tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20520469670688692772024-03-14T11:24:07.983+08:00Joyful Learning Home Preschool Sharing thoughts, learning activities and resources as we preserve memories of our homeschooling days.Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15603452260919112998noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052046967068869277.post-33386971578642938082016-08-27T16:36:00.000+08:002016-08-27T19:26:14.529+08:00Blog Notice I posted this notice on Joyful Learning Home Preschool's Facebook Page about a month ago but have not posted it on the blog yet. Here was what I wrote on Facebook:<br />
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"With more time spent on homeschool activities and preparation (on top of the usual cooking and household chores that I do at home), I am finding it a bit difficult to keep up with updating this blog. Since the main purpose for creating "Joyful Learning Home Preschool" is to preserve memories of our homeschooling days and to share ideas and resources, I may choose to post more frequently on this Facebook Page instead of my blog. This is also in response to feedback that it is less time-consuming to read a Facebook post than a full blog post. I will still share a link to any blog post that I upload. Thank you for your interest!"<br />
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I have written quite a fair bit on the Facebook Page since then. In particular, I am sharing our activities systematically based on themes or unit studies we are doing (e.g. dinosaurs, apples). I think this is an efficient way for me to keep a record of what we are doing in our home preschool. It would also be easier for readers to search for ideas based on themes and topics they are interested in. If you have not followed the blog on Facebook and would like to keep up with what we are doing for homeschool, I invite you to follow us by liking the blog's Facebook Page. There will be times when a particular topic requires the depth that a full blog post can offer. At such times I would post in this blog and add a link to the Facebook page.<br />
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/joyfullearninghp.blogspot.sg/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel" style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/joyfullearninghp.blogspot.sg/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel</a>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15603452260919112998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052046967068869277.post-78754156082373330852016-08-11T21:22:00.000+08:002016-08-11T21:49:45.704+08:00《柠檬不是红色的》- A Literature-Based Unit StudyIn my last post I wrote about the literature-based approach and how I used this approach to teach David Chinese. In this post I would like to share a literature-based unit study based on the book 《柠檬不是红色的》. I am very happy to collaborate with Po Tim, a homeschooling mom from Hong Kong, to produce this learning package to support learning of the Chinese language. Here's a little about Po Tim. We got to know each other through a US-based homeschooling Facebook group and connected with each other as we were both teaching our children English and Chinese. Po Tim and her Japanese-American husband have three lovely young children. She blogs at <a href="http://fortunecookiemom.com/" target="_blank">fortunecookiemom.com</a>. You can read more about her <a href="http://fortunecookiemom.com/about-me/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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The book 《柠檬不是红色的》is translated from the English original "Lemons Are Not Red", written by Laura Vaccaro Seeger. It is an excellent book that introduces colour concepts with a twist, unlike many traditional colour concept books. Through the clever use of die-cuts, the book stirs the natural curiosity and imagination of children by first presenting objects in "odd" or "wrong" colours, such as red lemon, purple carrot, grey flamingo and blue grass. With a turn of the page, things are made right when objects are represented in their proper colours. The Chinese version is especially suitable for exposing children to the use of “是”, “不是” and “才是” to make affirmative and negative sentences.<br />
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Here is an example of the sentence structure that is repeated in the book with different colours and objects :<br />
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小草不是蓝色的,<br />
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小草是绿色的,天空才是蓝色的。<br />
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Through the reading of this book, children will be exposed to twelve different colours and twelve objects that are all nature-related. The repetitive sentence structure, attractive illustrations and element of fun and surprise all help to make the reading of this book a very enjoyable process for young children. Be prepared to have to read this book to your child more than once. Soon you may even find your child memorising the contents of the book due to its repetitive sentence structure and unique and interesting representation. Needless to say, this is a perfect book to be used for a literature-based unit study.<br />
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Po Tim and I have brainstormed and come up with a total of 9 activities (14 if the suggested challenge activities are included) in a downloadable format for parents to use with their children. The link to this unit study can be found at the end of this post. You can choose to download the pages that are most suitable for your use. There are six versions available - Simplified Chinese, Simplified Chinese with Pinyin, Traditional Chinese, Traditional Chinese with Pinyin, Simplified Chinese with English instructions, and Traditional Chinese with English instructions. The activities are suitable for children aged 4-6 but can be adapted for younger children. Parents can use these activities with one child or more children. Here are some of the activities based on the book:<br />
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<b>1. 配一配 Card Matching</b><br />
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There are game cards included in the downloadable package that you can laminate and cut out for use. There are 12 colour cards, 12 picture cards and 12 word cards.<br />
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Children can play a card matching game with these cards. They can match the picture cards to the colour cards, or for a more challenging exercise, match all three sets of cards together.<br />
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<b>2. 对对碰 Memory Game </b><br />
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Players can play a memory game with these cards.<br />
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Instruction:<br />
Shuffle the colour and picture cards together and arrange them face-down on the table. All players take turns to flip over two cards. If they are a match, the player gets to keep the cards. If not, the cards are turned back over and the next player gets a turn. The player with the most cards wins!<br />
(<b>Additional activity</b>: For a more challenging version, play with all three sets of cards. Each player will flip over three cards to try to get a match.)<br />
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I suggest starting with a smaller number of cards to help children learn how to play the game and also build their confidence. As they gain proficiency the number of cards can be gradually increased.<br />
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<b>3. 重述故事 Story Retelling</b><br />
<b><br /></b>You will need the<b> “是”</b>, <b>“不是” </b>and <b> “才是” </b>verb cards for this activity, in addition to the colour, word and picture cards.<br />
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Instruction:<br />
Separate and stack the picture and colour cards into two piles, leaving a space in the centre. Place the <b>“不是”, </b><b> “是”</b><b> </b>and <b> “才是”</b> verb cards between the picture and colour cards. Players take turns to form sentences from the story by selecting appropriate cards from each pile.<br />
(<b>Additional activity</b>: For older children who are learning to recognise the words of the objects in the story, try using the word and colour cards instead.)<br />
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<b>Challenge</b>: For children who have read the book multiple times, invite them to "narrate" the story from memory by arranging the available cards to retell the story.<br />
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<b>4. 眼明手快 Who's the Fastest?</b><br />
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You will need the<b> “是”</b>, <b>“不是” </b>and <b> “才是” </b>verb cards for this activity, in addition to the colour, word and picture cards.<br />
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Instruction:<br />
Arrange the picture cards and the <b>“是”</b>, <b>“不是” </b>and <b> “才是” </b>verb cards into two separate piles facing down. Spread out the colour cards, facing up. The dealer draws a card from each of the two piles, and at the count of three reveals them. The other players race to find a colour card to complete the sentence. Accept all possible answers.<br />
(<b>Additional activity</b>: For older children who are learning to recognise the words of the objects in the story, try using the word and verb cards instead.)<br />
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<b>5. 连线游戏 Draw Lines to Match</b><br />
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Draw lines to match the correct answers. For a more challenging exercise, print in greyscale instead of colour.<br />
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<b>6. 点一点 Do-a-Dot</b><br />
