "gumballs" (wooden beads). The gumball machine was a gift; I'm afraid I don't know where it was purchased.

Sequencing (Math). I found these candy die cuts online and there are enough of them that we can work several patterns.

Less Than/More Than/Equal To (Math). I created these cards using words and symbols and gathered an equal amount of green, pink, and white buttons. We'll set up some scenarios and James will need to use the cards to finish the mathematical sentence.

Graphing Game (Math). I made this grid after seeing something similar somewhere else (can't recall where - sorry!) and used a plain wooden block to create a color die. James will roll the die and place the corresponding colored lollipop brad on the grid. He'll do this until one of the color sections is full.

Even/Odd (Math). These are homemade, too. I simply created some labels and blank number cards and then added puffy candy stickers to each card to make them more interesting and fun to work with.

Pouring (Practical Life). The red bumpy beads look a lot like candy and make a nice clinking sound when they move along the glass. I chose two small, identical lidded jars for this work so the beads stay contained with the unit's bin.

Candyland Game (Practical Life {taking turns}/Language).

That's it! I purchased (here on the island) several of these clear snap lid containers - they're perfect for these units. I labeled each bin and later (after the baby comes) I plan to place each bin on a shelf. James can choose any bin he'd like to work with, but there are two rules: he may not mix the bins and he needs to put everything back into the bin when he's finished working with it.

~Click the button below to view more of our mini units.~

~Thank you for your comments!~

Personalized Guess Who? Game

2011-06-23T08:30:00.002-03:00

I saw this fun idea on Mads Memories and knew it would be something James would enjoy. He's starting to get into games and, as I've mentioned before, I'm always trying to think of ways to keep him aware of our family since we live so far away from all of them.

We already had the Guess Who? game on hand and I have to admit it was getting a bit dusty. I think this is just the thing to renew some interest. And thankfully we have a large enough family for me to have pulled this project off (the people in the photo are just our immediate family... and 8 are missing!).

This wasn't as difficult to put together as some might think. Having already made our Family Nomenclature Cards, I had all of the images ready to go. I didn't even need to format them, I just chose the "fit to screen" and "contact sheet" option on my printer settings. I did need to spend some time in Picnik adding names to all the photos, and I had to cut out each individual photo, but it was all time well spent. I really think James will get a kick out of this.

I'm planning on keeping this as a surprise gift for him for when the baby arrives. :)

~Thank you for your comments!~

Yarn Along - Baby Knit

2011-06-21T18:45:00.005-03:00

Another knit for my sweet little girl. Oh my goodness I can't begin to convey just how much I love knitting for this little baby in my belly. I'm seriously addicted to knitting now more than ever and I can't stop myself from seeking out one adorable pattern after another! You can see my Rav. notes here.

This particular knit, The Country Kiddie, came together very quickly, which is a good thing unless you're a very hormonal pregnant woman who literally enjoys every stitch like it's a book that can't be put down. When it was all finished I actually missed working on it. Ha!

I love this project for two reasons: the colorway I chose was Lorna's Laces "Somerset", which was a lovely coincidence since that's the parish we live in here in Bermuda. The other reason is because much of this project was knitted while I sat on the beach, under an umbrella, alongside the bright blue ocean as my two sweeties played in the sand (yes, my husband enjoys the beach every bit as much as my 4 year old!). While I knitted, I thought of how perhaps someday this little sweater will warm my grandchild and how neat it is that the story of how it was made takes place on a beach in Bermuda. (Btw, pregnancy hormones -at least mine- lead to uncontrollable nostalgia.) :)

Oh and since I'm linking up to Ginny's Yarn Along, I should also mention what was being read alongside this knit. Every night before bed my husband reads a bit of poetry to the baby. She loves the sound of his voice and kicks away as he reads. It's a wonderful way for them to bond and for me to enjoy a book without reading it!

I have two other finished knits to share with you and I'll do that as soon as I photograph them.

