Centers to fit things in

[hs03842]

 Have you ever tried centers for basic skills practice?  What do you use or practice?

Edited December 9, 2020 by JoyKM

[....]

I wondered if you googled something like "kindergarten strewing unschooling" if you would find some ideas on some unschooling or relaxed homeschooling blogs.  I think it's a good idea!  

How advanced is the 2nd grader, because I wonder if they could possibly do Snap Circuits together...or the younger ones could help the 2nd grader do one of the simpler labs together.  Not exactly a flashcard -like activity that fits in a box, though.

Map puzzles?  That could be an idea.

You could have one of the centers be a Book Basket.  Just put some simple to read animal books in it from the library or books about bugs or something. *shrug*

They might be too little, but what about card decks?  Like geography cards, animal card decks, we have a card deck of the Presidents, etc.  

You could have a nature station where the Kindergartener could look at things with a magnifying glass or 3d microscope.  

[hs03842]

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Edited June 8, 2020 by JoyKM

[PeterPan]

3 hours ago, JoyKM said:

Has anyone else done centers?

https://autismclassroomresources.com/setting-work-system-stations-workbasket-wednesday/   My ds has autism, so these are structures we used at those ages. Now I have simpler setups, with a to do bin and a done bin. I use whiteboards on the wall for lists, but most kids could probably work from printed checklists. 

I think all your ideas sound great! The more you go visual and simple, with clear structure and a way to know when they're done, the better. I will say that just for *reading* in the morning, my dd naturally did that on her own. In fact, she needed that time to wake up and get ready to work, because she woke up so slowly. My ds, on the other hand, is not given to reading because of his disabilities. For him reading is not really an independent work task I could do like that. For him it has to be something he can do completely independently, like dot to dots. I've been training him on small puzzles lately. I got shaped puzzles in various designs (birds, cupcakes, puppies, etc.) and each one has 30-40 pieces. I have them in baggies. Timberdoodle also has great things you could put in independent work stations. They have dot to dots. My dd LOVED the Anti-Coloring books (not sold by Timberdoodle but great) so those would work. Timberdoodle sells an emotions doodling book I got to try on my ds. Also I'm *trying* to see if he can do their logic puzzles. For your kids, you'd be looking at maybe Rush Hour Jr, something like that, and they'd do one challenge a day. I thought my ds could do Walls & Warriors that way, but he can't seem to do it independently. But, you know, your kids might do better. 

I had hoped the Tops Lentil Science could be independent for him, because it uses task cards. Anything simple with task cards is conducive to independent work. 

I like timers. You could also bring an Echo Dot into the room and have Alexa keep track of the timers. Alternately, you could create tracks of quiet background music and they know they're done when the music ends. I haven't done that, but it would work. If you have the Dot or whatever, would be easy peasy.

Audiobooks are another thing you can do nicely at that age for independent work. You can specify amount of time and let them listen while playing on a lego rug. You can do the audiobooks as immersion reading or just audio, whichever you prefer. If they're listening to the same book, then you have a group dynamic going, a shared experience, leading to shared creative play, discussions, etc. In fact, audiobooks in the morning are one of my *top* things. I did them with my ds for YEARS. Highly recommend. 

Have you installed magazine racks in the bathroom? Once you do that, you'll get reading in, hehe. Let them stay up at night reading. I'm not really a super huge fan of assigned reading because I think it's better (ideally) for the kids to push themselves. So allowing them to stay up (for print or audiobooks) means they're motivated to read. My ds is not much of a reader, so I surround him with useful print (nintendo, youtube) and refuse to help. If they're stealing reading throughout the day, then that lets you do something more low key in the morning during that flex time.

Are you going to need transition activities when you're working with one and the other finishes early? I really like the Tang Math sheets for fact work, but even they aren't necessarily independent, at least not for my ds. I've done some Math Mat kits by (I forget, Scholastic? Rainbow Resource sells them) but they aren't independent either. I used a Fast Facts Math app with my ds and that was good. But even that for my ds was limited because he needs to generalize and do facts more ways. I've used a variety of math fact worksheets that *might* be independent for some kids. There is a c-rods math book where they do the problems and then color the answer. We did a graphing art book from TeacherCreated that was terrific. For us those are together things, but coloring, graphing art, dot to dots of various complexity, those are always winners. With my ds, puzzles. 