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Use do-a-dot markers to mark out the correct answers. If do-a-dot markers are not available, try using cotton buds or crayons to colour. For a more challenging exercise, print in greyscale instead of colour.<br />
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<b>7. 剪剪贴贴 Cut and Paste</b><br />
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Cut out the pictures at the bottom of the page and paste them in the correct box.<br />
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<b>8. 依规律涂色 Patterns and Sequencing</b><br />
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Colour each square according to the colour indicated above it. Complete the pattern by colouring the last square with the correct colour.<br />
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<b>9. 依提示彩色 Guided colouring</b><br />
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Colour the picture by using the colours indicated on various parts of the picture.<br />
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As you can see, the activities in this literature-based unit study are designed to be hands-on, meaningful and enjoyable. They help children make connections to the book and in the process, reinforce concepts they have learnt. Older children who are learning to recognise words also has many meaningful and enjoyable activities (through games and worksheets) to guide them in the process.<br />
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My friend, Po Tim, has also written an article on this literature-based unit study in her blog. To download the free unit study based on the book 《柠檬不是红色的》, click on the following link that leads to her blog post. The link to the downloads can be found in the article.<br />
<a href="http://fortunecookiemom.com/2016/08/lemons-are-not-red/" target="_blank">http://fortunecookiemom.com/2016/08/lemons-are-not-red/</a><br />
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We hope you enjoy the activities in this unit study. Have fun with your children and do give us your feedback! You can leave comments in our blog posts or post your comments on our Facebook pages.<br />
<br />Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15603452260919112998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052046967068869277.post-86960235770595841122016-08-04T16:51:00.001+08:002016-08-08T18:58:52.738+08:00Learning Chinese - A Literature-Based ApproachI have always been attracted to the literature-based approach to homeschooling. That was why when my eldest son was 4 and I was set in my mind to homeschool him for preschool, I chose to use the Sonlight Curriculum, a homeschool curriculum well-known for its literature-based emphasis. So what exactly is the literature-based approach? In a nutshell, it means using authentic texts or books (instead of textbooks, workbooks and flashcards) as the basis for learning. In the classical approach to homeschooling, such books are known as the "Great Books". In the Charlotte Mason homeschooling approach, they are referred to as "living books". These book are usually classics or books that are so well-written that they engage the reader by exciting the imagination and stirring the emotions. In other words, they make the subject "come alive".<br />
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When it comes to teaching David Chinese, I also use a literature-based approach. Chinese is a subject that many Singaporean children struggle with. After teaching the language in public schools for 4 years and homeschooling my older two children for preschool, I have come to these conclusions about the teaching and learning of Chinese at home:<br />
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1) It is important to make the learning of Chinese <b>enjoyable</b> and<b> meaningful</b>.<br />
2) Children should be exposed to good Chinese literature from the youngest age possible. Parents should try to inculcate in their children a love for Chinese books by reading to them often and demonstrating a real interest in the books themselves.<br />
3) If Chinese is less spoken at home, it is important to read more Chinese books (compared to English ones).<br />
4) The use of age-appropriate Chinese audio-visual materials can help to create interest and increase exposure to the language. This is especially helpful if the language is hardly used at home.<br />
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When my two older boys were homeschooled during their preschool years, they enjoyed being read to in Chinese and were able to express themselves in the language well. Sadly, when I stopped the practice of reading to them and they subsequently entered school, they lost interest in the language and gradually grew to dislike it due to the demands of the curriculum. I always wondered how the young boy (each of them) who always requested a favourite Chinese book to be read again and again could one day proclaim, "I hate Chinese!" :( I can still remember how well they could express themselves with words and phrases they learned from story books when they were younger. Somehow, when the reading sessions stopped (due to busyness and changes in family circumstances), the interest gradually died. Eventually, English being the predominant language used at home and in school, took centrestage.<br />
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Now that I am homeschooling my youngest boy, I am making a conscious effort to help him enjoy the language. When we visit the library, it is my practice to check out more Chinese books than English ones. There was a season when I borrowed mainly Chinese books and read those books to him often. During that period of time his Chinese improved by leaps and bounds. He would initiate conversation in Mandarin and make up stories using words and characters from the stories he heard. When I felt he was on track I gradually increased the number of English books to be read to him. I am convinced the literature-based approach is the way to go for teaching Chinese if I want to make the process meaningful and enjoyable.<br />
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To help reinforce vocabulary learning, I tend to use books that are associated with a particular theme for a few consecutive weeks. The activities I do with David during those weeks would then be book-based or theme-based or a combination of both. Here is an example of our theme on "Colours":<br />
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We borrowed the following books from the library that are related to the theme. Many good Chinese children's books are translated from other languages. The selection below is no exception. You may recognise that two of them are the Chinese versions of the popular "Mouse Paint" and "Lemons Are Not Red". If I know a particular title is available in both English and Chinese, I would make a conscious effort to introduce the Chinese version first. I think this is helpful for most Singaporean children as for most of them, English would be their preferred language of use.<br />
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As the books are all on the same theme, reading the books means there is a consistent exposure to words related to the theme. In this case, we kept coming across the Chinese words for common colours like red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. <b>The increased exposure to the same words presented in different contexts in the books helps to contextualise meaning and reinforce learning. </b>Please note that for the preschool years, the emphasis is not on individual word recognition but on the development of oral and listening skills. The best thing to do for this stage is to cultivate a love for reading and learning. If individual words are taught, they should be done in a meaningful and playful way free from stress.<br />
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Here are two examples of activities we did based on the colour theme:<br />
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1. Colour Scavenger Hunt - The book "颜色找找看" is about looking for items in the book that have a particular colour. We did an extension activity after reading the book by doing a "colour scavenger hunt" at home. I conducted the whole activity in Chinese and asked him to bring me items he can find around the house that are of a particular colour. This is a fun activity that got him running about the house looking for things. Through this activity, words and concepts related to the theme are reinforced.<br />
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2. Fine Motor Water Play and Colour-Mixing - The book "三只老鼠爱涂色" introduces the three primary colours (red, yellow and blue) and the concept of colour mixing to obtain secondary colours (orange, green and purple). After reading the book several times, I did the following fine motor water play and colour mixing activity with David.<br />
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I prepared 3 containers of coloured water with a dropper (pipette) in each. David had to use the droppers to transfer coloured water into the bottle caps.<br />
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Here he is at work! This water transfer activity requires a certain degree of precision and control. It is a good activity to practise fine motor skills as well as hand-eye coordination.</div>
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The picture above shows colour mixing in progress. He had already transferred some red water into the bottle cap. When he released blue water into the cap the colour of the water quickly turned to purple.<br />
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A closer view of the results of colour mixing. The colours orange, green and purple were all obtained by mixing two primary colours together.<br />
