Let's Talk Resources!

Last week I talked about the importance of knowing our kid's learning style here, but I feel I have to extend in this matter just a little more, so before classes take off, I want to mention the best resources that helped to enrich our homeschool experience much more. Apart of our wonderful curriculum CHC, my best help is online. My main platform is Pinterest! I find there all kinds of websites, methods, printables, and ideas that link me to YouTube videos and blogs I consult often.

Out of all those amazing things I explored, I have categorized my top resources in the following 5:

1.  Methods
2.  Crafts and materials
3.  Printables
4.  Websites and media
5.  Educational toys, games, and Elements

Let's review one by one:

Methods

• Montessori is one of the methods I am grateful to use because it has helped tremendously my visual and sensorial learners. Montessori is basically a way of learning through natural materials, allowing independent discovery depending on the child's strengths and abilities. I have been able to incorporate and adapt this method, while working with our curriculum, by introducing activities like nature walks for science, collecting rocks and twigs for counters in math and also samples for science, tracing in sandpaper the alphabet as well as using pipe cleaners and play dough for shapes, words and numbers, also using the abacus as a way to manipulate the beads in order to count. Really anything that can be experienced by the senses! even the Oreo moon phases we consider Montessori approach! 

Manipulation of these materials makes a real and palpable way to understand and reinforce the concepts we introduce in the lessons. Remember is not about advancing rapidly in grades or subjects, but about making sure they are retaining and comprehending the information they learn.    

• Repetition and memorization are the classical techniques we have been using lately in the higher grades with the girls, especially when it comes to History and Science concepts. In the earlier years I attempted to introduce memorization with short verses or rhymes, mainly to spark retention but now I have found it helpful to build vocabulary and root universal concepts or events. 

We have used repetition in Math while learning multiplication tables only to reinforce. Never as a way to understand it. We do an introduction first and model grids and groups, once they know how multiplication works and grasp most of the basics, we use repetition and then we work on memorizing the tables! We always end up finding a rhythm or song that is catchy to make learning fun and smooth!

• Notebooking and dictation: We use this method in some subjects to reinforce retention. Writing things down helps you to remember faster because you make visual and motor effort simultaneously, so with this in mind we began to keep notes on Science, Grammar, Social Studies, and History.

• Presentations and role play: We use this only at the end of the semester or the year, to challenge research and fluency. Girls prepare presentations for book reports or projects in Social Studies, Religion, and Science; along with their presentation, we elaborate posters or visuals that support their research. Role play you may ask? yes! we use this as an alternative to the presentation, they can make an interview of famous people or a play to tell their lives, anything outside the box to support what they have learned about.

• Debates and Discussion: This method has worked pretty well for us on subjects like Religion, History, and Science; even in Art and Music. I have designated a day of the week where each kid has tutoring with mom or dad, that day we go over the pages they finished and we explain the lesson along with discussion and debating the various subjects. I enjoy this time with the kids, the most! because here is where I pour my heart and knowledge to them and also I get to discover what is in their minds, pushing for analysis, critical thinking, and logic. 

• Read out louds: This practice is the timeless classical approach that never fails. Not just introduces vocabulary but allows a kind of bonding hard to describe. From Early beginnings and continuing throughout Elementary and Middle school, kids love to be read to. This tool helps to reinforce and retain information as well as nurturing imagination.

Crafts and Materials

Here, is where homeschool gets fun! to begin I will give you an idea of the materials we love, just remember that as we advance, different projects arise and therefore we may explore other new items in the upcoming grades. For now here is what we use:

• Recycle, recycle, recycle! caps, cardboard, magazines, cans, shoe boxes, plastics bottles, baby food containers, paper and plastic tubes, beads from broken necklaces, toothpicks, magnets, aluminum molds, bamboo sticks, ribbons, paper plates, cups, paper bags, and fabric.  All these We use as counters for Math, to store and to make various crafts and projects.

• Paint, brushes, play dough, Ziploc bags, pipe cleaners, straws, Popsicle sticks, clothespins, construction paper, felt, glitter, balloons, twine, yarn, tracing paper, poster boards etc. We buy these to make our models and crafts 

With these at hand, here are the major crafts we love to use to expand in our lessons:

• Salt Maps: Most favorite ever! This craft has allowed us to wrap up all the work we do about continents, countries, and states. Here we display rivers, mountains, animals, economy, natural resources, and even saints from each place we decide to display. 

Our recipe is very simple it only needs 3 ingredients; equal parts of salt and flour, and enough water to make a dough texture.