~Thank you for your comments!~

Revisiting Summer 2010

2011-06-19T18:00:00.000-03:00

The first day of summer is coming up and so I thought I'd compile a list of the fun things we did last summer. I'm hoping it'll act as a reminder to me to repeat some of these activities with James before the baby arrives!

Frozen Fun

Yellow Sensory Tub

Pinwheels

Frozen Orange Cups

Tree Blocks

Beach Themed Activities

Fourth of July Activities

Ice Cream Sensory Tub & Playdough

Shell Collages

Summer Nature Table

Beach Sensory Tub & Playdough

~Thank you for your comments!~

Spring Cleaning Giveaway WINNER

2011-06-18T08:45:00.000-03:00

I have to be honest, when I thought of hosting this giveaway I seriously expected maybe 10 people to enter. I mean, I knew this was a giveaway I'd like to receive, but I wasn't sure how others felt about someone else's "leftovers". Ha! That said, I was so thrilled that 501 of you entered! Thank you not just for taking the time to stop by this week, but also for the kind comments many of you left in your entries. As always I wish I could offer something to each of you, but...

The winner of the Spring Cleaning Giveaway is:

Jess from The Preschool Experiment!
Congrats, Jess - please contact me at countingcoconuts1@gmail.com with your mailing address.

Island Scavanger Hunt

2011-06-16T00:00:00.005-03:00

I saw this fun idea on The Creative Homemaker (via a friend's pin on Pinterest) and immediately set to work creating something similar for James. We won't be going on our hunt for another week or so, but I know it'll be a big hit. We recently went on a nature walk/hunt with our homeschooling group and James had a blast looking for and finding the items on the list.

Inside of the bag are a variety of things to assist us on our hunt:
:: A copy of our hunt list, adhered to the bag with temporary double stick tape.
:: A few small baggies - I'm sure you can buy these online somewhere, but I always just collect the ones that hold the extra buttons you get with clothing. Of course you could always use regular ziplocs, too.
:: A pair of child safe scissors for clipping - we always opt for items already on the ground, but in the event we need to further prune said items, these scissors will come in handy. I should note that I plan to have my Swiss Army knife handy as well (kept in my possession, obviously).
:: Connected to the bag is a pen on string for checking off the items we've found.
:: Magnifying glass
:: Empty containers - I purchased the white-capped containers here, but baby food or spice jars would work well, too.
:: Camera (for those items you can't/don't want to take with you).
:: Mini notepad to record thoughts or findings in more detail.
:: A drawstring bag to hold all of the kit items, making them easy to find among the natural goodies.

For folks that want to look, but not touch or remove items from their natural habitats, instead of a full-on kit may I suggest simply bringing along your list, a pen, and a disposable camera (or one you're comfortable having your child use).
For my fellow islanders, we're planning on going to Cooper's Island for our hunt as it has a beach and a nature reserve. I've made my list available to you here. (Of course anyone is welcome to use this, it's just that some of the items are very specific to Bermuda.) :)

PS: This colorful nature hunt is another fun activity we've done in the past.

~Thank you for your comments!~

Candy Sensory Tub

2011-06-15T07:30:00.004-03:00

Want to make your kiddo smile from ear to ear? Make them a sensory tub filled with CANDY! (Pretend candy, that is!) :)

Oh my goodness, you'd think I'd given James the moon when I handed over this tub the other day - he explored it for, and I'm not exaggerating here, 45 minutes! And he's returned to it several times since then, too!

Here's what's inside:
:: Lots of pom-poms of various sizes, colors and textures. Some homemade, too!
:: Empty containers from real candy (found in various stores around the island).
:: Mini gumball machine filled with wooden beads (i.e. gumballs) - a fun gift from my bloggy friend, Susan (I *think* she found it at Target).
:: Stretchy worms (i.e gummy worms)
:: Small baggies (see far right side)
:: A purple scoop
:: Little tongs
:: Polka dotted beads (purchased from a local store, Daisy & Mac) - some I left as beads, others I turned into lollipops (see below).
:: Bumpy red beads (i.e. gum drops)
:: Teeny tiny fruit beads (i.e. Runts)
:: Red lacing string (i.e. licorice)

Another fun addition I thought of, but didn't have time to create, was Hershey kisses - you could wrap some tin foil into a little cone shape and, if you're super creative, make personalized tags for them.

