Tech Tools for Parents - Supercook

Supercook is a new recipe search engine that finds recipes you can make with only the ingredients you have at home. As you add items, the system automatically begins to suggest recipes based on those entered grocery items. The recipes are aggregated from several recipe websites, including AllRecipe and RecipeZaar. The system even suggests recipes to make that require one or two additional items, allowing you to discover more new foods. This is helpful with how to waste less food, how to use up perishable or seasonal ingredients, how to keep track of everything in the kitchen, and how to save time and money.

The video below provides a tour of the website.

New 1 Year TOS Magazine Subscription

The Old Schoolhouse has a subscription special. For just 48 hours, a one-year print subscription is only $15! Plus, as a bonus,new subscribers get 5 FREE WeE-books of their choice. It’s the TOS Take/Get 5 subscription sale. Only good until midnight on May 26. Click here to subscribe.

Toddler Time - Tea Parties

Connor's play is becoming more and more imaginative. Lately, his activity of choice is to play tea parties with Grandma and myself. He sets the table and pours everyone a drink. He then stirs the imaginary contents in the cup with his small plastic spoon. Each cup gets carried carefully to the intended guest and he stands there making sure we drink the contents. He also serves us imaginary food on plates, at times choosing to feed us himself. Other times, he simply pushes the plate or bowl into our face.

Tea parties offer toddlers the opportunities to mimic adults from food preparation to setting the table. Older children use their imagination and begin to construct stories around their tea party. Tea parties also provide an opportunity for children to learn proper manners. Play can be integrated with music appreciation with classical music playing in the background. Eventually, children will develop the skills to host a proper tea party.

Tea Party Props

• Tea Set
• Stuffed animals, teddy bears, and dolls in chairs
• Dress up clothes for children who want to have a fancy tea party
• Table cloths, paper doilies, paper napkins

Tea Party Manners

• Say please and thank you
• Begin serving when everyone is seated
• When you are done stiring, place your teaspoon on a saucer
  

Tea Party Books

Tea Party Rhymes

• I'm a little teapot
• Polly put the kettle on
  

Tea Party Activities

• Create invitations for the tea party
• Create place cards for guests
• If the tea party is a fancy tea party, let the child decorate the location of the tea party with appropriate decorations
  

New Nienhuis Website Design

It seems that the Nienhuis website has been redesigned. Because of this, my recent posts on Montessori Materials and Lessons have several broken links. I will be fixing these as soon as I can. In the meantime, check out the new Nienhuis website.

Tech Tools for Learning - VocabGrabber

Other than early childhood education and homeschooling, I have a real interest in technology. In my past life I really enjoyed programming and all things geeky. So, when time permits I still enjoy keeping up with these geeky interests. Along the way, I often find tools and websites which also help with homeschooling and educating our children. So, when time permits, I will try and feature some of these tools and websites on this blog. Some will assist with educating children, and others might help in running our homes and organization.

The first tool I want to feature is the VocabGrabber. This is a new tool that has been released by the Visual Thesaurus company.

How does Vocabgrabber work? Here is the description from their website:

VocabGrabber analyzes any text you're interested in, generating lists of the most useful vocabulary words and showing you how those words are used in context. Just copy text from a document and paste it into the box, and then click on the "Grab Vocabulary!" button. VocabGrabber will automatically create a list of vocabulary from your text, which you can then sort, filter, and save.

Select any word on the list and you'll see a snapshot of the Visual Thesaurus map and definitions for that word, along with examples of the word in your text. Click on the word map or the highlighted word in the example to see the Visual Thesaurus in action.

Samples of text are available on their website so you can try out the tool. I used the Oliver Twist text sample and the results can be viewed in the image below.

By selecting to view only vocabulary words, the word cloud changed displaying words which the reader would need to know to understand the text. I then clicked on the word pauper and was instantly presented with the meaning of the word and the location in the text. This is definitley a great tool for those language arts lessons.

Number Recognition Activities Day 1

While waiting for this baby to arrive (it was due yesterday), I have been staying with my in-laws. So, all Connor's activities and resources are at home and not accessible at the moment. Nevertheless, we have been able to improvise simple activities with the toys we have here. Today, I began to do simple number recognition activities with him using a number puzzle, some number books, and by counting objects during the day. He really enjoyed the number puzzle and reads his Ladybird I Can Count book several times a day.