At times I've used science and history reading comprehension workbooks where they read a page and then answer multiple choice questions. You might be able to find something you liked for news to use once a week, especially for your 2nd grader. Periodicals. Ranger Rick is free online right now. 

2 hours ago, JoyKM said:

addition(K)/subtraction (2nd) math facts

Yeah, see how the Tang Math strikes you. I used Ronit Bird games with my ds because he has SLD math. She has a free Card Games ebook that is terrific, but you'd need to play with them. 

You know another thing you can do in a morning warmup like that is build *skills* that lead to better fact learning. Clapping to a metronome, rapid naming exercises (they could drill each other!), memory work with poetry or scripture or bones of the body or geography, visual processing exercises like Pajaggle or playing memory, jumping jacks and basic exercises (pushups, burpees, whatever you want to train them on), these can be good independent work too. For a K5er, Lauri has these WONDERFUL visual processing puzzles. https://www.amazon.com/Lauri-Crepe-Rubber-Puzzles-Difference/dp/B000F8R6H2?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_2  Here's an example, but they have all kinds.

For my dd, math facts and spelling were crunchy and slow because she had poor visual memory (hence the suggestion to do visual processing activities), ADHD, and low processing speed. You can't change processing speed without meds, and really for some kids the drill type stuff is hard because of the processing speed issue. So ironically, my ds with significant dyscalculia (SLD math) has an easier time with his facts once he learns them because he has a better processing speed. I particularly liked Ronit Bird's free Positive/Negative Turnovers game which is in her free card games ebook. 

As long as you remember that independent work is *not* at instructional level, you'll do great. Your ideas sound wonderful and having clear structure and a plan makes a huge difference. Good luck! 

[PeterPan]

https://www.teachercreated.com  This is my favorite place for K-2 independent work. Graphing art, color/cut/paste workbooks, all sorts of great stuff here. 

Is Enchanted Learning still around? In the old days, I used to print a packet of cute pages for my dd around a theme. You could do that and have it start with a picture book they read. So they read a book about X then do the coloring and activity pages. 

The trick with independent work, if you're trying to keep both busy the whole time, is to have something they're allowed to do when they finish. So you could have a Playmobil area, something like that, and when they finish they go there and play quietly. I'm not saying you have to, because I think the reading could be foraging style and done anywhere, with them returning when you call. But play like that is a good skill too. I keep meaning to set up a bin of legos specifically for building scenes from books we read. Things I don't get done, sigh.

[Lori D.]

Rotate, rotate, rotate. Do NOT put everything in the box at one time. Choice of 2-3 things at most and after a few days or a week, replace 1-2 items with "new" items, slowly working through your solo activity/supplements, and start rotating back through again. Every so often get something brand new to add to the rotation. 

Otherwise, they will tear through it all in 2 days, without really digging in to any of it, and then they'll say "now I'm bored, I already did it all."

Also, an hour is a LOOOONNNNGGGG time to expect a kinder/1st aged child so spend on solo activities. The best I could get from DSs when we started homeschooling in 1st & 2nd grades was about 10-20 minutes with an item, such as Geoboards + task cards.

Not that I advocate screen time, BUT... the thing that got the most mileage in those early elementary ages was educational computer games, because DSs only were allowed 1 hour each on each of Fri/Sat/Sun to do video games or computer games. So that made educational computer turns very appealing. I would allow 30 minutes while I worked 1-on-1 with one DS, then switch. I also switched out the games. We had about 20 different educational computer games. So one week it was choice of the Math ones; the next week it was choice of the LA ones; the third week was choice of the Science or Geography ones; the fourth week it was choice of the miscellaneous ones. Then back to Math...

One thing that would last for about 10 minutes of independent work (perfect for if one DS finished their "seat work" before the other, and I needed to still work the other) were several "fun pages" I would print out, or tear out of activity books and stable together -- 3 or 4 pages, with a variety of: mazes; very simple word searches or crosswords; hidden picture puzzles; dot-to-dot puzzle; paint with water picture; simple math type of puzzle; simple logic puzzles; etc.

