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Compassion

Friday, March 30, 2012

In My Heart ~ Mark 12:30-31

  
Greatest Commandment {Mark 12:30-31} is #4 from Seeds of Purpose.   
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Full Page Verse Printable… image


Verse Mini Book {which could also be cut into mini flash cards to have kids put the verse in order}…  image


Copy Work Tracers {print & cursive} image


Copy Work Sheets… image

  
Full Verse Coloring Pages…    image

 
Visit the main Seeds Family Worship Printables page here.

Visit Seeds Family Worship to learn more about their ministry here!

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Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Now I Know My ABCs ~ Gg Gorilla

image3All printables for this unit can be downloaded for free on my website, Animal ABCs.

Letter G ~ Gorillag gorilla

Gg Gorilla Extras…

Gg Gorilla  Extras


Gg Gorilla in Action…

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See more on my blog ~ Letter G Gorilla Tot School


Have more gorilla fun…


More Letter Gg Fun…


Did you miss

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Friday, March 23, 2012

Treats for Tots

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Here are some more cool giveaways for tots/moms of tots, check them out below and let us know if you win something we told you about!!!!

Bolded are items we personally own and love!  If you are hosting a TOT friendly giveaway you are free to leave a link in the comments section!

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Once Upon A Book ~ Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site {Language & Sensory}

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Book Summary: As the sun sets behind the big construction site, all the hardworking trucks get ready to say goodnight. One by one, Crane Truck, Cement Mixer, Dump Truck, Bulldozer, and Excavator finish their work and lie down to rest—so they'll be ready for another day of rough and tough construction play! This book has irresistible artwork and sweet, rhyming text.
 
Language & Sensory
Build-a-Word:
This activity has lots of different variations depending on the level of your tot. For some, it could simply be that they "build" their own name or the alphabet. For others, they might "build" sight words or word families. You know your tot best, adapt this activity appropriately for them.
 
For this activity you will need:
  • Sensory bin of your choice (We used our rainbow rice because it was too cold to go outside to the sandbox.)
  • Letters of your choice (We used letter tiles, but you could use magnet letters, scrabble letters, foam letters, etc.)
  • Words/Names to spell (These could be mommy-made or use word cards.)
  • Small bulldozer, dump truck, or other construction vehicle

Mommy-prep:
Hide the letters your tot will need to spell the words you have chosen in the sensory bin.

Sensory Box Spelling


Play Time:

Allow your tot to play in the sensory bin. As they find a letter, they can place it on the word cards.

Sensory Box Spelling 2


Eventually, they will "build" a word. In our case, we built the names of family members on a letter tile page I made on the computer.

Sensory Box Spelling 3
 

Other Books We Read & Recommend:
Sara

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Montessori at Home ~ Work

Montessori at Home
Due to my older children memorizing a poem about work, I too have found the following sing-song words embedded in my brain.

Work

Work while you work,

Play while you play.

This is the way to be happy each day.

In all that you do,

Do with your mite.

Things done by halves,

Are never done right. 

It is a good poem.  The kids delighted in committing it to memory and I left it at that.  Recently, after reading more in Montessori at Home by John Bowman, I realized how important work is to a child. 

Maria Montessori said,

The child can develop fully by means of experience in his environment.  We call such experiences “work.”  Such experience is not just play . . . It is work he must do in order to grow up.

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Ever find  yourself grinding  your teeth when sticky little hands want to help you wash the window?  or a delighted three foot child squirms with excitement because he washed your dishes?

Mmmmhmmmm. 

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They are learning. Remember thisLearning.  Engaging with their world and modeling what they see YOU doing.  You are all grown up and they want to be all “growed” up like you. 

 

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Through work your child is learning how to concentrate.  Initially you may find that your Tot isn’t all that interested in that creative activity you made for her.  Don’t give up.  She has to learn to FOCUS her attention.  The specific Montessori activities you are providing for your child, are essentially food, John Bowman points out.  You will find that once your energetic and agitated child begins to eat of this food . . . this activity . . . this learning that is work – she will begin to focus her attention and adore your Tot Trays or activity baskets. 

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Persevere and provide these specific learning moments.  Don’t forget Montessori at Home has some GREAT ideas!  Bowman reminds his reader, each time you nourish your child’s brain with quality activities, their ability to concentrate will increase.  Once their ability to concentrate increases, this opens up their ability to learn ANYTHING. 

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What is Gabe doing?  After flipping through my Montessori at Home! book, I chose to have Gabe use a mortar and pestle to grind different spices and grains.  He was encouraged to touch, feel, and smell each item both before and after he ground them.  His favorite?  Cereal!  He was quite shocked at the whiff of basil that proceeded to blow into his face!