I made these little lollipops using the polka dotted beads and some Q-tips. I simply stripped the cotton from the Q-tips and stuck them into the hole of the bead. These are, by far, James' FAVORITE thing in the tub!

I added some baggies and tongs to the tub to simulate what you'd do at an open bin candy store. James had fun collecting various candies and setting them aside to "buy later". :)

This has really been an "all in one" kind of tub. With it James has done lacing, scooping, tonging, pouring, sorting by color/item/shape/texture, counting, adding, subtracting, sharing, pretending, and even spelling (he likes to arrange the puffs into letter shapes and create words). I just love that he gets so much out of these tubs!

Click the button below to see a full list of my sensory tubs or click here to view my slideshow on the Counting Coconuts Facebook page.

~Thank you for your comments!~

Summer Calendar Cards - 2 Sets!

2011-06-14T07:30:00.000-03:00

I made these cards for our classroom calendar this summer and since I purchased the clip art (from here), I'm at liberty to share these with you! Click the titles below to download. Enjoy!

USA

At the Beach

As always, my printables are for your personal use only - please do not sell or offer them in a giveaway. Thanks!

~Thank you for your comments!~

Spring Cleaning Giveaway!

2011-06-12T09:15:00.003-03:00

~This giveaway is now CLOSED!~

Call it spring cleaning, call it nesting - either way, I've been busy cleaning and organizing our closets! I discovered a bunch of school supplies that I no longer need or that I have duplicates of and I thought who better to share them with than one of you!

A little of this, a little of that -
just a hodgepodge set of cut outs and stickers.

Here's a close up of what's included...

Fruits. I removed the packaging from these cut outs and so I can't recall the name of the company that makes them, but they are awesome! They're quite large and the images are very real-looking.

Vegetables. Great for a farm unit. And, with these and the fruits, you could provide your child with a simple sorting activity (fruits vs. vegetables).

Rainforest animals. Perfect for a South America continent bag/box!

Sand dollars. Not enough for a calendar board, but you could use them as cards in a 'cards and counters' activity. Great for a beach theme!

Jumbo US coins. These are a lot of fun and come with a cut out for the front and the back of the coin. We used ours during our recent money lesson. (Note, the real coin is pictured for size perspective only :).

Color cards. I used these with James a few years ago when he was first learning about colors - click here to see our lesson.

Butterflies. We used these during our spring unit. You could create nomenclature cards and/or labels to match them or have your child hunt through a butterfly book to try and identify them.

Stickers. A set of 20 different sheets, all unused. There are LOTS of ways to use stickers - I often use them in our themes by making scissor practice strips or to make math cards. The letter sheets in this set could be used as a mini moveable alphabet!

A humble offering, but I hope it's one that will benefit someone's classroom! :) Here's what you need to do if you'd like to enter to win...

1. Leave a comment on this post.

For extra entries:
2. Like Counting Coconuts on Facebook and leave me a separate comment on this post letting me know you have/already do.
3. Follow Counting Coconuts and leave me a separate comment on this post letting me know you have/already do.
4. After today come back and leave me one comment per day on this post until the end of the giveaway.

*NOTE re: separate comments - each entry will be counted as a chance to win. If you put all of your entry requirements into just ONE comment, you'll only have ONE chance to win.

This giveaway will end on Friday, June 17th at 9pm Atlantic Time and is open to anyone, anywhere!

~Good luck, everyone!~

Money Matters: An Intro to Money & Shopping

2011-06-08T08:30:00.002-03:00

We're starting to learn about money over here. James likes playing with coins and has been asking what each one is and what it's for, so I created some nomenclature cards and we had a fun lesson about money last week.