Today, I also went to the local dollar store and bought some foam numbers and magnetic numbers. I will use these to do additional number activities with Connor tomorrow. The other objects in the photo are puzzles that begin with 3 parts and progress to 6 parts, stickers, and magnetic pictures for sorting according to colour. Hopefully, by the time Connor has done the activities using these materials, my next baby will have arrived.

The Workbox System Plan and Resources

If you are homeschooling, chances are you have heard of the workbox system. This system is something that I am going to implement but on a simpler scale. Having only Connor to do activities with at this time, and him being only 19 months old, I don't see how we can possibly get through 12 activities in one day. I'm intending to use this organizational method by beginning with around 6 activities. The activities will be split up into three activities in the morning and three activities in the afternoon. Also, the activities will be very simple. For example, one activity might be to read a short picture book relevant to a theme I am teaching. This might be followed by a hands on activity such as drawing with chalk. Toddler attention span is short, so the activities won't take a long time. However, using this system will simplify keeping track of what I want to do with Connor. Also, in time, as Connor's attention span and skills grow, the activities can become more involved. The great thing about this system is that it can be adapted to whatever method of teaching you are using - whether it's a Montessori approach or the Classical approach.

Further information and resources about the workbox system can be found at the following websites:

• Sue Patrick's Workbox System Website
• Article: Thinking Inside the Box: Using the Workbox System

Find support from the homeschooling community at:

• Workboxes Yahoo Group
• The Homeschool Lounge Workbox System group
• Five in a Row forum thread on the workbox system
  

Mums who have blogged about the workbox system:

• Heather at Sweet Simplicity: Workbox System and her Workbox Weekly Planner. A post showing her system in action.
• Ruby Slippers School and her workbox system.
• Another variation of the workbox system at Freshly Squeezed.
  

For more ideas visit The Work of Childhood. There is a Thinking Outside the Box survey on this organizational system. Also, What's in the Box is a blog dedicated to the workbox system. Lastly, a list of more workbox ideas can be found at Walking by the Way.

Introducing Children to Numbers: Number Recognition

Counting is a complex process involving many sub-skills and it takes children a considerable amount of time to become competent. One of the most natural ways to teach children numbers and counting is to involve the children in reciting the numbers in counting games, nursery rhymes and stories. Also, recognition of numbers is a lot like recognizing the letters of the alphabet. Hence, at the beginning, number recognition activities will include simple activities like pointing out the numbers and saying their name. Later, children can look for numbers in their environment. Below are some playful and creative activities which help young children with number recognition.

• Include a selection of counting books so your child can read and count.
• Post a chart of numbers low enough for your child to view. At the beginning, have a simple chart with numbers 1 to 5 or 1 to 10.
• Make a walk on number line outside so children can count in a kinesthetic way.
• Provide children with feely numbers or sandpaper numerals.

• Hang giant numerals from the ceiling or make a number mobile.
• Glue foam numbers or stick number stickers in a sticker book. You can focus on one number at a time to aid in recognizing the number.
• Bake cookie numbers using cookie cutters.
• Create a discovery bottle with numbers floating inside.
• Play number matching games. For example, using a ladybug pattern, cut it in half with the same numeral written on each side for matching. You can also use old playing cards by cutting them in half and having the child match the numbers on the cards.
• Practice sequencing numbers by lining up flash cards or magnetic numbers. By using two sets of materials, you can create the sequence using the first set of materials, and your child can copy the sequence using the second set of materials.
• Play number hunt games. For example, have children hunt for numbers around the house or create a sensory tub filled with numbers and oatmeal.

More Homeschooling Online Tools for Sharing and Connecting

I'm due to have this baby in 3 days and over the past week I have been staying with my in-laws resting and waiting. During this time, I haven't done any formal activities with Connor. He has spent majority of the time with his grandparents enjoying their company. Other than resting, I have had some extra time to spend online and have found so many new websites and tools that can be useful for homeschoolers. In my last post, I compiled a list of ways to connect with other homeschoolers. In this post, I want to list some tools which allow homeschoolers to share resources and websites with each other or create their own communities for connecting with homeschoolers.

If you use Twitter, which I have just recently started using, then you need to check out TBUZZ. TBUZZ is an easy way to talk about websites that you visit on Twitter. If you are exploring the internet and looking for resources about a certain topic for a co-op lesson, or you find an activity that you know other homeschoolers would find useful, you can quickly twit about this website with TBUZZ. It will create a twitter post for you with a shortened link. The other interesting feature is the ability for you to track what other users are saying about the relevant website. You can watch a demonstration on how to use TBUZZ in the video below.