I also recommend things that help work fine motor skills, like lacing cards, knot-tying, simple independent crafting from a box of supplies. Or just plain fun activities like sidewalk chalk or jump roping or trampoline bouncing, or blowing bubbles or painting outside with water (clean paint can and a wide brush; paint fence, wall, sidewalk, etc.) Or exploration with a magnifying glass. Or a task card, that has them hunt for something: search and collect 3 red things that fit in this box. Build a Lego vehicle using at least 5 different types of blocks. etc.

Edited May 25, 2020 by Lori D.

[hs03842]

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Edited June 8, 2020 by JoyKM

[8filltheheart]

6 hours ago, CuriousMomof3 said:

I think it's a fun approach.  I also think teaching independent skills is great. 

I think that my beliefs about teaching early skills aren't "classical" so if what I believe doesn't align with what you believe, feel free to ignore, but I wouldn't teach spelling or addition facts to an early kindergartener who wasn't pretty advanced.  Actually, I wouldn't teach them then either.  I'd want my kid to have lots of experience combining sets and using manipulatives before they were memorizing math facts, and learn their first math facts through a really solid sense of subitizing and seeing how small numbers combine.  My experience with my "typical" kindergarteners is that understanding takes most of the year.  My advanced kid just figured out and learned the math facts just through that sort of play, so he never needed fact drill.  I have no idea if that's typical, because he is my only experience with very advanced learners.  

I agree.  I also don't focus on spelling until they are pretty solid readers.  And then, spelling has always required me as a teacher.  

[PeterPan]

8 hours ago, Lori D. said:

I also recommend things that help work fine motor skills

Ooo yes!! When ds was that age (K-2), I used magazine holders for independent work. I would just put one thing in each bin and he'd work through them. And yes, we had lacing dinosaurs, magnatab writing, etc. Lakeshore Learning sells rubber stamps of dotted numbers they can stamp and trace. 

[PeterPan]

6 hours ago, JoyKM said:

I’d like the centers to focus directly on math facts and spelling words practice,

My ds has done well with word searches as a way to sneak in reading and spelling independently.  https://www.carsondellosa.com/0768207193-eb--homework-helper-word-searches-activity-book-grade-3-ebook-0768207193-eb/ There's a series of these.  

https://tangmath.com  Here's the Tang Math. In particular look at his Tangy Tuesday pack 3 with Tang a Row and Shape Up. If you drop the level, they're more likely to be independent. Independent work ideally is not at instructional level but is below that, something they already know how to do that they're building competency in.

As you find what you want to do for the math and spelling work, you'll know whether they're best done independently or together, in a longer section or as a brief break. I usually throw fact work in as the 3rd component of our together math time. I've done some Daily Math Warm-Ups type things, but those are usually together work also. I really like daily math workbooks of all kinds and have used various publishers for them. But math isn't usually independent for us.

 

 

[....]

I don't see how they could practice spelling independently at that age.  

Addition and Subtraction facts - they could use flashcards or they sell those little puzzles where you connect the math facts or those big keys with the string (what they heck are those things called?). Do you know what I'm talking about?  Are they called Wrap-ups?

[Lori D.]

53 minutes ago, Evanthe said:

... those little puzzles where you connect the math facts or those big keys with the string (what they heck are those things called?). Do you know what I'm talking about?  Are they called Wrap-ups?

Yes, Wrap-Ups. And depending on your kid, they may just learn the wrap pattern rather than the actual math facts. Ask me how I know this is possible... 🙄

[Lori D.]

11 hours ago, JoyKM said:

Thanks for all of the ideas—they are a lot of things we would like to do!  I’d like the centers to focus directly on math facts and spelling words practice, but I’m always looking for things for them to do for fun in their free time. I was thinking that the kids would have about 20-30 min of actual solo work with each center being 5-10 min long. We would just have to casually fit those into what is about an hour of unstructured time before school starts so I don’t have to hands on teach right off.  The kids get to choose one activity to do from the center, take it out, and use it the whole 5-10min. The slow build is having to teach new activities a couple at a time until they know how to do stuff on their own. 

