Menorah, Parshah Project and Workboxes

We made a project for this weeks Parshah, parshas VaYishlach. The munchkins colored a picture of Yakov meeting up with Eisav. Then we made a little wheel that pokes through a window on the paper showing the 3 things Yakov did to prepare to meet up with Eisav (prayed to Hashem - drew a Siddur, sent Eisav gifts- colored goats and sheep and prepared for war- colored bows and arrows). The little guy loves turning the wheel to see which picture shows up in the window...

Here is the full project:

This is just a little activity I did with Munchkin to help her practice coloring inside the lines:

Using pipe cleaners, I made them into shapes and glued them onto index cards. She then took markers and colored them in. She loved it:)

And here is just a peek inside our little Workboxes... I find it a great way to keep organized and to plan for each day:

The night before, I put a different activity in each drawer with any supplies they will need for the activity. Here are 3 examples:

A Beading Activity: I put the pipe cleaners shaped as dreidles with the beads in the drawer. The drawers come out, so I just put it out next to them.

A Chanukah Stamping Activity: Stamps, Ink pads and paper are all inside.
Menorah Activity: Paper, Popsicle sticks, tissue paper flames (under the paper) and glue...

One of our favorite activities is gluing- here is a little Menorah that we made out of the Popsicle sticks. I gave each munchkin a piece of colored construction paper with an outline of a Menorah. They each got Popsicle sticks and glue and glued each stick onto the line I drew. They then took yellow tissue paper and cut out flames to glue on... and voila:)

We also did a lot of practice with our Hebrew reading, as well as lots of singing and dancing to our favorite CD "Morah Music: Music and Movement"

We have a few of her CD's, the kids absolutely love them and all her songs of filled with information.

And so, thats been our week so far!

Oh, and today is the LAST day to vote for me in the Homeschool Blog Awards, so if you haven't yet voted (and if you have, thanks!!!) please take a minute, and vote for me! Vote Here!

My blog is titled "A Jewish Homeschool Blog."

Wishing you all a wonderful Shabbos,

Review: Tasks Galore- I'm hooked!

Okay, I am officially in love with this book, Tasks Galore by Laurie Eckenrode, Pat Fennell, and Kathy Hearsey. Although it is geared toward children with special needs, mainly autism, I have found SO many activities to do with ALL of my kids who are all not special needs kids and different ages from Preschool down.

I love the way the book is laid out, since I am a visual learner, I absolutely loved the fact that each activity is shown in the form of a very clear picture, no instructions are even needed to figure out how to do each activity. And you can tweak the different activities to suite your needs or even apply it to a Jewish subject or holiday.

Here is an example of how all the pages are set up- so simple, so clear:

The subjects are divided up as follows:

Fine Motor Skills

Readiness

Language Arts

Math

Play

I am constantly looking for these types of things to do with my tykes, and here is a book FILLED with them! I was so excited to see this, I haven't stopped planning and making these different activities, and so far the kids have loved every one I have made. There are also so many great ideas of activities to put into workboxes if you are using the workbox system.

Lets just say, we were so busy enjoying ourselves and lost in the moment that I didn't take any photos- so next time I will make sure to do so to show you some of the awesome things we did and how we tweaked them to fit our needs.

Check out their website, they have a few different types of books- and your kids don't have to have special needs to benefit from their little tasks.

The book they sent to me costs $42.95 and is worth every penny in my humble opinion- click here for a full list of their products and prices.

Tasks Galore is a fabulous homeschool resource and I highly recommend every mommy to have this book available in their homes!

A wonderful week to all,

Disclaimer:
I was provided with the featured item(s) at no cost by the manufacturer and/or its PR agency in order to test the products and give my own personal opinions on it. The opinions I have given are mine and are not influenced in any manner by monetary means.

Our "Curriculum" Part 2

The Torah says to "teach a child according to his ways" and so I have 2 munchkins who have 2 very different styles of learning. My little guy (5) is extremely academic. He can read books for hours on end and loves worksheets, workbooks, math and anything Science. My munchkin (3) is text book Montessori- she loves fine sensory activities, sorting, cutting, sticking, beading, anything like that.

And so I made her a little station with workboxes that she can do by herself. Each drawer is numbered and she does them in the order of the number. As she has finished each activity, she puts it back in the drawer and sticks a "check" on it, notifying me that she is "done" and then moves on to the next drawer. I have 6 drawers in total and she loves loves finding what surprises mommy has put in there every day.

Now my little guy, he has folders with different "assignments" in each one. Some are worksheets, some are little reading books, some are hands on activities (which I put on the trays) and he picks and chooses which activities and assignments to do. There is no quota for how many things he has to do a day and so he can spend as much time as he needs on each thing. He loves the independence of picking and choosing what to do. Some days he does all of them, some days he does just a few, depending on his mood as well as the activity.

He is enrolled in an online Yeshiva and so he does his Judaic studies in the morning for an hour and a half with the rest of his class. Its pretty awesome as he has kids in his class from all around the world who are all little Yeshiva boys and girls just like him living in the middle of nowhere! We have a big world map on the wall and he has pinned all the different countries/cities of his classmates (Cancun, Mexico, Guatemala, France, England, St. Thomas VI, and around the continental US), he really loves it and it covers so much- his Hebrew reading, writing, prayers, holidays, customs etc.

Here is his system which works really well for him. He also has little "I'm all done!" cards to let me know which activities he has completed so I can "refill" it for the next day:

Sometimes my munchkin wants to be like her big bro and so I give her Alef Bet work sheets from this book:

They are fabulous for beginners in letter recognition, and she feels like a big girl doing her worksheets. I have a little folder that she keeps them in and feels really proud of herself:)

So thats what works for us so far-

Hope you find what works for you!

Thanks for stopping by,

Our "Curriculum" Part 1

For my big guy, age 5, I have decided to make him subject folders. Everyday I will put worksheets, activities, projects etc in each folder for him to complete during "school time". I aim to fill about 2 hours up...

Here are the labels I made for his folders:

Folder Labels for Preschoolers

Then for my munchkin, age 3, I have different wrkboxes for her. I am aiming for 4 a day, depending on her mood and concentration and will constantly rotate them daily.

Here are her labels:

Tot Labels for Toddler Activities

Stay tuned for Part 2, where we actually implement them:)

Oh, and Jewish subjects will follow soon!

Enjoy,

Establishing a Jewish Homeschool Routine

While my oldest is not even 5 yet, I really am trying to implement some sort of system/routine that the kids can expect daily.

I have been following a Homeschool blog (not Jewish) and her organization skills are just awesome. She has some of the most fabulous ideas, some that work for us, some that don't- but check it out, I am sure you will find something that works for you- http://homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com/

Jolanthe (the blog creator) has a "workbox system" which I absolutely love and think will work really well with my little tykes- and so she has made labels, which I will use accordingly (whatever our family does) and have made my own Jewish labels, which you are welcome to print out and use for your family if it works for you-

Here is the PDF version

And here is one more link to some regular labels that Jolanthe has made- http://homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com/search/label/Workboxes

I have received a few requests as to our daily homeschool routine which I will post when I get a chance.

Right now it is geared toward Preschool age and as they get older and learn more, the labels will increase.

Wishing all a wonderful day!