This Is It!

The last week before summer vacation...and I do not have many picture to show for it.  Our classroom was abuzz with many Birthday Walk celebrations and two mornings of hosting the children's fathers for 'Donuts for Dad' (in honor of Father's Day this weekend).  Even amidst all of these extra activities, and during the last days of school, several children requested new lessons.  It inspires me to know how eager the children are in their quest for knowledge.

Cards and Counters - extension activity.

Teen numbers with the the Teen Bead Hanger.

Number writing practice.

Handwriting practice with Metal Insets.

Combination of the Decimal System Cards and Golden Beads.

A variation with the Solid Cylinders using all four at a time.

Number writing practice in the Sand Tray.

"Fifteen," counting with the Teen Beads.

It has been quite a year!  I am looking forward to spending time with my family and enjoying the slower pace of summer vacation.  As always, it will be a time of renewal and provide opportunities for me to cultivate new ideas for the new school year ahead! 

Busy Times...

One more week left of school and we are still going strong!  We also have be preparing for hosting the children's dads next week for our annual 'Donuts for Dad' event...  It's been a busy week:

Science: Sink/ Float

Understanding zero with the Spindle Box lesson.

Pre-writing:  Painting on rocks with water.

Practical Life:  Wood Polishing

Creative exploration of the Sensorial materials - it was wonderful to see how this student correlated the Cards and Counters math lesson to this Sensorial work!

Gathering some golden beads necessary to complete Dynamic Addition.

Math work with The Dot Game.

All four Solid Cylinders at a time.

Yoga practice.

Static Addition with the Golden Beads.

Europe:  Continent Box

Puzzle Map of Australia.

Setting up the Large Number Cards for addition with the Golden Beads.

Building fine-motor and concentration with sewing practice.

Number Rods and Cards

Extension activity with the Knobless Cylinders.

Working creatively with the the Pink Tower and Brown Stair.

Writing practice with the Botany Cabinet leaf shapes.

Feeling varying weights with the Baric Tablets.

A sneak peak at our gifts for Father's Day - shhh, don't tell! :-)

Father's Day Gifts

Oh, how lovely these are turning out to be!  During the process of making their Father's Day gift, the children are not only enjoying the creation of a unique painting on canvas, but they are also reviewing their letter sounds. Here is what we did:


First, a tray was prepared with different colors of tempera paint.  Each cup received a "dot painter" which are simply small paint applicators with a sponge top.  I found these at the craft store and thought they would be fun for painting...  The marker is for the child to write their name on back of the canvas.



Next, the child sounded out the word 'dad' and used letter stickers to make the word.  We used Crayola's Reuseable Peel and Stick Letters which were easy to peel off (as you will see below).  Then, the child used the painters to dab the entire canvas, including painting over the letters.



Lastly, the child (with teacher's help,  if needed) peeled away the letters which revealed the 'word of honor'.  These are some of the creations drying on our drying rack. 

Completely perfect for the occasion!  The children are very proud of these and are anticipating with great excitement the day they will give it to their dads.  If I get the chance, I might stop in our local dollar store to find suitable frames in which to place the paintings...if not, they are great just they way they are!  Later, we will have the children wrap their gift with plain newsprint (from the end rolls from our local paper) and decorate...

This project is turning out to be so simple and fun - and there is plenty of time before Father's Day if you wanted to make some of your own either at home or with groups of children.  Not only are the supplies readily available at most craft stores, but it is fairly economical too - especially if you can get the canvases on sale!