TBUZZ - An Arc90 Project from Arc90 on Vimeo.

Also, If you're a member of several social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook, you can use Ping.fm to update all these networks at the same time.

If on the other hand, you need to create your own community for sharing educational resources, a couple of great websites for co-ops and other groups include Edu 2.0 and Ning.com.

Edu 2.0 is a course management system which allows the creation of course websites. The features available through Edu 2.0 are illustrated in the image below.

Ning.com, on the other hand, allows you to create your own social network such as The Homeschool Lounge. Features available with Ning.com include member profiles, chat, groups, discussion forums, blogs for every member, and events. These are great tools for creating online communities locally and worldwide.

If you have other suggestions for useful tools, please let me know and I will add it to this list.

Sisterhood Blog Award

I have been awarded the Sisterhood Award by The Bookworm's Booklist. The Bookworm has made me feel so welcome in the blogging community, always leaving comments and inspiration. Thanks Bookworm!

There are so many blogs out there that provide me with inspiration. I read these blogs and look forward to getting to know their writers. The blogs I award the Sisterhood Award to are:

Homeschool Creations
Spinner's End Nursery School
Storytime and More
Making of a Montessori Mum
Choice Central: A Place for Choosers
The Snail's Trail

Connecting with other Homeschoolers

Deciding to homeschool our children is not a step that should be taken lightly. Having support and resources available on hand makes the whole decision easier. Also, over time, getting in touch with other homeschoolers provides avenues for advice when issues such as planning, organization, teaching approaches, what curriculum to use, and learning difficulties arise. Belonging to a homeschooling community, whether offline or online, also prevents feelings of isolation which might arise from time to time. The resources below are online groups and websites which I have compiled as a starting point for connecting with other homeschoolers. I have tried to categorize the links by type of resource. There are so many resources available now that finding like minded homeschoolers has never been easier.

Social Networks and Communities

• The Homeschool Lounge
• Heart of the Matter
• Heart of Wisdom Community
• Radical Unschoolers Network
• Christian Teaching Forums
• Our Lifestyle of Learning
  
• Homeschool Bliss

Social Media

• Twitter
• Lydia from Little Blue School has posted a list of Top Homeschoolers to follow on Twitter
• JustTweetit has a homeschooling directory of homeschoolers who use Twitter
  
• Facebook
  

Communities Sharing Resources

• Homeschool Launch
• Lapbook Lessons
• File Folder Fun
• Scrapbook to Learn
  

Forums

• The Well Trained Mind Forums
• Simply Charlotte Mason Forum
• Real Learning Forums

Yahoo Groups

• Ambleside Online Yahoo Group
• Basically Beechick Yahoo Group
  
• Oak Meadow Homeschool Yahoo Group
• Secular Homeschoolers Yahoo Group
• Waldorf Home Educators Yahoo Group
• Charlotte Mason Homeschooling Yahoo Group
  
• Catholic Charlotte Mason Yahoo Group
• Living Math Forum Yahoo Group
• Montessori Makers Yahoo Group
• Montessori By Hand Yahoo Group
• Playschool 6 Montessori Yahoo Group
• Well Trained Mind - Secular Yahoo Group
• Latin Classical Education Yahoo Group
• Waldorf School Online Yahoo Group
• Homeschooling Waldorf Yahoo Group
• Lapbooking Yahoo Group
  

Blog Networks

• HomeschoolBlogger.com
• Educational Blog Carnivals
• Top 50 Homeschool Blogs on Facebook
  

If you have further suggestions, please let me know and I will add it to the list.

The Ultimate Early Childhood Curriculum?

Since the beginning of this blog, I have been slowly outlining my approach to teaching Connor. It is an eclectic method combining themes, the Montessori approach, and the Charlotte Mason approach. I want to summarize all the posts so that a more coherent picture is provided of how I try and do things. All the posts to date are as follows:

• Montessori Plans for Connor: This was a simple outline of the basic Montessori activities I do with Connor. I tried to keep to activities that are suitable for very young toddlers.