First we matched some jumbo coin cut-outs I found at the local teacher's supply store. Then we matched real coins to the cards. We also talked a little about the images on each coin.

Next I talked about how different countries use different kinds of money and then I introduced and we matched some Bermuda cards and coins.

Then I talked a bit about why we use money. I explained how each coin is worth a certain amount and that the things we buy cost a certain amount and that we must use money to buy those things.

Next we played "store". I found a bunch of random items and I labeled them with stickers. Each sticker had a value on it. I gave James some coins and a basket and he excitedly "shopped" for things. :) When he selected the items he wanted, he brought them to me (aka the cashier) and "purchased" them. To keep it very simple, we addressed each item individually - I would take the sticker off the item, show him the amount and he would select the appropriate coin from his loot. He did a great job and gave me the correct coin each time, which I thought was great considering he was working with two types of currency!

This was such a fun game for both of us! James was so funny about shopping - he's a lot like me in that he takes forever to make a decision about whether or not a certain item is worth the purchase. He was saying things like, "Well, I already have one of those, so I really don't need it." Ha!

~a happy customer~

If you'd like to download my money cards, click here. Note there is also Bermuda currency included in this file. Since we use both US and Bermuda currency here on the island (it's 1:1), I wanted James to be familiar with both. Fun tip: you could always print out the Bermuda cards and add them to your North America continent box/bag! :)

As always, my printables are for your personal use only - please do not sell or offer them in a giveaway. Thank you!

~Thank you for your comments!~

Yarn Along - Baby Knit

2011-06-07T09:30:00.003-03:00

I am having so much fun knitting up some soft little things for my babe!

I recently made this Milo vest using Dream In Color yarn in their "angel" colorway. You can see my Rav. notes here. There were a couple of tricky spots (hoping once I block it the waistband will shrink a bit) and once again I had to learn some new tricks (hello, cabling!), but overall I'm pleased and I think it'll look super cute on our little miss.

Since I'm linking up with Ginny's Yarn Along, I'm also sharing a book I'm reading: So That's What They're For by Janet Tamaro. This is meant to be a book with a casual and humorous perspective on breastfeeding. Over the past few months I've read quite a few "serious" books about breastfeeding and thought I'd check this one out from our local LLL library to see if there was anything funny about breastfeeding. This may be a bit TMI, but my first go at breastfeeding (with James) was anything but humorous and my inability to nurse him bothered me for years afterward (I've since come to peace with it). The book is a bit outdated (I think the last update was from 1996), but the facts haven't really changed and while it's very informative, it definitely gives a lighthearted view to something I was starting to take a little too seriously. I'm glad I read it. This time around I know I'll be successful at breastfeeding. I'm much more informed and have lots of wonderfully supportive friends surrounding me - two things I didn't have in my arsenal last time. :)

~Thank you for your comments!~

On Our Shelves - June

2011-06-05T16:45:00.011-03:00

Our theme this month is dinosaurs! Truth be told, James is neither here nor there when it comes to dinos, but I thought we'd give it a go anyway. We finished up our farm theme at the end of last week, so tomorrow is our first day with the dinosaurs.

Oh, btw, how many of you knew that the beloved Brontosaurus has been declared "scientifically redundant" and now has a slightly different appearance and goes by the new name, Apatosaurus?! I'm sure I'm the last to know about this. Sheesh, first Pluto is stripped of its planet status (I know, I know, it's a dwarf planet now... but still) and now I hear about the Bronto losing its place in the dino world. How will my inner child reconcile this information? Was my entire elementary education flawed?! :D

Ok, moving on...

Practical Life
Washing a Dinosaur. I think James will get a kick out of this, especially because it involves a cute little scrub brush.

