Beginning Reading Work

Clothespins , index cards, markers cut out pictures from a "First Dictionary" or magazine.

Glue pictures on index cards with clearly printed words below , for example  f-o-x.  Be sure to have corresponding clothespins with letters written on each, so child will not have to take a letter off a finished card. Part of the fun for my little one is standing each card up on its legs before moving on to the next. Each time the child works with these cards , they become more and more familiar with them and will begin to know them by sight.

I seem to have  always run across First Dictionaries over the years so I have a few to spare. They always have simple CVC words and bright pictures to go with them so they are ideal for this type of project

Geography Work Montessori style

Great Montessori ideas do not have to cost a fortune, here I will be showing my Montessori inspired work, with Dollar Store items and or things you probably already have around the home.

In my five year olds Geography "basket" I cut out a rough likeness of the 7 continents from construction paper (Dollar Store) and used a piece of blue felt for the ocean. I also added plastic animals (Dollar Store) depending on the continent under study. I found a pack of flashcard like puzzles that give a little background on a variety of animals. I hang up the cutout of the continent and give her an opportunity to color a print out from a google image or two. And believe me for a 5 year old this will suffice! She enjoys it and it introduces her to her world!

Questing-Finding-Accomplishing

I'm on a quest to get organized this year, you'd think after nearly 10 years of homeschooling I'd have it down. Well I know people who've been schooling for 14+ and still can't find anything;}We get our work done and in a timely fashion even when I can't find what I'm looking for, we improvise. So here we are entering into 7th and 6th grades, so I'll tighten up my belt a bit. Any who, I wish to share with you some wonderful spots on the web to aid in your homeschooling quest. These you'll no doubt find helpful whether you've been schooling for 2 years or 20. These are some awesome sites with much to offer and most are free! Here are some of my favorite and most relied upon:

• http://donnayoung.org - tons of organization forms, planners, tips from homeschooling to household aids
• http://teacherspayteachers.com/ - although a site for teachers to sell lesson plans they have over 6,000 for free- just browse
• http://www.typing-lessons.org/preliminaries_1.html - this is nice for teaching keyboarding skills to children right online
• http://www.spellingcity.com/ - online spelling program and more!
• http://www.paperdali.com/dalis.html#top - a cute little site offering free paper dolls to use in your lapbooks, projects or wherever
• http://members.tripod.com/dscorpio/book_reports.htm - this site has a ton (literally) of different book report options, ways I never thought of to get a project done
• http://dorioakes.bravehost.com/index.html -Oakes Homeschooling Consulting- here is a wonderful lady that offers many more links and oohh-gobs of tips and advice on homeschooling, links to FREEBIES and more- be sure to check out her tumblr for daily updates
• http://www.lifeprint.com/index.htm - an online American Sign Language course! Wow!
• http://gardenofpraise.com/art.htm - famous art study, really good lessons, lots of exposure to the art and artist