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As we did this activity, I talked about how the mice in the book "三只老鼠爱涂色" did colour mixing just like him. We reviewed parts of the book verbally as he did the colour mixing. This process certainly reinforced his learning as he was personally involved in the hands-on activity as well as the narration of parts of the story.<br />
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I really enjoy the literature-based approach in homeschooling. I use this approach for teaching both English and Chinese, but I make an extra effort in the early years to do more for Chinese as I know (and statistics have shown) that it is a language that is more difficult to learn and master. It does not help that the overall environment in Singapore is not favourable to the learning of the Chinese language. Step into our local libraries and one would see a vast difference in terms of the number of English and Chinese books in the children's section. The audio-visual selection for Chinese materials is pathetic compared to what we have in English. In school, the number of hours children are exposed to the Chinese language is way less compared to the total amount of time instruction is conducted in English. Most children now come from English-speaking families, and if they come together to play and interact, they would mostly be doing so in English. The list goes on. The first three years of a child's life are especially important when it comes to oral development in any language. If parents do not make an effort to expose their children to Chinese and cultivate a love for learning it early in life, it would not be surprising if their children find it difficult to learn or even like the language.<br />
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Personally, I feel there is a lot in the Chinese language and culture that many youngsters fail to appreciate. God has given mankind diverse languages since the Tower of Babel. Each is unique, useful and beautiful in itself. As Singaporeans, we are very fortunate to be able to learn two languages from a young age. We have an extra key to unlock treasures of knowledge and ideas compared to people who are monolingual. Most importantly (in my opinion), we are in a very good position to bring the gospel to the Chinese-speaking world. Hudson Taylor was able to work hard at learning Chinese so he could be a missionary to the people in China. Isn't it a shame that many Singaporean Chinese complain and say they hate Chinese because it is difficult to learn?<br />
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This post is getting long. In conclusion, I highly recommend the literature-based approach to learning Chinese to make it meaningful and enjoyable. Keep reading to your child and don't give up! :)<br />
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<b><br /></b>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15603452260919112998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052046967068869277.post-72262758989441686642016-07-18T15:11:00.002+08:002016-07-18T15:11:46.655+08:00Fun With Letter N - Creating a Night Sky<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As part of our activities for Letter N, we created a picture of a night sky. We went through the days of creation and talked about God creating day and night on the first day. I told David that N is for 'night' and we were going to make a picture of a night sky. The 'night sky' done by David is my favourite of all the pieces of artwork he has done thus far. Here it is:<br />
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This piece of work may look sophisticated, but it is actually very easy to do.<br />
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<u>Materials used:</u><br />
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- a piece of black card stock or black construction paper mounted on cardboard.<br />
- a paint brush<br />
- glue stick<br />
- gold and silver glitter glue<br />
- pre-cut crescent and stars (I used two star-shaped craft punches to punch out stars of different sizes from gold and silver metallic paper.)<br />
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I dribbled some silver glitter glue onto the black paper and asked David to spread it out using the paint brush. He enjoyed doing it as he had never 'painted' using glitter glue before. The glittery effect was certainly enticing to him!</div>
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After that I dribbled gold glitter glue and asked him to spread that out too. It did not matter if the colours came together. He had complete freedom to spread the glue as much as he wanted.</div>
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After the paper was 'painted' with glitter glue, I asked him to paste the crescent and the stars onto the paper. Although the paper was sticky with glitter glue, I knew the crescent and stars would come off easily when the glue became dry. That was why I asked David to use the glue stick to apply glue to the crescent and stars before pasting.</div>
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David didn't really like getting his fingers all sticky, so I prepared a piece of damp cloth for him to wipe his hands whenever he felt like it. (In fact, I always need to have a cloth ready for him whenever he does painting or other forms of process art. He is one who doesn't like to get his hands dirty.)</div>
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When the crescent and stars were all up and the glue had dried sufficiently, the 'night sky' looked like a masterpiece! Vincent van Gogh, I love your painting "The Starry Night", but David's "Night Sky" will always be more beautiful in my eyes!</div>
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Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15603452260919112998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052046967068869277.post-49567710472580242482016-07-14T08:39:00.000+08:002016-07-14T08:39:09.664+08:00Fine Motor Math Activity - Counting Beads on Pipe CleanersYoung children are often capable of recognising number symbols from 1 to 10 and reciting the numbers (one, two, three, four....) in the correct order. However, many of them do not yet grasp the concept of one-to-one correspondence. <b>One-to-one correspondence </b>is usually explained as the ability to match one object to one corresponding number or object. A child who does not understand one-to-one correspondence may skip counting an object when counting by rote memorisation, or count the same object twice or more. Preschoolers may take months or longer to master this foundational mathematical skill. Therefore it is important to provide young children with lots of opportunities to practise "one-to-one correspondence" in as many different contexts as possible.<br />
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Below is a picture of a set-up that provides opportunity for practising one-to-one correspondence when counting. I folded a sticker label into half on one end of each pipe cleaner and labelled all of them from 1 to 10. You can use paper and glue too if you do not have sticker labels. I also prepared a bowl of beads to be used with the pipe cleaners.<br />
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I asked David to tell me the numbers that were labelled on each pipe cleaner. He had no difficulty recognising them. I explained to him that if the number on the pipe cleaner is '2', he had to thread 2 beads onto the pipe cleaner; if the number is '5', he had to thread 5 beads. He caught on quickly and started to count the beads while threading.<br />
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This counting activity is also great for practising fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. A steady hand and good coordination are both needed to pick up a small bead, find the hole in it, and insert the pipe cleaner through the hole. It may seem like a very simple task for us adults, but it really takes some practice for young children to do it well. David had been exposed to threading activities before and now has no problems with threading beads of this size.<br />
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Initially I was a bit concerned that David may not have the patience to thread all the pipe cleaners. He had to thread and count and check the number of beads for each pipe cleaner. Would he get frustrated or lose interest? In the past our threading activities were never this long and he did not have to deal with numbers and accuracy. I was prepared to let him stop if he showed any signs of frustration. After all, he only just turned 3 and only very recently learned to thread beads this small. My concerns were unfounded, for he apparently enjoyed the task and was able to stay focused. He would happily show me the completed pipe cleaner whenever he finished counting and threading for one number. I gave him lots of encouragement throughout the process and I believed that motivated him a lot!<br />
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The picture above shows the fruit of his hard work. Each pipe cleaner has the correct number of beads on it. Well done, David!<br />
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For more ideas on fine motor activites, you may wish to follow my "Fine Motor Skills" board on Pinterest:<br />
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<a data-pin-board-width="400" data-pin-do="embedBoard" data-pin-scale-height="240" data-pin-scale-width="80" href="https://www.pinterest.com/joyful_learning/fine-motor-skills/"></a>