• Models: As we have moved on higher grades we began to get more complex in our projects. We started with a model from our 5th-grade science book, that recreated the body and all the systems. We made it out of felt! it came out amazing! but we have done many others from Pinterest ideas; to recreate models such as Viking and Indian boats or the planets. We are very excited to begin this year models of ancient civilizations, as well as the Alamo and other landmarks. 

Models are time-consuming but surely a lesson, that kids will always remember.

• Posters: These are a great resource the kids use to highlight a theme they loved. They can add as much as they want, as long as they can back it up with a presentation to the family. Posters can be used for Religion, Science, Social Studies or Reading.

Printables

Here all the credit to Pinterest! The many ideas we have found, come from this awesome media resource that links you to blogs, YouTube, and other websites. All you do is to type the key word of your interest and there! thousands of links to choose from! I had organized our favorites in specific boards, that help me to come back and use them as need it.  As a matter of fact, I made one solely for printables. I have been very careful with the links on this board, I want to make sure they are free to download! and most, if not all of them, we have used already and downloaded for future use. I highly recommend you do this in case a website takes down the post. 

I added my "Printables" board to the side bar of the blog so you may visit and save your favorites! be my guest! also, follow me! I am always finding new printables!

Websites and media 

Number one: Pinterest hehe no need to go into detail! but among  many others, I visit frequently the following:

• YouTube: for tutorials, classes, and videos.
• Teachers pay teachers: many awesome printables there
• Education.com: also printables 
• Hoffman Academy: free piano lessons and printables with a subscription. An amazing teacher!
• Khan Academy: to access classes and lessons.
• IXL math practice: Games
• XtraMath.org: Lessons
• Crayola.com: Printables

Blogs

• Shower of roses: Many beautiful Catholic printables.
• Confessions of a homeschooler: printables and classroom organization.
• Catholic Icing: Catholic crafts and printables.
• Real life at home: Catholic printables. 
• Crusaders of Christ: Beautiful Catholic Printables.

Any other links and resources can be found also on the side bar of this blog. I added the "Homeschool Resources" board on Pinterest. feel free to visit and follow! pick your favorites!

Educational Toys, Games and Elements

I have always been an advocate of toys! especially educational, because unintentionally allows your kids to develop aptitudes of analysis, critical thinking, and logic. We have re purposed many of our toys into resources for our school. 

Toys and Games

For example for Math I have a box with toys related to counting, time, logic or geometry, where you can find:

• Cards
• Dice
• Time bingo
• Counters made of army-ninja toys
• Fake coins and bills
• Clocks 
• Rubric cubes
• Cash register toy and piggy bank
• Dominoes
• Tangram puzzles 
• Abacus
• Blocks 
• Chess
• Battleship to understand grids and coordinates

For Spelling we use:

• Scrabble.
• Letter magnets 

For Science we use:

• Puzzles for the body systems, solar system
• Ocean bingo
• Wood fiddlesticks and connectors to build simple machines
• Magnifying glass
• Animal sets
• Cars to study physics and simple machines

For Social Studies we use 

• Puzzles of countries and landmarks
• Historical dolls 
• Flags 
• Dolls like Indians, pioneers etc

Elements

Lastly, there are some elements that just make learning much easier and interactive such as:

• Earth Globe
• Maps
• Chalk boards
• Flash cards
• Cd's
• Charts and posters
• Calendars

I know there is much more to add, but I will continue gathering info and sharing it with you. I really hope this could help any of you my readers, it has been a total adventure to explore all this ocean of resources. Please keep in mind that learning and teaching it's a journey of concepts and experiences!

Lastly, I want to leave you with our quote of the week to inspire you to pursue greatness in your homeschool adventure!

“I had to learn very early not to limit myself due to other's limited imaginations. I have learned these days never to limit anyone else due to my limited imagination.”

Dr. Mae Carol Jeminson

     Thanks for stopping by!

What teaching has taught me!

There are those who seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge; that is curiosity. There are those who seek knowledge to be known by others; that is vanity. There are others who seek knowledge in order to serve; that is love.

St. Bernard of  Clairvaux

Being a mother already makes you a teacher, someone told me once! How true! We parents are the first teachers of our children. We dedicate our lives to the formation of our kid's character, skills, and habits, but at times we go on with life not being aware of it. Our life and experiences are the teaching tools we equip our little ones to face the world in all its forms. We are molding their little souls in every action, word, and deed; we are marking a print on their innocent spirits as they grow. Being a homeschooler is what I see as an extension of that arduous labor of motherhood; in a different context, yes! but in the same spectrum of the mission.