A more detailed list of activities and materials up to the beginning of a lower elementary program have been outlined under each Montessori area in the following posts:

• Montessori Practical Life Materials and Lessons
• Montessori Sensorial Materials and Lessons
• Montessori Mathematical Materials and Lessons
• Montessori Language Materials and Lessons
• Montessori Science Materials and Lessons
• Montessori Geography and History Materials and Lessons
  

I try and combine the Montessori approach with thematic activities. The simple Early Childhood Teaching Planner provides an overview of themes categorized according to seasons and the months of the year. I believe that this provides a rhythm to our year. Some of the topics overlap with the Montessori activities.

All this, merged with our lifestyle of learning using the Charlotte Mason approach, in my opinion, is the ultimate Early Childhood Curriculum. Connor is provided with beauty, rhythm and practical lessons. The basics that allow him to become independent, as well as the academic skills are covered. This is accomplished using all the senses, structured activities, as well as creative activities. Lastly, routine and freedom are merged providing a balance when it comes to learning.

Montessori Geography and History Materials and Lesson Plans

Below are the basic areas and materials used in Montessori Geography and History activities. As I begin to make some of these materials and present them, I will update the links. For the moment, the materials are linked to the official Nienhuis website and several other Montessori companies.

Geography

• Land, Water, Air
• Sandpaper Globes
• Painted Globes
• Land Forms
• Habitats
• Geography Pictures
• Continent Puzzle Maps
• Flags of the World

History

• Clock
• The Calendar
• Seasons
• Timelines

Cultural Studies

Montessori Sensorial Materials and Lesson Plans

Below are the basic areas and materials used in Montessori Sensorial activities. As I begin to make some of these materials and present them, I will update the links. For the moment, the materials are linked to the official Nienhuis website and several other Montessori companies.

Montessori sensorial exploration of:

• size
• color
• geometric shapes and solids
• weight
• texture
• heat
• sound

is accomplished through the following materials:

• Knobbed cylinders
• Pink tower
• Brown stairs
• Red rods
• Colour tablets
• Knobless cylinders
• Geometric cabinet
• Geometry cards
• Botany cabinet
• Botany cards
• Constructive triangles
• Geometric figures cards
• Geometric solids
• Sound cylinders
• Bells
• Thermic bottles
• Thermic tables
• Smelling jars
• Baric tablets
• Binomial cube
• Trinomial cube

Montessori Sensorial Lessons can be located here:

• Montessori Primary Guide - Sensorial
• MTS - Sensorial and Motor Development Album
• Video: Teaching a Child to Identify the Largest and Smallest Object using the Geometric Cabinet.
  

Other Resources:

• Teaching Toddlers about Size

Montessori Practical Life Materials and Lessons

Below is a basic sequence of the way Montessori Practical Life materials and lessons are presented. As I begin to make some of these materials and present them, I will update the links. For the moment, the materials are linked to the official Nienhuis website and several other Montessori companies.

Carrying Objects

Chair
Table
Rug
Tray
Pitcher
Books
Scissors
Pail
Pencils
Knife

Grace and Courtesy

Greeting
How to push in a chair
How to open and close doors
How to restore the environment
How to hang a coat
How to roll a rug

Fine Motor Development

Opening and Closing Containers
Sponging
Grain Transfer
Spooning
Funnel Pouring
Tweezing
Clothes Pinning
Pouring - Dry
Pouring - Liquids
Tonging

Care of Self

Grooming
Hand Washing
How to Clean Nails
Dressing Frames
Indoor Voice
Sharing
Listening
Taking Turns
Manners

Care of the Environment

How to dust
How to Mop
Plant Care
Flower Arranging
Sweeping the Floor
Folding
Polishing Exercises
Window Washing

Food Preparation

Table Setting
Bread Cutting
Fruit Cutting
Vegetable Cutting
Spreading
Grinding - Mortar and Pestle

New Montessori Resource: Wikisori

There is a new (well new to me anyway) Montessori website where people can collaborate and share information on the Montessori approach. Here is the purpose of the Wikisori website:

At Wikisori, our goal is to facilitate collaboration among Montessorians to allow the creation of the collective sum of all Montessori knowledge in one convenient location, available to the global Montessori community for free. Wikisori, among other things, is an online Montessori Album project built by Montessorians for Montessorians. Wikisori strongly encourages active participation, contribution and collaboration. Take as much as you want, but leave something behind to make Wikisori a little better than you found it. We currently have 296 pages of Montessori content. To learn more about Wikisori, visit our About Wikisori page.