<script async="" defer="" src="//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15603452260919112998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052046967068869277.post-79580933600563267882016-07-11T11:48:00.001+08:002016-07-12T14:44:39.148+08:00Creating Music with a Water Bottle Xylophone<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
One morning, David came running to me and said,"Mummy, I want to play xylophone!" I was wondering why he had the sudden interest, then I thought it could be due to the xylophone image we have on one of our letter X resources.</div>
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"But we don't have a xylophone!" I replied. "Wait... maybe Mummy can make a xylophone for you. Let me see..."</div>
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And so a simple request to play on a xylophone resulted in the set-up below - a water bottle xylophone experiment!</div>
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You probably know by now that I collect lots of recyclable things. Glass bottles from bottled pasta sauce, kaya spread and bottled seasonings have been accumulating in my kitchen cabinet. Due to lack of space, I have actually sent some to the recycling bin in my neighbourhood. I kind of regretted doing that when it was time to make this "xylophone" at home. How I wished I could have 8 glass bottles of the same size so I could play the whole scale! It would be much easier to play songs too if there were more notes. Alas! I only had 3 big glass bottles of the same size, and so had to settle for just 3 notes - doh-reh-me.</div>
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It took a bit of time calibrating the amount of water in each bottle so it could produce the correct note. More water will produce a lower pitch, and less water will produce a higher pitch. When it was finally done, I took a pair of metal chopsticks and showed David how to make music by hitting the glass bottles. Do you know you can play "Mary Had a Little Lamb" with just doh-reh-me? It was like an eye-opener for David. He immediately took over and starting playing his own "symphony" :)<br />
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Below is a video of how the water bottle xylophone was used to play a song. Enjoy!</div>
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<br />Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15603452260919112998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052046967068869277.post-42760114197951321202016-07-08T12:45:00.000+08:002016-07-08T12:45:14.852+08:00Fun with Letter M (Part 2) - Magnets and Magnetic PaintingAs part of our activities for Letter M, we did some hands-on activities with magnets. Specifically, we did a 'magnetic' vs 'non-magnetic' sorting activity, made a magnetic discovery bottle, and created a piece of art with 'magnetic painting'.<br />
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<b><u>Magnet Sorting Activity</u></b><br />
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Below is a picture of the set-up for this activity. I chose some magnetic and non-magnetic items from around the house and placed them in a basket. There were two distinct spaces for David to place the magnetic and non-magnetic items. I showed him a bar magnet, told him what it was, then proceeded to show him what to do with it. The interaction went something like this: "What is this? Yes, it's a paper clip. Bring the magnet close to it. Does it stick to the magnet? Yes! That means the paper clip is magnetic! Now put the paper clip here. This word says magnetic, so we put all the magnetic things here. Now what is this? (Hold the cup) Yes! It's a cup. Do you think it's magnetic? Let's test it with the magnet. Does it stick? No! The cup is non-magnetic, so we put the cup here..."<br />
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David particularly loved testing the paper clips and house keys with the magnet. I gave him more paper clips to see what would happen if he were to place the magnet close to many of them. He was surprised when the paper clips all came rushing to the magnet. Then he wanted to do it again, and again, and again...<br />
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He was so proud to be able to hold the bunch of keys with a magnet this way, with just the rim of the ring chain touching the magnet!<br />
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The final result of our sorting activity. I arranged the items neatly before taking a photo, David wasn't too interested in putting the things down neatly during the activity. He was too eager to move on to the next item!<br />
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<b><u>Magnetic Discovery Bottle</u></b><br />
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Materials used:<br />
- some pipe cleaners, cut into shorter strips<br />
- a clear plastic bottle, filled with water<br />
- magnet<br />
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The picture above shows the set-up. I asked David to put a bar magnet on the side of the bottle near the pipe cleaners and observe what happened. The pipe cleaner strips were attracted to the magnet and they all clumped together in the process. It was interesting to watch magnetism at work in this setting, through thin plastic and water. I added water into the bottle so David could have some fun watching and feeling how the magnet could 'drag' the pipe cleaners all over the bottle (in slow motion). You can do this activity without water too. I had to discard the pipe cleaners after some days because they started to rust in the water.<br />
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<b><u>Magnetic Painting</u></b><br />
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Materials used:<br />
- one paper plate with 3 dabs of paint (primary colours - red, yellow and blue) on it<br />
- one paper clip<br />
- magnet<br />
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Directions: Place the magnet under the paper plate, touching the base, just below the paper clip. It should attract the paper clip even though the paper plate is a barrier. Drag the paper clip using the magnet so it moves in various directions on the paper plate. As the paper clip cuts through the colours, it will leave a trail of the colours it comes in contact with.<br />
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David sat down, held the bar magnet in one hand, and started to slide the bar magnet around, touching the base of the paper plate. It was interesting to watch as it seemed like the paper clip was moving by itself! To me, it was as if a robot was moving around, cutting through the colours and painting on its own!<br />
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As the paper clip cut through the colours more and more, the effects of colour mixing could be observed. The secondary colours, orange, green and purple, became more visible.<br />
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<b><u><br /></u></b>This was really an exercise in patience. It took quite a long time for David to 'paint' the plate. Above is a picture of the 'magnetic painting'. I thought this was a unique way to paint, and David certainly experienced and learned about the effects of magnetism through this activity!<br />
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<br />Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15603452260919112998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052046967068869277.post-12245126729319061022016-07-05T08:17:00.000+08:002016-07-05T08:17:16.803+08:00Fun with Letter M (Part 1) - Marble Painting and Marble RunThere are several hands-on activities we did for the letter M. In this post, I'll focus on our activities with 'marbles'.<br />
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<b><u>Marble Painting</u></b><br />
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Materials used:<br />
- a piece of drawing paper<br />
- a cardboard box to hold the paper (You can also use a baking tray or container lid.)<br />
- few dabs of paint (different colours) on the paper<br />
- several marbles (there are 6 in the photo but I added more halfway to speed up the process of painting)<br />
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In this process art activity, the painting is done not with brushes, but with marbles! The idea is to move and rock the cardboard box in such a way that the marbles can roll over the paper in various directions. As the marbles cut through the paint, it will leave a trail as it moves about in the box.<br />
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David was totally engrossed in trying to move the marbles all over the piece of paper. I think it took quite a bit of strength and coordination to do it well, judging from the way he moved.<br />
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He was very intent to get the marbles cover as big an area as possible, and many times his head was very nearly going into the box due to his total preoccupation with the task at hand :)<br />
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The picture below shows the final product. I thought it looked like an abstract piece of art and can be used as a beautiful piece of wrapping paper!<br />
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<b><u>Marble Run</u></b><br />
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<b><u><br /></u></b>I have been collecting cardboard tubes (toilet rolls, kitchen towel rolls etc) for craft and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) activities for some time. I was so glad when we finally came to letter M, for I had been planning to make a marble run for play and learning. I cut some openings on the cardboard tubes for a more visual experience but you can use the cardboard tubes as they are. I used lots of tape to tape the cardboard tubes onto a blank wall. If you have older children, you can involve them in designing the marble run. This is a good STEM activity as they will be learning about slopes, angles, gravity, engineering and problem solving. As David was rather short I made a very simple marble run on the wall so it would be more accessible to him. I placed a tissue box with its top trimmed off (you can just use a shoe box) at the bottom of the marble run to 'catch' the marbles. To prevent the marbles from bouncing off and from making loud noises when landing, I padded the box with some newspaper.<br />