Looking back at my old teacher self, I could clearly see how I evolved and changed my teaching style. I started you may say... stiff. I played safe and limited our learning to the textbooks at first. I was not being as creative and resourceful as I should back then, I had to learn to expand my options and get to the kids level to make learning appealing. Without a degree in education, any kind of tool is a complete discovery and revelation, yes! crafting a method of teaching was the way to communicate and introduce concepts and skills. This new language had to be experienced, not planned. Homeschool was an open invitation to get to know my kid's way of learning and I was on the right track to discover the new and many ways to help them achieve milestones in their own unique way.

The best push to break free as a homeschool mom was to my surprise: obstacles! you heard right, obstacles are frustrating indeed, but they are a wake-up call to creativity. When my daughter began to learn addition and subtraction even the clock we hit various bumps, we had to overcome. I tried the teacher manual's  way, my way, dad's way, but nope! none work, so what then? At first pure frustration and the overwhelming feeling of being stuck and powerless, but then came:  research!

And with research, my biggest weapons:

• Youtube videos
• Pinterest
• Homeschool blogs

Maybe it sounds naive and obsolete, but here is where I found the truth that underlined learning for my daughter: it was Visual and practical. My daughter in her early beginnings guided me to understand simplicity. Let me elaborate: The first mistake I made for sure, was to try to box, to limit, education to only a pile of books,  yes! I love books and all knowledge is logged in a good book, but my kid continued to struggle with the concepts. She advanced, for sure, but she wasn't answering consciously. She began to answer by memory, systematically, not really comprehending what she was learning.  So, I understood then, that I had to make a stop and go back to the basics, the simple introduction, the practical approach and then when she grasped it, we could move on. I wanted her to learn not just to score!

I am a visual learner as my daughter, but contrary in the style, I need my learning to be comprehensive, it has to make sense to me before it sticks; for her, it has to stick before it makes sense to her! ufff I said it! I hope it made sense, Because believe me, this was key for me to change "my way" and focus on hers once and for all. Here, exactly here, is where I referred before as the language we had to learn to speak from now on. 

The resources mentioned above opened up for me new ways that could support the structure of our curriculum, we had a good frame but now, we had to make it practical. Here is worth to mention, our curriculum invites to expand the lessons with resources to enrich teaching, but sometimes their suggestions are not enough and it is hard to come up with new ones that are effective for your particular child. Thankfully I became familiar with the Montessori method, thanks to Pinterest. Here I was able to include new materials and activities that helped my children explore with their senses all the concepts they were being introduced. I must say: this great resource changed my whole perspective about teaching, in a way made me reflect that it has been there all along. We, people, hear many beautiful words and teachings but it just slips us by. Only until we hear and witness a story we are inspired to model, it stays with us as learning lesson hard to forget. We learn better by experience not by theory alone. They have to go hand by hand in school matters and in life in general.

I have been so far collecting the steps of homeschooling: The why we chose to do it here, the curriculum here, and the room we created here, but without a doubt, this step: the teaching journey of a mother, is the richest and most challenging of all. I have learned to get rid of expectations, to become more patient, to celebrate wins and losses, to be perseverant, to embrace structure as well as hands-on experiences, but most importantly I have learned to constantly reinvent myself and adjust to my kid's needs as they go, unlocking resources and being very observant of my kid's clues on their individual process of learning. 

My other kids had brought to my attention another set of needs that brought me to be flexible, for example. My boy a difference to the girls doesn't enjoy sitting at a desk for a period of time, he likes to bounce, run and fiddle, he is my "jumping bean", so I became aware of it and adjusted his desk time only for crafts and handwriting. I allow him to change scenarios for other subjects.  He also loves stories even in Math and funny ones, so whenever we are doing Math we bring our counters and I make up for him funny scenarios to help him remember what we have learned. He is lucky I am sort of a storyteller, it works just fine! He also is very sensorial and loves manipulatives, from flashlights to play dough, to pipe cleaners, to army people to add and subtract in battle hehehe 😄. He surely makes me go the extra mile of fun!

Resources such as posters, plays, salt maps, experiments, inventions, allowed my kids to improve retention. My girls are very artistic and love to color, draw and craft away their subjects! It surely forces us to have lengthy weeks, but they do it with such a joy and enthusiasm that I don't mind it at all. 

Again I want them to learn not to score. I continue to be attentive to my kid's abilities and strengths and from there I research online the best strategies to complement our learning experience. I have become a more relaxed and open minded mom and teacher, my biggest achievement has been without a doubt to learn and enrich from difficulty and obstacles and to get to know my kids in a more deeper and compassionate level. 