Especially since your children are young, and you're just starting out, be prepared for all your best-laid plans and schedules to change quickly, or even go right out the window. 😉 

It takes all of us some trial and error when first getting started to see what works for all of the family, and what each individual child's needs are. And of course, little ones grow and change so much, just as soon as you get the current needs figured out, they grow into a new stage with new needs -- or the younger sibling is so different, that you end up having to figure out all new materials and ways of doing things to fit the very different needs of the younger sibling. 😂

Absolutely not trying to tell you what to do, or "rain on your parade," but just going to agree with previous posters: for us, math and LA topics required explicit teaching by me with the child at that age. Also, I quickly found that at those early elementary ages, my DSs both needed me for just about everything, even going over instructions worksheets to get them started off well. So I really needed those solo activities for one child to do, while I got the other child set up or did 1-on-1 work. But that was just our experience.

Have a wonderful homeschooling journey! Warmest regards, Lori D.

 

[2_girls_mommy]

Independent work for my ker is a lot of art time or hands on toys. Those things build learning skills which indirectly enhance reading skills. I have teens, so Algebra and Spanish and biology require a lot longer times in lessons or lab times when I need dd6 to be busy. I do set up boxes around the house that I can rotate and learning stations at times similar to sensory activities or science stations with the magnifying glasses and learning cards and books and objects to explore.  I haven't really tried any independent work for math or spelling. I can't think of anything that would be that independent. I mean we have games and manipulatives. But they don't buy me much time. Five to ten minutes? Yes. Probably. But that's not much time to get anything done. Puzzles, sequencing card/puzzle activities, file folder games, Lego type blocks with task cards, or other hands on activities are best for independent time for me. Plus lots of art and playdough and available crafts like glue, scissors, stickers, stamps, educational color books. I can get longer than 10 minutes out of those. 

Edited May 25, 2020 by 2_girls_mommy

[hs03842]

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Edited June 8, 2020 by JoyKM

[hs03842]

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Edited June 8, 2020 by JoyKM

[hs03842]

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Edited June 8, 2020 by JoyKM

[hs03842]

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Edited June 8, 2020 by JoyKM

[barnwife]

6 hours ago, PeterPan said:

I really like daily math workbooks of all kinds and have used various publishers for them. But math isn't usually independent for us.

Any favorite daily math workbooks for ages 6-10? 

I am currently pregnant with kid #5. My loose plan for when this one shows up is to take a couple/few weeks off, then slowly begin some weeks with school being done pretty independently. So far, I plan on getting fun workbooks, and giving each kid some math and writing worksheets each day. I want them to be fun/inviting looking. I will give each kid a clipboard and special new pack of pencils/colored pencils for this. That way they can do their work on the couch next to me while I nurse, if they want. Math and writing are generally done at the table (in fact, we call them table time), so this will be novel and exciting for them. 

I am fine with this being mostly review stuff. I just want to  be able to say "15 minutes of school now" and have them go to town.

(Sorry, OP for sidetracking here!) 

[2_girls_mommy]

2 hours ago, JoyKM said:

I think the actual word for what I’ve been calling spelling is “sight word practice.”  We are doing a phonics based curriculum that tosses is some sight words and calls it “spelling.”  Ideas I have seen are letting them spell the word using scrabble tiles, letter stamps and ink pad, fridge magnets, cutting out with play doh letter cutters, using letter stickers, arranging beans in the shape of the word, etc.  Maybe I am just calling “sensory bins” centers. 😄 I just want to prep and gather several of those activities so that each morning they can pick one, then do it for 5-10 minutes with their word list.  I guess this spoke to me because I think my kids are ready to do it!  We always practiced words with my older daughter that way as “homework” for public school, so it didn’t seem too new for me...😅.  My K kid has already been reading for 5 min sessions (her definite max) as part of her preschool homeschool, and her sister does 10 so that’s also not new. We have been doing the “facts that stick” program for addition which is fun but requires me to play the games at this point.  I was trying to think up a way to practice math facts in a fun way without me playing the game and came across little independent games that can be presented as options in the morning—choose one today and practice for 5-10 minutes. 

CDs with math facts set to tunes might be an option too. Anything involving headphones my little one loves, lol. Or play aloud for both in the background while they do the hands on things. 