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David had great fun playing with the marble run. He kept putting new marbles in through the top opening and soon started experimenting by dropping the marbles in through other available spaces. It was fun even for me as an adult to play! When my second son came home he couldn't resist and had to join in the fun too! It may seem like the youngest was just playing and having fun, but even in such a simple play activity, he was learning about how things work, and having a lesson in gravity even without being conscious about it!<br />
<br />Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15603452260919112998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052046967068869277.post-17042658164586322082016-07-01T13:46:00.000+08:002016-07-14T13:54:42.015+08:00Loose Parts Play in the Home - Setting up InvitationsIn my previous post I gave an introduction to loose parts play, gave examples of "loose parts" and described how this type of play is beneficial to children. In this post I will attempt to describe how loose parts play can be incorporated in the home, giving examples from my own homeschool.<br />
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Although there are no specific directions on how loose parts are to be used when we present them to children, parents do play an active role in deciding what materials to give them. Giving meaning to loose parts requires parents to think about the possibilities of how a child learns and also consider the materials and environments that the child uses. A carefully put together collection of loose parts designed to allow for open-ended play and exploration is also known as an "invitation to play". This term is deeply rooted in the Reggio philosophy that believes children are able to direct their own play when they are offered open-ended and meaningful resources to explore.<br />
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Here are two examples of my "invitations to play" at home:<br />
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<b><u>Cardboard Tubes and Pom-Poms</u></b><br />
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When David was presented with some cardboard tubes and pom-poms to play, this was how he went about playing with them:<br />
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First, he stacked the cardboard tubes to form a tall tower. (Good motor skills required for this one! He did a good job and I was very proud of him!)<br />
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<span style="text-align: left;">He then took the cardboard tubes down, emptied the bag of pom-poms, and stood for a moment. (I suppose he was wondering what to do next?)</span></div>
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He built three shorter towers this time, then proceeded to drop pom-poms randomly into each one. He stopped when one tower was filled to the brim.<br />
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After that he started to do colour sorting with the pom-poms and cardboard tubes.<br />
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Just a simple invitation to play, but so many possibilities! David was fully engaged for about 40 minutes. It was very satisfying to witness such spontaneous play in this extremely simple set-up.<br />
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<b><u>Buttons, Glass Gems, Pom-Poms, Fake Coloured Gemstones and Paper Prompts</u></b><br />
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I set up the above "invitation to play" while David was having his breakfast on the high chair. He saw what I was setting up and couldn't wait to come down and play! (Tip: Set up invitations to play while your children are eating if you know they will take a long time to finish their food. This will motivate them to eat faster! Haha!)<br />
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A closer look at the loose parts. Loose parts can be so beautiful, don't you agree?<br />
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David started by placing coloured gems on the zig-zag pattern like this. I had expected him to just put the gems on the lines and trace them, but obviously he had a mind of his own. I was reminded that we are all different and can have different ways of doing things.<br />
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After finishing his 'work' on the zig-zag pattern he started working on the spiral one. This time he chose to place coloured buttons on the line. He was quite particular about the size of the buttons he chose (I have big and small buttons in the tray.) He wanted the big buttons on the outer curves and when they were all used up he filled the inner curves with the small buttons.<br />
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This was how it looked at the end. I simply love the colours!<br />
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David then proceeded to work on the paper with big, black dots. He put big, colourful pom-poms on the dots to cover them.<br />
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The above picture shows how the invitation to play turned out at the end. I really love the results. They are so pretty!<br />
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I left the invitation out on the table after he finished. A few hours later he wanted to play again. This time he used the blue glass gems to trace the spiral pattern. He started working on another spiral pattern but left it unfinished, which was alright with me as I knew he had worked hard concentrating on working these patterns for the day.<br />
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This invitation to play provides the opportunity for children to train themselves in patience and concentration. It is also a great activity for improving fine motor and hand-eye coordination skills!<br />
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I have just given two examples of loose parts play in the home. As you can see, they are not difficult to implement in the home at all. What is needful though, is that the parent must have an open mind. Try not to 'force' your own ideas onto the child or interfere with his or her tinkering. If your child is really stuck you may try working on your own project with the same materials unassumingly. Let your child see you creating and tinkering, and he or she will soon want to imitate you! Don't feel discouraged if your child does not show interest in the invitation that you set up. Children, like adults, have their preferences too. Many times the same invitations that were unattractive initially became interesting to them weeks or months later. Try offering the same invitations at a later time or do some variations to suit your child's preference.<br />
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Loose parts play in the home need not be complicated, yet it offers so many possibilities for the child to play and explore. I strongly encourage parents to try to incorporate this type of play in the home. I'm loving the results, and I'm quite sure you would too!<br />
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For more ideas and information on loose parts play and invitations to play, you may wish to follow my "Loose Parts Play" board on Pinterest:<br />
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<a data-pin-board-width="400" data-pin-do="embedBoard" data-pin-scale-height="240" data-pin-scale-width="80" href="https://www.pinterest.com/joyful_learning/loose-parts-play/"></a>
<script async="" defer="" src="//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15603452260919112998noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052046967068869277.post-51092361047233380082016-06-29T11:09:00.000+08:002016-06-30T18:22:54.944+08:00Loose Parts Play - An IntroductionHave you ever heard of 'loose parts play'? I first came across this term when a member of a private Facebook group that I belong to posted a photo of a 'loose parts tray'. I didn't really know what it was then and did not bother to find out more. As I was reading up on the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education, I came across this term again. What I read inspired me to find out more. After some research I was totally won over by the many benefits loose parts play have for the development of young children (not to mention how friendly it is to my wallet since loose parts are largely free or low-cost materials). It was like an eye-opener for me, and resulted in a fresh approach to providing opportunities for play and exploration. I became more conscious of collecting 'loose parts' and place a higher value on them than on the relatively more expensive manufactured commercial toys so prevalent in our culture.<br />
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"The Theory of Loose Parts" was credited to Simon Nicholson, an architect, who in in 1971 wrote an article entitled "How not to cheat children: The Theory of Loose Parts." According to Nicholson, "In any environment, both the degree of inventiveness and creativity, and the possibility of discovery, are directly proportional to the number and kind of variables in it." In other words, when children are presented with a wide range of materials that have no defined purpose, they will be more inventive in their play and would manipulate and use the materials in as many ways as their imagination can devise. <br />