Understanding my kid's way to learn is a journey of love, of sacrificing my way for what it works for them, it helps me to celebrate, never to compare and to build on their strengths instead of pushing on my agenda. 

Teaching has taught me! I evolved from trying to plan learning to live learning. I continue to evolve as a mother into a teacher and as a teacher into a mother. Hand by hand education meets reason and faith. Love and service. Fear and trust.

 

Ave Maria, family day!

It has been a very busy week here, between doctor appointments, homeschooling, and other engagements, but we were able to celebrate last Tuesday the feast of the Assumption as a family on a little day trip to the beautiful town of Ave Maria, Fl.  The feast of the Assumption is very special for us, we love Our Blessed Mother, and this Feast brings us closer in the faith, so what better place to celebrate than this little town that honors Her name? 

Ave Maria is located near the cities of Immokalee and Naples, it is famous for its Catholic college campus. With a beautiful community of homes and shops, is a great place to spend the afternoon strolling through the plaza and going to Mass at the Oratory. Ave Maria has an Italian feel throughout that makes you feel so welcomed, pleasant and serene. 

It was the first time we celebrated Mass there, and we loved every minute of it! The pastor was great! It was a very traditional ceremony, with an amazing choir, a vibrant community of numerous families and young students. At the Oratory, one can get lost in its architectural design; it brings a mixture of iron high ceiling beams and wooden pews and confessionals, it is a real contrast of modern vs traditional that clicks just right. Not to mention the intentional design, facilitates immensely the acoustic and lighting across the entire church, making the entire experience hard to forget. 

After Mass, we had lunch nearby, there is plenty of Italian restaurants and coffee shops to choose from. We visited the local shops, where you can find a large section of catholic items, books and college memorabilia. We tried to visit the Mother Teresa project, but it was closed. The Mother Teresa project displays her life in pictures, replicas of the places she lived and a very complete collection of her writings and works. Hope to come back in a near future and explore it. Such a great model of spirituality and service for my kids to look up to.

Overall we had a great day as a family, something different and relaxed, a space to reflect and enjoy in the tranquility of a beautiful day. Kids admired the charm of this little town, enjoyed the Mass celebration, and dreamed of studying here one day. It is surprising the impression the youth can leave in the eyes of children. My kids admired that! so many college kids devout and happy, is almost contagious!

Lastly a short take of the "Ave Maria" melody after the Mass.

Background noise courtesy of my toddler going about the missals 😔

ABC's for Boys!

We are proud to announce that the newest addition to our family will be a BOY!

Yes! our family ratio is balancing out pretty even with this little one's arrival 😏. We are trilled for my son, he has prayed so hard to have a brother! he certainly was getting outnumbered, poor thing! but now there will be a little partner to share all those cars,  trucks and trains.

Recently I received from a catholic mom -from one of the groups I follow in Facebook- a copy of her lovely picture book titled ABC's for boys and I cannot be happier! so I would love to share it with you! As a matter of fact, I think this is the perfect opportunity to make my first entry in my book review page to celebrate the news of our little one and to thank this thoughtful mom the gesture of sharing their family project with us!

Reading, is probably the best way I have found to bond with my kids in the early stages, it is fascinating to me how they engage with the pictures and with your voice as you read along. Even thought this is a humble beginning, picture books expose your kids to vocabulary and recognition of images to words.

I found ABC's for boys to be a thoughtful and careful crafted picture book. My first impression of it, pointed to its simplicity and as a visual person that I am ... well... yes! the drawings captivated me! they are darling ❤! The author is certainly a great artist, -every picture was hand drawn in color pencil- from the details, to the colors, every image is so well elaborated.

Another great thing I found important to highlight was the choice of words, they found, a good selection of objects and interests every boy likes: like vehicles, animals, and fun toys. Boys can connect easily the words to the beginning  sounds of the alphabet.

Here Agent 007 found his personal favorite ones!

Even lollipop, found her favorite one!

Lastly, I couldn't help but to read the dedication note at the beginning of the book: "Hand drawn for my kids in heaven". Truly touching, especially if you have been through miscarriage... we have and we can sense the loads of love poured in every page!

Again to this beautiful family thanks for sharing your talent with us, I really hope your project is widely appreciate it as it should.

I will leave you with pictures of my kids enjoying the book. Just remember to keep it in mind for the little boys of your life! is a darling addition for your baby library.

You can find it ready to order in Amazon: visit HERE