Keeping It Simple

I have to admit that I was not sure how well this game would go over, but, surprisingly, James (K) really loves it. We have played one of the three versions- all players work together to build lilly pads (out of fraction pieces) before "Croak" eats all of his eight part lilly pad (you have to "feed" Croak when you land on red).  It is really only as educational as the mom (or other grown up) makes it by talking about the process. Using the right vocabulary-- three quarters, one half-- and asking questions like "how many more sixths do we need to make a whole lilly pad?" is what helps make it a learning experience. Even my 8 year old joined us in playing today and requested to play again! Go figure! So, we give this game a ***thumbs up*** .

In trying to noodle out a simple way for the boys to learn their Spanish vocab, I came up with this idea! Not that it is so ingenious, but I am pleased with it. I copied, laminated (I thought about not for a second, but the boys are so hard on things), and cut up one of their Spanish workbook pages. I typed out the command that goes with each picture on the page on a separate card. I also laminated a mini answer key so that the boys can self-correct their work. Now they have a simple little activity that matches the command card to the picture card, and they can even play a game of concentration using the cards. They seem pleased with it-- mostly because it does not involve writing.

I have been working on some math centers/activities from a book I purchased at Currclick called Shoe Box Math Learning Centers . We are not using shoe boxes to store the materials as suggested-- I don't have any more room for boxes around here! We are setting them up in manila envelopes, and the bulky items that some of the centers require are stored in plastic baggies in the crate that I keep the game envelopes in-- when I place an activity in a workbox, I just check the directions to see what is needed. This is the newest one that I have put together (in James' workbox for tomorrow): Name of center on the front. Directions on are the back. The dominos actually fit nicely in the envelope. The reason for the black out marker is that I am having James (K) use this for addition- not subtraction as the worksheet had it shown for the second problem. I just marked out their sample and replaced with an addition problem.

So, this is kinda fun. The School Library Journal posted the Top 100 Picture Book Poll of 2009 . The Bookworm's Booklist has posted the top thirty books from that list. The challenge is to create a post of my own on my blog and highlight the books from this list that we have read. I think we have read most of these (maybe all?), but this seems like a great time to go back and do a reread on them-- James is six now, and- not that he won't always love picture books- he is aging out of a few of these on the list. It will be a fun challenge for the summer. I will highlight the ones we read in red as we go along. For now, I am going to highlight our absolute most favoritist of all in bold italics!! My criteria for a "most favoritist " is a book that was consistently requested by all 3 of my boys as they got old enough to show a preference. In our book, special honors go to The True Story of the Three Little Pigs for also being an often requested read when my now adu...

Peggy Kaye is my hero ;-) -- I don't know her and doubt that I will ever meet her, yet she has single handedly changed our school day. We started using some games from her books a few years ago as extras, but this spring our primary focus has changed to utilizing games outlined in these books as well as other hands on activities. The frustration that my boys felt toward their math (really, I think it was the math book, not the math) has all but disappeared. And, the added benefit is that what they learn really sticks!   We brought this game (below) from Games for Math out to dinner with us tonight. We had a rare dinner out with just our three boys, so we set up at a booth at a quiet diner nearby and played. We had a great time and my hubby was super impressed at the kid's quick fact recall. This game is played by drawing a card with a math problem on it-- the player then proceeds to move the number of spaces that his answer is. I made three sets of cards to match the lev...

I love it when an activity works!! I put together this math center for James (K) using Shoe Box Math Learning Centers . It took James a few minutes to run with it, but eventually he did. The activity consists of 4 storyboards, math facts written on index cards-- answers included, and various manipulatives. (picture below) All he has to do is choose any math fact card, a story board, and the manipulatives to go with it and make up a story using the chosen math fact. In the picture above James is using the log story card with the toy frogs that I purchased at the dollar store.