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What are you waiting for?  Go and have a Montessori Moment at Home with your Little! To review what we have covered so far in our Montessori at Home journey, click here.

signature button Jodi

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Little Hands-on ABC’s and 123’s ~ Roll and Fill a Counting Game

little handson Abc 123

Since Juliette has been little she has loved putting popsicle sticks into an empty container and then dumping it out.  We keep the container filled with popsicle sticks in the cabinet where she can reach it and she takes it out to play with them often.  One day, when Emily wanted to use the popsicle sticks with her and I didn’t have an extra empty container for her to use by herself I decided to turn this fun fine motor activity into a new math game that the girls could play together. 

You will need:

  • An equal number of popsicle sticks for each player  (We have a huge amount of Colored Wood Craft Sticks so I gave each of us 25 of a different color)   
  • A Number Die  (We have these Large Foam Dot Dice that the girls love to use)
  • An empty container that will fit the popsicle sticks (We use an empty creamer container with the wrapper removed)

To Play:

The first player rolls the die to see how many popsicle sticks they will put into the container.  Juliette counted the dots to see what number she got.IMG_2053

Place the number of popsicle sticks into the container, one at a time.  As Juliette put each one in she counted to make sure she was putting the correct number in.

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Then it is the next players turn.

We play until each person put all of their popsicle sticks into the container, and then begin again!

This game is a great way to practice counting, number recognition,  1:1 correspondence and work on fine motor skills in a fun way.  As we were playing Juliette began to recognize the amount of dots on the die and was able to just tell us the number without counting.

Little Hands-on ABC’s and 123’s is a bi-monthly feature that focuses on practical and simple ideas that you can do at home to help your tot develop their letter and number skills.

Michelle

Monday, March 19, 2012

Simply Made ~ Letter Tile Spelling Mats

 
 
I recently made a Letter Tile Spelling Mat using the names of our family members, including pictures to make it easier for my four year old son to identify the names. The goal of the Letter Tile Spelling Mat is to match up the letters and "spell" words or names. I've used this before in my kindergarten class for various themes, but I wanted to make one that was personalized for our family.

Sensory Box Spelling 3

The letter tiles we use at our house are the Eureka Tub Of Letter Tiles. (I bought them at Walmart many years ago, but you can find them on Amazon, too.)

Want to make your own Letter Tile Spelling Mat with your family's names?

First things first: I am not normally a printable maker. I don't have fancy software, nor do I know how to use fancy software. BUT, I had an idea and I successfully figured out how to make it using what I have on my computer. I thought I might share my process with you...just in case you're not normally a printable maker either ;)

The easiest way I could think of to explain how I made the Letter Tile Spelling Mat was to make a video and walk you through it. (If you are reading through email, you might have to click over to the blog post to see the video correctly. Trust me, it's worth it!)


If you are having trouble viewing the video, you can watch it here.

Basic Video Notes:
  1. Open a new document in Microsoft Word
  2. View gridlines to make it easy to line things up
  3. Insert a text box
  4. Size the text box to 1-inch square
  5. Format the font (I used Primer font, Size 72, Centered)
  6. Type your letter
  7. Copy and Paste the number of text boxes you need to spell the word
  8. Highlight and change the letters to spell the word
  9. Insert picture & Resize it
  10. Format Picture (*Instructions below, not in video)
  11. Line everything up
  12. Repeat for other words
  13. Once you are finished, you can play around with the spacing
  14. Print
  15. Laminate
  16. Play with Letter Tiles!
*Special Note: I forgot to mention in the video that you need to format the picture so you can move it freely. In order to do this, right-click on the picture. In the menu that pops up, choose "Text Wrapping". Next, choose "Behind Text". This will allow you to move the picture anywhere you'd like. Easy Peasy!

Letter Tile Spelling Mats can be made for different themes by using clipart. The possibilities are endless!

As my gift to you, I made a Construction Letter Tile Spelling Mat to go with this month's Big Machines theme. Head over to my blog to print it out. Laminate it and get it ready for Thursday's Once Upon A Book post. We'll be using it then. Enjoy!

Leave any questions you have in the comments and I'll try my best to answer them.

Sara

Friday, March 16, 2012

In My Heart ~ Matthew 6:31-34

  
Seek First {Matthew 6:31-34} is #3 from Seeds of Purpose.   image

Full Page Verse Printable… image


Verse Mini Book {which could also be cut into mini flash cards to have kids put the verse in order}…  image


Copy Work Tracers {print & cursive} image


Copy Work Sheets… image

  
Full Verse Coloring Pages…   image

 
Visit the main Seeds Family Worship Printables page here.

Visit Seeds Family Worship to learn more about their ministry here!

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