Edited May 25, 2020 by 2_girls_mommy

[Lori D.]

2 hours ago, JoyKM said:

...  I heard someone say that they waited until 5th grade to teach actual spelling rules which was when they were able to conceptually grasp it (plus fewer subjects in elementary).  Would you say that is a decent assessment? ... 

I'm not the poster you were asking, but here's what I've seen from homeschooling 2 all the way through, seeing many other real-life homeschoolers, and reading years of posts on these boards on these topics:

Not sure I'd wait until 5th grade to start Spelling, unless you have a student with specific LDS. Age 8-9 is more typically when I see homeschoolers start spelling -- when the average child has more typically gained the "tools" and development of brain areas for really grasping spelling patterns. Obviously some children are ready more along ages 6-7; some not until age 10-12. My DS#2 absolutely did not click with anything spelling-wise until he turned 12, but he has mild LDs (probably "stealth dyslexia") that showed up in reading, spelling, writing, and math. DS#1 was very average in LA development; he did do spelling in grades 1-2, but I didn't really see anything starting to stick until along about age 9.

I do see many homeschoolers doing very basic Grammar in the early elementary grades, but often holding off on a more formal Grammar program until somewhere along about gr. 3-5. Some people do formal Grammar every other year, like 4th, 6th, and 8th grades.

HTW! Warmly, Lori D.

[Lori D.]

1 hour ago, JoyKM said:

...I piloted a homeschool day during distance learning by developing a test schedule and including homeschool curriculum/features that I was interested in using during a homeschool day (Story of the world, morning basket, read alouds, etc.). A homeschool preK curriculum (for 5yrold) and distance learning packets (for 1st grader) stood in for the math/language arts sessions.  My goal was to actively test schedules, research and dabble with curricula, see how to fit things together efficiently, and form a plan for post covid homeschooling. I feel like it was a productive pilot!  I know what I can expect from the kids at this point....

That's great! Test-driving will definitely help make your transition into full-fledged homeschooling faster and easier! 😄 

 

 1 hour ago, JoyKM said:

... To be honest my biggest concern isn’t the mechanics of the day so much as wondering if I will have enough energy, brain power and “mommy magic” left over after doing basic academic subjects to do all of the fun extras...

Well, 1st and Kinder, each don't take too much time -- even if you do them back-to-back without combining anything, I can't see that taking more than 1-1.5 hours for 1st and 45-60 min. for Kinder for your core subjects -- that's only 2-2.5 hours that can be knocked out in the morning, and then in the afternoon after lunch, take another 1-1.5 hours to do some read-aloud and your fun extras. 😄  Summer is when I did all my planning and preparing. If that works for you, consider taking a few hours a week over the whole summer to plan and prep 30-36 weeks of fun extras, and have them ready to go for the school year -- just pull your prepped and packaged fun extra out of the box. 😄 

Or... Fun extras might be the way to go with your centers. 😉 

Or, check around and see if there is a homeschool support group, with other moms with pre-k to 2nd grade ages, and get together once a week with a few other families for a field trip, or with one family hosting a fun hands-on for the group and rotate that around the group, so then you get weekly fun-extras, but you only have to plan and prepare for it once every 4-6 weeks. 😉 

There's lots of ways to in those fun extras!
 

 1 hour ago, JoyKM said:

... Will planning all of the other stuff take too much out of me?  Will we have time for cool stuff but not enough emotional energy? Will spending money on curricula take too much away from our enrichment/field trip/project budget?  These are things I’m trying to work out now. Part of me feels like I can sprinkle around some mommy magic by creating learning experiences that are fun but that do not require ongoing creative energy from me after the initial few weeks of teaching them how to use the stuff...

It will become pretty clear for you after you've homeschooled for a few months how it all works for YOU and your family, and how to budget your time/$$$. It's okay if your first year you don't get it all perfect -- you're learning too. 😉 Don't forget to have FUN -- those kinder/early elementary ages are so sweet and the time you have to spend on formal academics is really not long at all, so you'll have lots of time and energy for your fun extras.😄  Warmest regards, Lori D.