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So what exactly are 'loose parts'? Loose parts are <b>open-ended materials</b> that can be moved, carried, combined, redesigned, lined up, taken apart and put back together in multiple ways. They can be used alone or combined with other materials. Loose parts can be:<br />
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- recycled or upcycled materials, such as cardboard boxes, cardboard tubes, plastic bottles, bottle caps and egg cartons.<br />
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- found in nature, such as leaves, flowers, seed pods, sticks, pebbles, seashells and rocks.<br />
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- store-bought, such as drinking straws, craft sticks, pom-poms, pipe cleaners, marbles, beads and buttons.<br />
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Here are pictures of some of the loose parts I have collected for use in our home preschool:<br />
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In the above picture, there are seashells, rocks, transparent glass gems, marbles, buttons, beads, decorative toothpicks, cotton buds, pom-poms, craft sticks, wooden pegs, wooden blocks and discs, coloured shape blocks, pipe cleaners, disposable chopsticks, drinking straws, googly eyes and yarn.<br />
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The picture above shows loose parts collected from recyclable items. There are Styrofoam pieces, bubble wrap, aluminium cans, empty plastic containers, cardboard tubes, bottle caps, cork, egg carton and fabric scraps.<br />
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Loose parts offer infinite play possibilities. They invite children to use their imagination to create, design, construct, experiment, and explore various ways of making things or inventing play. It is spontaneous and has no specific set of instructions; outcomes will vary from child to child. In fact, depending on the interests of the child and stage of development the child is at, the same loose parts will be used differently at various points. This means loose parts will continually engage children as they move to higher levels of play according to their maturity levels.<br />
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I would like to share one of my very first encounters with the outcome of introducing loose parts play to David. I had been collecting bottle caps for some time. One day, he saw the bag of bottle caps that I have and asked to play with them. I gave him the bottle caps and went on to do something else. After some time he came to me and said,"Mummy, see... I made a fan." I looked at what he was pointing at and was a bit taken aback.<br />
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Can you see the similarity? I have since learned not to underestimate what children can do when they are presented with loose parts to play.<br />
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For children who are accustomed to playing with 'fixed toys' and electronic devices, it may take a while for them to take to loose parts. Children who are exposed to large chinks of TV and i-Pad time are especially less inclined to want to exchange the visual stimulation they can get for such humble play that requires them to think and use their hands. If this describes your child, don't give up on loose parts play just yet. Try introducing this type of play regularly and show interest in what they are doing to encourage them. Children are curious and creative by nature. Let us be more intentional in what we present to our children for play so as to help them exercise their creativity, something that the Lord has given to mankind, his image-bearers. I will write more about how loose parts play can be incorporated in the home in future posts, God willing.<br />
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For more information and ideas on loose parts play, you may wish to follow my 'Loose Parts Play' board on Pinterest: <br />
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<a data-pin-do="embedBoard" data-pin-board-width="400" data-pin-scale-height="240" data-pin-scale-width="80" href="https://www.pinterest.com/joyful_learning/loose-parts-play/"></a>
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Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15603452260919112998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052046967068869277.post-84093989486940387172016-06-27T15:51:00.000+08:002016-06-29T08:44:34.575+08:00Free Creation-cum-Alphabet ResourceI am teaching David the first two questions from the Toddler's Catechism that my church uses for parents to instruct their children.<br />
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Question 1: Who made you?<br />
Answer: God<br />
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Question 2: What else did God make?<br />
Answer: All things. <br />
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I was very glad to discover this free resource from 'Bible Fun for Kids' that helps to reinforce the lesson on creation. This free printable pack is called "God Made It! A to Z". As the name suggests, this is a alphabet learning resource that focuses on God's creation. For every letter of the alphabet, there are pictures of things that God created that begin with that particular letter.<br />
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I wrote down the words for the pictures on the back of each card. This is to expose David to the words in addition to the pictures and let him see that all the words have the same beginning letter.<br />
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There are also colouring pages available from this resource. I used some of them to make alphabet lapbooks with David.<br />
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This free printable pack is available at the following link: <a href="http://www.biblefunforkids.com/2013/01/god-made-it-to-z-for-preschool.html" target="_blank">http://www.biblefunforkids.com/2013/01/god-made-it-to-z-for-preschool.html</a><br />
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I hope you find it useful too!<br />
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<br />Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15603452260919112998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052046967068869277.post-20848860056138943612016-06-23T11:27:00.000+08:002016-06-23T11:27:17.791+08:00Kitchen Science Fun - Making Art with Vinegar and Baking SodaMixing vinegar and baking soda is one of the classic Kitchen Science experiments that never fails to fascinate children. In this activity I decided to colour the vinegar with food colouring for an 'artistic' effect in addition to the fizzing fun. The use of squirt bottles also makes this a great activity to practise fine motor skills.<br />
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<u>Materials used:</u><br />
- a tray lined with baking soda<br />
- diluted vinegar in squirt bottles (one part vinegar to one part water)<br />
- food colouring (I chose the primary colours red, yellow and blue to allow for the possibility of creating secondary colours.)<br />
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David started with the blue vinegar solution. He squeezed the bottle and squirted the blue solution onto the baking soda. The intense bubbling and fizzy reaction got him all excited. "Mummy! See! Bubbles! Bubbles!"<br />
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He then added bits of red and then yellow. We were beginning to see the effects of colour mixing.<br />
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Red was the last bottle to be used up.<br />
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The picture above shows the final product. Don't you think it's a nice piece of art? We can observe the results of colour mixing and thus creation of the secondary colours, particularly green and purple. Throughout the activity we talked about the colours he used, how the colours changed when they mixed, and why there were so many bubbles. I just explained there was air in the bubbles trying to escape. That should suffice for this stage, I think. I know he can't fully understand the science behind this yet, how that acids combine with bases to form a chemical reaction. Nevertheless, I believe exposure to sensory and visual observations of such experiments does have benefits for young children. Not only is it a 'fun' thing that excites them and stirs in them a sense of wonder, it also helps build observational and language skills. To me, it is largely about exposing them to the wonders of science, which ultimately points to the wisdom and power of our Almighty Creator.<br />
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<br />Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15603452260919112998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052046967068869277.post-60756554990039480622016-06-14T16:06:00.002+08:002016-06-27T17:09:23.157+08:00Fun with Letter of the Week - Letter LWe did quite a number of hands-on activities for Letter L, which include lemon printing, making a paper plate ladybird, a lion mask, a homemade lava lamp, and lacing letter L with shoelace. I will share three of them here.<br />
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<b><u>Lemon Printing</u></b><br />
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I introduced the word 'lemon' and let David hold a lemon in his hand. I asked him about its colour and texture. Next, I cut it into half, then asked him to smell it and tell me whether he liked the smell. I squeezed out some of the juice (so the lemon prints to be produced later can have a more defined outline) and let him taste a bit of it. I explained to him that lemons taste sour but have a fragrant smell.<br />