Scooping Dinosaur Eggs. Ok, so this looks a bit like an Easter activity. You just have to imagine these are dinosaur eggs. :)

Folding. There are 2 sets of 3 different sized pieces of dinosaur material in this basket. James will fold them and match them by size.

Pin Poking. These sheets are from Montessori Print Shop. James will use the jumbo thumbtack to poke tiny holes all around the images thus separating the image from the background. We did this last fall and it was a favorite.

We'll also continue our Grace & Courtesy lessons in table manners.

Sensorial
Dinosaur Sensory Tub. What has made this tub a hit is the fact that it has water in it. Kids + water = guaranteed fun.

Mystery Bag. Inside the dinosaur bag are two sets of the same dinosaur. There's another set in the basket, which James will lay out on the mat and use as a guide for what he's feeling from inside the bag. There's no peeking with this activity - James has to really tune in to his sense of touch to determine which dinosaur he's feeling before he pulls it out of the bag. Of course this can be done with any number of objects and can be as simple or as complicated as you like. This activity is fun with toddlers and is great for teaching basic shapes.

Binomal Cube. This is a traditional Montessori material and you can read more about it here. I purchased our cube from Kid Advance.

Still on our shelves: Knobbed and Knobbless Cylinders, and The Pink Tower.

Language
Dinosaur Bingo. I made this myself using clip art from abcteach. I'd share it as a PDF, but I believe the images are copyrighted.

Worksheets & Activity Book. Skills involved: dot-to-dot (by letters), tracing, and reading/following basic directions. I printed the sheets off from KidsSoup and abcteach.

Spelling. Same idea as last month only this time I'm using these magnetic numbers.

Books. I was astonished to find only 3 dinosaur books at our library. THREE. Which is just as well, I suppose, since we're only allowed to check out four at a time. The rest are from the local thrift shop.

Not sure if I'll do a poetry basket for this month as I cannot for the life of me find a decent poem about dinosaurs. Guess dinos aren't very poetical. :)

Reading. As if by magic, James can read just about anything now and very rarely has to sound anything out. In just a couple of months he went from sounding out basic three and four letter words to flat-out reading words with 5+ letters without hesitation. I couldn't tell you how this happened, it just did and I know I had very little to do with it. I guess something just sort of "clicked" with him. Anyway, because I'm still wary of how well he actually knows some of the reading "rules", I want to continue forward with the last bit of the green series. I also purchased some basic readers. I found this series at a local shop (Kit-N-Caboodle, for my fellow islanders). The stories aren't award winning by any means, but they get the job done and most importantly James LOVES reading them.

Still on our shelves: Green Sandpaper Phonograms and The Grammar Farm.

Math
Measuring Dinosaurs. We did a similar activity in December when we measured strips of ribbon. James enjoys measuring things (seriously, anything with numbers - he loves it). He'll need to write his results on the index cards.

Understanding More & Less. Still working on this concept. It's interesting, James definitely understands what's more than something else, but when you ask him which is less, he freezes up. I thought maybe the use of the sections in the ice tray would help him to visualize the concept a bit better. He'll need to place the little ball next to the correct answer.

Addition with "Dinosaurs Bones". Aka popsicle sticks. :) Pretty straight-forward, for example I will lay out a set of 3 bones and a set of 5 bones and place the '+' sign in between them and the '=' sign after them and ask James to add them together and show me the sum with another set of bones from the cup.

Skip Counting. Like reading, James just sort of 'gets' skip counting. I started with counting by 2's and the next thing I knew he was counting by 5's and 10's all on his own. This activity is just to reinforce the concept visually. James will use these tiles (from our Hundred Board) and put them in numerical order by 5's up to 100.

Worksheets. Skills involved: dot-to-dot (by numbers), quantity matching, determining differences, and addition. Printed off from KidsSoup and abcteach.

Still on our shelves: Ladybug Math, Telling Time, and Sandpaper Numerals.