[PeterPan]

5 hours ago, Lori D. said:

Not sure I'd wait until 5th grade to start Spelling, unless you have a student with specific LDS.

Yup, my ds is spelling very nominally, but he has ASD2 and significant language issues. He was hyperlexic. Op needs to be very careful to look for *context* when she's reading things. Sometimes people are talking about what they did and they're not explaining the situation or *why* it was necessary. And I agree, just in general most people are transitioning over to only spelling as they wrap up reading instruction. My dd was spelling on the younger side, but we were using SWR, which has them spelling their way into reading. 

6 hours ago, JoyKM said:

To be honest my biggest concern isn’t the mechanics of the day so much as wondering if I will have enough energy, brain power and “mommy magic” left over after doing basic academic subjects to do all of the fun extras.

Hmm. When we've had threads on this in the past, most people usually say they try to do something like *one fun thing a day* or *one fun thing a week*. Typically if the person has more kids, that number gets moved down. 

Your best bet is not to try too hard. There's a lot of learning that happens in spite of you, and there's sort of a place of peace when you find your balance. When you're starting off, you might feel like you have something to prove or need to be good enough or *better* than the ps would have been or whatever. For me, it always helped to have goals and know where we were. Then we could say this or that wasn't important. With my ds, we have a full IEP of goals, sigh. Sometimes I have that guilt like I need to try harder, do more. 

A lot gets done by being consistent. You'll figure it out. If it's fun/pizzazz you feel was missing, then why not start with that? Why not start with something joyful together? Read aloud then paint together. Or have a rotation like nature walk two days, paint two days, whatever. I try to have joyful things we can do easily every day, like origami calendars or Djeco art kits. You just work a bit each day. If you're worried you're losing your fun mom side, THAT might be the place to start your day.

I really consider it part of my job as a homeschooling mom to convey joy of life and what I love. So if we start with opera or Bible reading or listening to music or whatever, that's really important to me. I agree we set that tone and that it's just as important as the other things we do. Our kids are going to remember very few of the "facts" we teach them, but they'll remember the tone and those times together.

[hs03842]

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Edited June 8, 2020 by JoyKM

[PeterPan]

6 hours ago, JoyKM said:

A lot of people in the forums wait until 5th grade for grammar

Here? Well I haven't been reading the K-8 boards as much. SWB/JW have a really nice FLL series and the FLL 1/2 is kind of classic. Of course I'm oldie, so back in the day we did FLL 1/2 in K5 because it was just enough, not these massive full year workbooks. So no, I wouldn't advise completely waiting for grammar. At least do memorization of definitions because that's developmentally something they're hankering to do. Kids who memorize those foundational pieces at a young age are able to apply them as they move forward. 

For my ds with ASD2, grammar is even more important. What we call grammar is really language development. Are people on the K-8 board here doing latin anymore??? I mean, how do you do a language without covering ANY grammar??? LOL So if they're not doing ANYTHING that WTM suggests, at some point I'm gonna pinch myself and wonder why that's representative of the boards. But I get it, styles change, people move on. I'm just suggesting not taking the "no grammar" too literally because 1) they may have been doing other things as well that hit grammar (integrating it into writing or a foreign language or using living books for language) or 2) there may have been reasons why waiting was appropriate for their dc. And I would suggest that when people are saying they waiting and did something like JAG in 4th/5th they had been doing other things for grammar along the way. They did sentence dictation and *talked* about the grammar in the sentences. I know someone here (who doesn't hang out, her kids are done) who did that. She'd say she started with JAG in 4th/5th but she was doing Arrow dictation from Bravewriter and looking at grammar along the way.

Or take LoriD who did Evan Moor's Write a Super Sentence https://www.amazon.com/Evan-Moor-Sentence-Workbook-Teachers-Supplement/dp/1557996067  which weaves in grammar. They might not *call* it grammar, but it's there. They're using a linguistic question/answer flow to teach sentence expansion. It's GRAMMAR. And it's so significant and challenging that my ds with language issues couldn't even DO it when we tried a month ago! It caught holes in the grammar/language work we've done with him and we're back doing more language/grammar intervention.