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In the steps above I had adopted a Montessori approach in trying to engage David by letting him learn through his sense of sight, touch, smell, taste and hearing. There is an emphasis on sensory learning in Montessori education as one of the underlying beliefs is that children learn more by touching, seeing, smelling and tasting than just by listening. I personally feel that this is a reasonable and sensible approach to teaching young children. God has given us the five senses to experience and explore His creation. Without any of these senses we would feel handicapped in some ways in life. Thank God for giving us our senses to enjoy what He has created and to function normally in this world!<br />
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These are the materials I prepared to do this activity:<br />
- a lemon, cut into half and partially juiced.<br />
- a muffin tray with two parts containing different colours. I used green and yellow watercolours. You may use other receptacles for the paints as long as the base of the half lemon can fit nicely into it.<br />
- a piece of drawing paper<br />
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And the fun can begin!<br />
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David was quite fascinated by the process of dipping the half lemon into paint and stamping it onto paper. He took some time to get used to gripping the lemon firmly and was rather deliberate in his actions for his first piece of work. When he was done he immediately asked for another piece of paper to continue the activity. He became more proficient at it and was stamping faster and in a more orderly manner on his second piece of work.<br />
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In between the printing process, he would stop and examine the half lemons as in the photo below. Hmm... I wonder what was going through his little mind?<br />
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When he was done, he spent some time playing with the half lemons. Throughout the whole activity, the kitchen was filled with the sweet fragrance of lemon. What a delightful bonus to our letter of the week activity!<br />
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<b><u>Make a Lava Lamp</u></b><br />
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Have you ever felt the mesmerizing effects of watching a lava lamp? The repeated rising, sinking and morphing of large coloured bubbles in what seems to be extremely viscous liquid. Since we were doing the letter L, I thought it would be cool to do a lava lamp experiment at home!<br />
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The homemade lava lamps that I found online mostly require the use of Alka Seltzer tablets, which are not commonly found in Singapore. As I searched further I realised salt can be used in place of Alka Seltzer.<br />
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These are the steps to making a 'lava lamp' at home:<br />
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1. Fill a glass bottle about two-thirds full with water.<br />
2. Drop a a few drops of food colouring in and mix. (Lighter colours are better as the effects would be clearer.)<br />
3. Fill the rest of the bottle with vegetable oil, leaving about half an inch at the top of the bottle.<br />
4. The most fun part is this step: Scoop some salt and pour it into the bottle. Observe and be amazed!<br />
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David watched the the bubbling effect intensely and the moment it stopped, he immediately added another scoop of salt to see the whole process again. I lost count of the number of times he added salt to the bottle. When I said it was time to stop, he burst into tears :( He stopped only after I managed to distract him with some other activity. That's not quite a happy ending, but it showed how much the activity meant to him. Though he was too young to understand the science behind the whole experiment, his observation and involvement in the activity stirred in him a sense of wonder and curiosity. I think that alone means a lot to the development of a child.<br />
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<b><u>Make a Lion Mask</u></b><br />
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Another activity we did for letter L was to make a lion mask. I got this idea from the website 'Crafting The Word Of God'. You may go to this link for the instructions and template: <a href="https://craftingthewordofgod.com/2013/03/19/daniel-in-the-lions-den/" target="_blank">https://craftingthewordofgod.com/2013/03/19/daniel-in-the-lions-den/</a><br />
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The first step was to colour a paper plate yellow. I gave him a sponge brush and he used it to paint the plate with yellow watercolour.<br />
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Next, he used the same sponge brush and colour to paint the printed lion's face template yellow.<br />
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When he was done, I cut out the eyes for him and he used a glue stick to apply glue to the plate (after it had dried). He pasted the lion's face onto the plate. I helped him cut out the "mane" from the given template and he helped to glue them onto the rim of the plate.<br />
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Ta-da! Happy playing!<br />
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And that concludes my lengthy write-up of our activities for Letter L!<br />
<br />Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15603452260919112998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052046967068869277.post-7639368708171250212016-06-13T17:46:00.000+08:002016-06-14T10:00:09.367+08:00Fine Motor Activity - Threading with Cereal LoopsBefore children are able to hold a pencil properly to write, they need to develop the necessary fine motor skills. I try to incorporate some fine motor activities in our homeschool to work those little muscles in David's hands to prepare him for writing. Fine motor skills are important not only for writing, they are essential for so many activities in our daily lives! We need fine motor skills to use a pair of scissors, to cut fruits and vegetables, to button and unbutton our shirts, to brush our teeth, tie our shoelaces etc.. Some vocations, like surgeons, chemists, craftsmen and artists require very well-developed fine motor skills. As I let David engage in fine motor play, I would like to think of it as preparing him for life and usefulness in his future calling.<br />
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A simple fine motor activity that can be done with young children is threading with cereal loops.<br />
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I used some freshly-made homemade play dough as the base and inserted a strip of spaghetti into it. I poured some fruit loops (you can use any circular cereals with holes, like Cheerios) into a bowl and showed David how to thread one piece through the spaghetti. He caught on very quickly and was soon busy threading the spaghetti with fruit loops. It was fun watching him. He really enjoyed the activity and was fully engaged in it.<br />
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His well-deserved snack (what else but fruit loops?) was waiting for him right after he was done threading (Yummy!). If you are concerned about feeding your child the piece of cereal that touched the play dough, just leave that one out. I ate that up as my batch of play dough was freshly made and the ingredients were all food-grade :)Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15603452260919112998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052046967068869277.post-19489012711847680722016-06-10T23:06:00.000+08:002016-07-08T13:07:10.602+08:00Fun with Letter 'I' - Ice PaintingFor every letter of the week, I would plan for some hands-on activities to go with it. I believe children learn best through play and as they engage their senses. As the saying goes,"Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I will remember. Involve me and I will learn."<br />
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For Letter I, I introduced the word 'ice' and we did 'ice painting'. I filled a jelly tray with water, then added different colours into each compartment to get coloured water (you can use water colours or food colouring). Next, I covered the tray with cling wrap. Then I inserted one craft stick into each compartment by gently poking through the cling wrap with one end of the craft stick. The cling wrap serves as a support to hold the craft sticks in an upright position. When the tray was ready I put it into the freezer. This was how the tray looked like after the water had frozen:<br />
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To start painting with the coloured ice, I removed the cling wrap and waited for a few minutes for the ice to thaw a bit. Doing so makes it easier to remove the ice from the tray. Remember to cover your working place with newspaper to protect the surface and contain the mess. When you can easily remove the ice sticks the fun can begin!<br />
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As I had frozen the coloured water in a jelly tray instead of a regular ice cube tray, David was able to stamp some nice prints on the paper first before gliding the ice across the paper.<br />
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The photo above was his first piece of work. It is my favourite piece as the ice had just started to thaw and the prints that he stamped were thus more defined in outline. He glided the top with blue ice for sky and the bottom with green ice for grass. When the ice thawed further, he started his second piece of work, this time gliding different colours randomly across the paper.<br />