Science & Culture
Studying Africa, Tray 1: Places. As I've mentioned before, I've opted to remove certain aspects of our continent bags and put them on trays instead of just plopping the entire bag on the shelf. James (like most kids, I think) is more interested in an activity if he can see what it is. By putting a few items on a tray not only can he see what's available, he's also not bombarded with the full extent of materials inside of our continent bags.

Studying Africa, Tray 2: Animals. I must give a shout out to my good friend, Ann, who very sweetly gave us that beaded lizard, which is from South Africa. Not pictured, but also on these shelves are a few African flags. I always display the flags of whichever continent we're studying.

Dinosaur Cards. These are from Montessori Print Shop and they are great! I love the information cards - they have just the right amount of data on them. I only wish a few of the more common dinosaurs (Stegosaurus, Pterodactyl, Dimetrodon, Plesiosaurus, Brontosaurus - er, I mean Apatosaurus) were included in the sets.

Matching & "Feeding" Dinosaurs. This is a two part activity: James will match up the plastic dinosaurs to those on the cards and then use the information section to determine if they were plant eaters or meat eaters. The little bucket in the above photo has some leaves and little squares of red felt (i.e. meat) that James can "feed" to the appropriate dinosaur.

Build-a-Dino. Just like it sounds - the skeleton comes in a handful of pieces and you simply put it all together. Another local find (Daisy & Mac).

Excavating Dinosaurs. This photo is from a couple of summers ago when we did this same project. We'll be doing it again next week - it's a great outdoor activity for summer!

Art & Music
Composer of the Month: J.S. Bach. I often get asked what exactly we do with our COM. Right now I'm keeping it really simple - I download that composer's music onto my iPod and we listen to those songs during our schooltime for the entire month. I also print out a photo of the composer. At some point we'll likely spend more time learning about the composer and the style of music, but for now it's just not something James is interested in.

Circle Time Songs. You can get the PDF here.

Buddha Board. I love this thing! I wrote a short post about it here. It's been a long while since we've used this and I think James will be really happy to see it again.

Coloring Pages. KidsSoup has a great dino set.

Scissor Practice. These strips are a bit different than usual - I used stickers, as I usually do, but this time I drew various kinds of lines in between the stickers. James is used to cutting straight across, so I think this will provide a bit of a challenge for him.

Stamping. I found this great Melissa & Doug set locally (People's) and I know it's going to be a hit with James.

Later this month we're going to try to make some dinosaur eggs. Fun!

Happy June, everyone!

~Thank you for your comments!~

June Sensory Tub - Dinosaurs

2011-06-01T00:00:00.000-03:00

James and I had such fun putting this tub together. Since we really wanted to use water in it, we needed to make sure all of the other materials in the tub were water friendly. Not an easy thing to do, surprisingly!
Here's what's inside:
:: River pebbles (found in the home decor section of Brown & Co., a local department store)
:: Gemstones
:: Fake leaves (taken from one of the decorative plants in our house)
:: Dinosaurs
:: Mini trees
:: A ceramic dish with water
:: A blue plastic egg w/ another dino inside (seeing it hiding behind the leaves?) :)
:: Wooden beads

Click the button below to see a full list of my sensory tubs or click here to view my slideshow on the Counting Coconuts Facebook page.

~Thank you for your comments!~

Grace & Courtesy - Table Manners

2011-05-30T08:45:00.002-03:00

For those unfamiliar with the term "Grace and Courtesy" as it pertains to Montessori, in short, it simply means is teaching a child manners - the social graces and common courtesies that one should have when they interact with others.

Over the past couple of months I've been teaching James about table manners - a very important and very necessary skill set that everyone should learn. Unfortunately, I feel like I am in the minority when it comes to placing value on this form of etiquette. I don't mean to sound uppity - I just think being able to sit across the table from someone and enjoy a nice meal without seeing them pick their teeth or hog the food, is a good thing and something few people (young and old!) seem to know how to do.