Some of the Montessori albums already have a lot of information, while others still need work. Nevertheless, there is plenty here and hopefully this website will contine to grow.

Montessori Science Materials and Lessons

Below is a basic sequence of the way science is taught using the Montessori approach. As I begin to make some of these lessons and materials and present them, I will update the links. For the moment, the materials are linked to the official Nienhuis website and several other Montessori companies.

DISTINGUISH BETWEEN LIVING AND NON_LIVING THINGS

LIVING

Zoology

Distinguish between vertebrates/invertebrates

Animals of the World

The Fish

• Animal Puzzle: Fish

The Frog

• Animal Puzzle: Frog

The Turtle

• Animal Puzzle: Turtle

The Bird

• Animal Puzzle: Bird

The Horse

• Animal Puzzle: Horse
  

Human

Parts of the Body

• Montessori Three Parts Cards - Body Parts

Five Senses



Botany

• Botany Puzzles
• Botany Cabinet

Parts of a Tree

Parts of a Flower

• Flower Matching Cards

Parts of a Leaf

Leaf Shapes

• Leaf Cards

Parts of the Root

Parts of the Stem

Parts of the Fruit

• Montessori Three Part Cards - Fruit

Parts of the Seed


NON-LIVING

Physical Science

Sink and Float

Magnetic / Non-Magnetic

Air / Water / Solid

Happy Mother's Day

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

I LOVE YOU MUM

Montessori Language Materials and Lessons

Below is a basic sequence of the way language arts is taught using the Montessori approach. As I begin to make some of these lessons and materials and present them, I will update the links. For the moment, the materials are linked to the official Nienhuis website and several other Montessori companies.

Reading Readiness

Patterning / Sequencing

• Sequence Peg Puzzle Set
• Basic Sequence Set I

Classification / Categorizing

• Fast and Slow Classification Kit

Same and Different Concept

Naming Exercises

Environment Cards

Matching

• Animal Matching and Classifying Cards

Matching to Silhouettes

• Wooden Objects and Shadow Board

Association

• Association Match - Its Set 2

Opposites

• Opposite Puzzle Cards

Label Matching (Environment)

Rhyming

• Rhyming Puzzle Cards

Sound Isolation

Sort objects/pictures by beginning sounds

• Phonetic Object Box 1
• Simplest Phonetic Words: Level 1 Phonetic Reading Cards
  

Sort objects/pictures by ending sounds

Sorting objects/pictures by middle sounds

• Phonograms / Digraphs: Level 3 Phonetic Reading Cards

Reading

Sandpaper Letters

Movable Alphabet

Pink Phonetic Reading Materials

Blue Phonetic Reading Materials

Green Phonetic Reading Materials

Labeling

Picture Phrases

Sight Words

Alphabetizing

Grammar

The Farm

• Nouns
  
• Adjectives
  
• Verbs

Handwriting

• Metal Insets
• Sand Writing and Drawing Tray
  

Montessori Language lessons can be located here:

Language Development Album

The Montessori Book Club

If you are using the Montessori method, or wish to delve deeper into Montessori theory, head on over to the Montessori Book Club. This Book Club is about to begin reading and discussing The Absorbent Mind by Maria Montessori.

Montessori Three Part Cards - Fruit

PDF Price: $3.95

The file includes:

• 22 types of fruits: 22 pictures with labels (control cards), 22 pictures without labels, and 22 labels.
• Control chart showing each labeled picture.

Types of fruit include: apple, bananas, pear, mandarins, grapes, pineapple, kiwi, strawberry, cherries, watermelon, lime, peach, blueberries, rockmelon, lemon, star fruit, lychees, passionfruit, raspberry, pomegranate, tomato, and mango.

This item is a PDF file. The item will be emailed to you once payment is received.

Kidlandia Children's Maps

Kidlandia lets parents and kids create maps of a fantasy land, where the child is King or Queen of their own fantasy kingdom. You can insert family members or friends names into the map, so other areas of the land incorporate family members’ names.

Once created online, parents can order prints of the map for the child, which range from $40 for a small sized scroll to $180 for a larger sized, high quality, framed print of the map. Parents can order the maps to be printed on scrolls, that are easy for the child to carry around, or on canvas that is stretched over a frame to be hung.

You can also print the map out yourself.