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He then decided it was more fun stamping prints with the ice and asked for more paper to do just that :)<br />
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As the ice had already melted quite substantially, the prints he made the second time round were not as defined. Nevertheless his work was still pleasant for me to behold!<br />
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David had great fun creating pictures with coloured ice in this letter of the week activity. I would encourage anyone with young children to have a go at it too!<br />
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<br />Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15603452260919112998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052046967068869277.post-91235911371336820722016-06-04T13:05:00.002+08:002016-06-13T15:41:11.629+08:00Teaching the Alphabet - Making Alphabet LapbooksI have been making alphabet lapbooks with David as we work through letters of the alphabet week by week. Lapbooking is a popular hands-on and visual learning tool among homeschoolers. What exactly is a lapbook? According to Lapbooking 101, a lapbook is "a project book or file folder, laid out in a creative manner, that fits in the child's lap." Every lapbook has its particular theme. One can make a Butterflies Lapbook, an Ocean Lapbook, a Water Cycle Lapbbok, a Lapbook on Ancient Egypt and so on.<br />
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Lapbooks can be made and organised in many different ways. Check out the link below for a more detailed write-up on lapbooks. This link provides useful information on how to make a lapbook, including directions on how to make different kinds of mini-books (to be mounted on the lapbook), links to free templates, and several lapbook samples: <a href="http://hubpages.com/education/lapbooking" target="_blank">http://hubpages.com/education/lapbooking</a><br />
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As David was still young, the alphabet lapbooks we made are very simple. I involved him in colouring and pasting, but I did all the printing and cutting. Nevertheless I didn't have to spend too much time making the lapbooks as I made use of free templates provided by Homeschool Share:<br />
<a href="http://www.homeschoolshare.com/alphabet_notebook.php" target="_blank">http://www.homeschoolshare.com/alphabet_notebook.php</a><br />
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Other than the materials found in the templates, I tried to incorporate some Bible-related images (such as dove, eagle and lamb) so David would be familiar with them when we refer to Bible verses associated with them. I also like to include some songs associated with the letter so we can sing together when we read the lapbook. This is something David enjoys very much!<br />
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Here are some samples of our alphabet lapbooks:<br />
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<u>Letter G:</u><br />
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<u>Letter H:</u><br />
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<u>Letter J:</u><br />
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<u>Letter L:</u><br />
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The alphabet lapbooks we made together will serve to preserve precious memories of our learning together. I look forward to making unit study lapbooks with David soon when we embark on thematic learning!Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15603452260919112998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052046967068869277.post-69675253865362739862016-06-02T09:39:00.002+08:002016-06-14T10:15:22.628+08:00Teaching the Alphabet - Free Online Resources that I UseI started teaching David the alphabet systematically when he was about two and a half years old, using the 'Letter of the Week' approach. Before that he already had some exposure to letters from reading alphabet books and singing the alphabet song. The many books we read together certainly contributed to his awareness of print and how letters of the alphabet look. We started from A and worked our way to Z, though I know some people advocate teaching them in a different order so they can start blending words. My purpose was to let David have a gentle introduction to the alphabet and learn the letters through play and hands-on activities as far as possible. I planned to introduce letter sounds after he knows the alphabet in both upper and lower case. (When I'm writing this post, David already knew all the letters of the alphabet as well as their sounds. It was totally unexpected that he managed to learn all the letter sounds in three weeks. But that will be a separate post...)<br />
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In this post, I would like to introduce the free online resources that I use for teaching the alphabet. You can pay for these resources if you want the convenience of having them in a bundle, but I try to keep the cost of homeschooling as low as possible.<br />
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For every letter of the alphabet, I would print out two mini-books from The Measured Mom (a wonderful website that provides tools and ideas for teaching reading). One is a simple alphabet book with photographs:<br />
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These simple alphabet books have colourful photographs that appeal to young children. The letter is presented clearly in both upper and lowercase for each picture. After reading a few times, David is able to 'read' the books on his own. He also likes to trace the letters using his fingers, which I thought was a great pre-writing activity. You can download the books for free from this link:<br />
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<a href="http://www.themeasuredmom.com/simple-alphabet-books-babies-toddlers-preschoolers/" target="_blank">http://www.themeasuredmom.com/simple-alphabet-books-babies-toddlers-preschoolers/</a><br />
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The other mini-book that I use is a 'little letter book' with songs and rhymes that go with a specific letter:<br />
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Each book has six songs/rhymes for a particular letter of the alphabet. David especially enjoys singing from these books. He has a greater sense of rhyme and rhythm after reading these books, which is great because rhyming is an important pre-reading skill. (Check out this link for why rhyming is important:<a href="http://www.themeasuredmom.com/why-is-rhyming-important/" target="_blank"> http://www.themeasuredmom.com/why-is-rhyming-important/</a>)<br />
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The books of rhymes and songs can be downloaded for free at this link:<br />
<a href="http://www.themeasuredmom.com/free-letter-books/">http://www.themeasuredmom.com/free-letter-books/</a><br />
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Another great website to go to for teaching the alphabet is This Reading Mama. This website has an alphabet series called Learning the Alphabet. The activities in this series were designed to make learning the alphabet hands-on, playful and interactive. You can download the free ABC Printable Pack at this link:<a href="http://thisreadingmama.com/free-abc-printable-packs/" target="_blank"> http://thisreadingmama.com/free-abc-printable-packs/</a>. I do not use all the activities though, as they are repetitive in nature.<br />
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The Learning the Alphabet series is a 'prequel' to Reading the Alphabet - a free Pre-K reading curriculum designed for young children who already know their letters and letter sounds. I'll be using this free curriculum to teach David very soon. I certainly hope he'll enjoy it!<br />
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<br />Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15603452260919112998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2052046967068869277.post-19083347027162211302016-06-01T11:57:00.000+08:002017-12-19T16:10:25.887+08:00Welcome to my Blog!Hi! Welcome to Joyful Learning Home Preschool! My name is Ruth and I'm from Singapore, a small city state in Southeast Asia. I'm a Christian SAHM to three boys (ages 15, 10 and one turning 3). I homeschooled my older two for preschool and kindergarten and have always regretted not keeping a record of what I did with them during those years. Now that I am teaching my youngest at home, I thought of creating a blog to preserve memories of our homeschool days. I'm an eclectic homeschooler, so you will find elements of traditional, classical, Charlotte Mason, Reggio and Montessori approaches in my homeschool. The early years are vital to a child's spiritual and character development. It is my desire that my children will know God and love His Word from an early age. At the same time, I want them to be able to find great joy exploring this world that God created. Whether it be the systems in languages, the laws of mathematics and physics, the beauty of nature and the arts, or the events in world history, the Lord is sovereign over all and in them all. It is my prayer that by God's grace, they may develop their God-given abilities and gifts to the end of knowing Him, enjoying Him, and glorifying Him in their earthly callings. May the Lord use my feeble attempts to teach my children for His own glory.<br />
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<br />Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15603452260919112998noreply@blogger.com0