That said, I'm making a point to teach James how to conduct himself properly during a meal. I've been staging lessons during our daily snack time and it's really benefited him. James has always had pretty good table manners (he doesn't run around at the restaurant, he knows not to put his feet on the table, etc.), but it's those little refinements that he's come a long way with.

~pouring water for a friend~

During our lessons we always invite some "friends" (stuffed animals) to join us to provide more opportunity for practicing grace and courtesy. :)

Here's a list of the things (in very random order) that we've focused on:
:: Washing our hands before eating.
:: Pulling out a chair for someone/pushing in our own chairs when we've finished our meal.
:: How to deal with coughing, burping, sniffles (or any other bodily noises). :)
:: Saying please and thank you.
:: Excusing ourselves when we need to leave the table or after the aforementioned noises.
:: Chewing with our mouth closed.
:: Not speaking while there's food in our mouth.
:: Not speaking to someone else when there's food in their mouth. (I explained that it's rude to ask someone a question when they've just taken a bite of food as it makes the person feel as though they need to rush through their bite, which isn't comfortable).
:: Sitting up straight and still while eating.
:: Facing forward and eating over our plate.
:: Using a napkin and other utensils properly. (My ex-stepmother thought straws were not only for drinking out of, but also for cleaning her teeth!)
:: Not making rude remarks about the food and instead offering compliments to the chef. :) (I love this one since I'm the primary chef in the house!)
:: Not hoarding food or taking the last food item unless you're really hungry in which case you make sure no one else wants whatever it is.
:: Proper topics of conversation and those that are off limits (i.e. subjects involving poop/blood/other gross things).
:: Keeping elbows (and other body parts) off the table.
:: Clearing your dishes/helping to clear the table when the meal is finished.
:: Not playing with our food/avoiding a deliberate mess.
:: Serving/offering food to others before ourselves.
:: Not taking food off of another person's plate.
:: Eating slowly/not stuffing our mouth full of food.
:: Waiting until everyone is served before eating. (So few people do this - such a pet peeve of mine!) and waiting until everyone is finished before leaving the table.
:: Offering thanks and appreciation to the host, specifically complimenting one particular dish.
:: Not reaching over someone's plate and instead asking for something to be passed.
:: Saying grace before the meal starts (this is, of course, dependent on each family's beliefs).

Yes, I know, this is quite a long list. But it's really just basic stuff and much of it is just a matter of doing it once or twice before it becomes second nature. Also, I'm sure there are many more "rules" that could be added to this list - this is all just off the top of my head. Feel free to add others in the comment section, if you'd like.

Learning and mastering table manners is definitely going to be a work in progress for a long time. James is only 4 and so the whole sitting still at the table idea seems to be physically impossible right now lol! We're just introducing things early on so he'll have these manners down pat by the time he's a teen. :)

Lastly, with regard to the actual table setting, we've already focused on the basics here, but someday I will explain to James a more detailed table setting and what all those extra spoons and forks are for!

~Thank you for your comments!~

Mini Unit - Robots

2011-05-28T13:30:00.012-03:00

Once our little baby girl arrives in August, and until we are able to find our new rhythm as a family of 4, I've decided I'll be taking a break not just from blogging, but also from our usual way of schooling. So, I'm planning ahead and putting together some mini-units that will allow us to keep educating James, but with a bit more of an "on the go" style. We won't need to be in the classroom to do these and they are very self-directed (meaning James won't need much guidance), but should he need help they are also very user-friendly (meaning daddy doesn't need special training in order to explain anything). :)

~an overview~

Yes, you do see some of paper here. :) I've mentioned before that I've never been one for worksheets mostly because James is a very tactile learner and thrives with a more hands on approach. But, since I won't be creating my usual plethora of trays each month, I'm giving in and hoping he'll find the worksheets entertaining. In addition to the worksheets, and because I just can't help but indulge my Montessori side, I created some "interactive" activities for each of the main subjects.