So the reason you don't "wait" is because you want the language development. But does it have to be diagramming with an Abeka workbook? LOL no. This is what I used with my dd, the original form of the program. https://www.amazon.com/First-Language-Lessons-Well-Trained-Levels/dp/0971412928/ref=sr_1_8?dchild=1&keywords=first+language+lessons&qid=1590498462&s=books&sr=1-8  If you wanted just a *little something* and then wanted to apply it with dictation, your writing curriculum, your latin or foreign language work, etc., it could be a good choice. 

And here's a book for you to see how "grammar" and writing and thought process connect. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1119364914/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1  

Edited May 26, 2020 by PeterPan

[PeterPan]

6 hours ago, JoyKM said:

Maybe she calls that unschooling.

Unschooling is a pretty wide thing. The first person who taught me about homeschooling was an unschooler, so I cut my teeth on the Moore's, Better Than School, etc. And really, if you dug in, she was pretty doggone "classical". She was just really respectful of her kids and she happened to know enough history, etc. that she could mentor and facilitate without a curriculum. But when you'd look at her stuff she was selling off, she was my favorite place to find stuff. When someone is facilitating, a lot of great stuff happens, no matter what the label. 

Fwiw, I feel my job is to *facilitate*. So I can be respectful of the dc's readiness, willingness, engagement, etc. because I'm there to facilitate. From WTM I get the value in focusing on foundations. I know some people are like Oh it's a whole system and you must DO it. Fine, whatever. Not me. I take the parts that work for me and leave the parts that don't, like any sensible person would. And to me that idea of focusing on foundations is huge. It has held me well even with my ds with his significant disabilities who can't basically do ANYTHING in WTM.

So you'll figure it out, but you might find where you end up transcends labels or pulls the best from various schools of thought. To me facilitating is the unifier for that.

[lwest]

-window writing pens: your grade 2 child could have a list and them would write current spelling words on the window and after checking, you could have a cloth and spray bottle for him to wipe the window clean. Your dc k could practice writing her letters on the window.

-have a container of homemade play dough and letter stamps. Teach them to roll out the play dough on a tray. Kids do their lists by stamping out words.

-Math- get a game like balance beans or a sum scale (not sure what they are called but you hang numbers on either side to balance equations.

-geometric pattern boards and pieces

-Audio station with earphones. You could have them record their (maybe just gr2 child) spelling words by saying the word and then spelling it out. Then they could listen to all their words.

-string and alphabet beads. Have them string spelling words with something between them

 

 

[Lori D.]

2 hours ago, PeterPan said:

...Or take LoriD who did Evan Moor's Write a Super Sentence https://www.amazon.com/Evan-Moor-Sentence-Workbook-Teachers-Supplement/dp/1557996067  which weaves in grammar.

Actually, that was not me. 😉 
Just in case someone wanted to know more about that program... I can't help. 😉 

Edited May 26, 2020 by Lori D.

[Emily ZL]

Forgive me, I only skimmed some of these great responses. I just wanted to say that I once spent a ton of time and effort assembling these types of things for the fall which I called Busy Bags, but were basically centers. The kids pretty uniformly dumped them all or did them once and then never again, and would just come find me or play at this age. It was a big regret for me.  My new strategy is: never wait to "unveil" a new thing in the fall. If I plan to do morning time every day starting this fall, or whatever, then I try it right NOW, this week. Then if it works I can plan for the fall, but if we try for a week and the kids hate it or I hate it, then I know now and I can readjust. It's much nicer than finding it out when you've built it up and it's "showtime!" on the first of September.

So whatever you want those kids to do (self-quiz using flashcards etc), just try it tomorrow and try to work out the kinks. There's no advantage to keeping it a surprise from yourself. 

[PeterPan]

6 hours ago, Lori D. said:

Actually, that was not me. 😉 
Just in case someone wanted to know more about that program... I can't help. 😉 

Oh fooey, then who was it? LOL Cuz I seriously have spent the last like 4-5 years thinking LoriD said she used this with her boy and I HAVE to use it with my ds. LOL It's actually really good, but now I'm going to be left wondering who had mentioned it. 

4 hours ago, Emily ZL said:

My new strategy is: never wait to "unveil" a new thing in the fall.

Amen! I have SO been burnt on that.