Here's a closer look at what's in this unit:

Worksheets (Languauge/Math/Art). Most of these came from Homeschool Creations' robot preschool pack. So cute and there's such a variety of sheets to choose from. I printed out only those that involved tracing (we're focusing on handwriting right now), and fractions. I also found some color pages and a connect-the-dots sheet online.

Robot Playdough & Sensory Tub (Sensorial/Practical Life/Math/Language). These are scaled down versions of both. I won't necessarily create a sensory tub and some playdough for each of our mini-units, but I already had these on hand from earlier this month.

Nuts & Bolts (Practical Life). Cheap and simple, these have long been a favorite in our classroom. Excellent fine motor activity.

Graphing (Math). Another printable from Homeschool Creation's robot pack.

Cards & Counters (Math). These cards (as well as the next three activities) are things I made myself using a clip art design pack from here. The counters are just translucent pony beads.

Skip Counting Cards (Math).

Memory Game (Language/Sensorial). You can find a link to download these here on my printables page.

Cutting Practice (Practical Life/Art). You can find a link to download these here on my printables page.

Books (Language/Science). Robot & The Bluebird by David Lucas, and Robot a DK Eyewitness Book (love DK books).

Squishy robots - just for fun! :)

Again, all of this is meant to replace our usual full-blown themes and 20+ trays each month. I suspect James will work with each unit for only a short time as he tends to move through things quickly. I'll be sharing other mini-units as I create them over the summer. I must add that this whole thing was incredibly easy to pull together and took very little time (in comparison to my usual monthly process, that is!).

~Click the button below to view more of our mini units.~

~Thank you for your comments!~

Gender Chart

2011-05-26T10:15:00.005-03:00

I created this "gender chart" (for lack of a better name) for James so he could learn the proper pronouns and titles associated with males and females. He sometimes confuses he/she, her/him, his/hers, etc. Since he's able to read just about anything now and since he's such a visual kind of learner, I thought this would be a fun chart for him to learn from. I know more could be added to this list, but I just chose basic pronouns and titles - ones he uses in day to day conversation.Click here to download a copy of your own. I should note the images are from Google Images and they aren't of the best quality. As always, my printables are for your personal use only. Please do not sell or offer them in a giveaway - thanks!

~Thank you for your comments!~

Practical Life - Carrot Peeling

2011-05-25T10:30:00.004-03:00

This was one of James' favorite activities this month and he ate many carrots as a result. :)

I'm sorry I don't have any "action shots" of James during this process, but since he was working with cutting tools I needed to have both eyes on him. Anyway, to do this table work, James unrolled the green mat (held closed with a napkin ring) and arranged the materials on top of it. Next he brought the carrots to the kitchen where he rinsed and dried them off. Returning to the classroom, he carefully used the orange handled peeler (I found this locally) to remove the outer skin of the carrot. This proved to be a bit tricky because it was hard for him to get a good grip on the carrot. However, after a short time, the carrot was peeled and he placed it on little cutting board where he used the maroon handled cutter to chop off the ends. The peels were placed into the brown paper bag and the little towel was used to clean up any juices.

As I mentioned, James really enjoyed doing this and I actually ended up running out of carrots at one point (even though we had purchased a bag of 12 from a local farmer).

Food preparation activities are always a hit in our classroom - James loves pretty much anything that has to do with food :) and I enjoy them because they're about as practical life as you can get! Also, I love the idea of teaching my son how to cook... he's going to make some girl very happy later in life! :D

Here are a few more food preparation activities we've done in the past:

Our Snack Set Up
Table Setting, Buttering Bread, & Apple Slicing
Egg Peeling & Slicing
Cracking a Coconut (page down)
Making Meatballs
Homemade Butter
Squeezing Oranges/Frozen Orange Cups
Watermelon Balling
Cherry Pitting

Links: Info Montessori has this very detailed step by step post on how to prepare an apple. Montessori Services has tons of child size food preparation materials and kits - this is where I purchased several of the items shown in the first photo.

~Thank you for your comments!~