Mallard Math
We have practiced our math skills in a variety of ways through Make Way for Ducklings. There are a few mathematical possibilities in this particular book that you might find helpful if you are also working on this particular lapbook.
Since there are eight ducklings in the book, we have practiced counting the number eight. Since my kiddos are kinesthetic learners, I need to incorparate manipulatives into our math work, and a great manipulative for this particular lesson is plastic Easter eggs. First, we sorted the eight eggs by color and counted how many eggs there were of each color. We compared which color we had more and less of. We also dabbled in addition and subtraction by adding one more egg and removing one egg. After all of that manipulative work, we made a counting book with the numbers 1-8. It’s a graduated page book. On each page the children drew the amount of eggs that correlate with the number on the page. Creating this book is also a great way to address the unique the needs of kinesthetic learners since there is a lot of interaction involved – turning the pages, drawing the eggs, counting the eggs, and coloring the eggs. My children needed a bit of guidance with staying focused on the task, but overall, this was a hit!
We also used the song “Five Little Ducks” to talk about counting backwards from 5. We used it as a finger play while I a read a great picture book of the song, Five Little Ducks illustrated by Ivan Bates. They really love this song and adding a kinesthetic piece to it just makes it more engaging. Having the visuals (pictures) also makes the song more interesting. Lessons are so much more dynamic when you weave multiple disciplines together.
Get cracking on your math skills, homeschoolers!
Filed under How to, Lapbooks | Comment (0)Sharing the Gospel with Drama
A drama of the song Everything by Lifehouse
Have you wondered how to share the Gospel better with your children in your home school? Do you struggle with how to make really big ideas more meaningful and understandable for your kids? Many Christian homeschoolers want to do a better job with this very thing. I know that I do. Then I saw this drama done to the song Everything by Lifehouse, and it struck me that I can use this kind of tool with my children.
This drama brought me to tears! It completely encapsulates the whole of the good news. It embodies the struggle that I know that I have between wanting worldly things and needing spiritual things. I forget that Jesus us my savior sometimes, and this is such an amazing way of showing what that really means. I love the part where Jesus is shielding the girl from sin and bearing the burden for her. What an amazing visual!
As a homeschooling mom, I have struggled with how to share some of the big concepts in the Bible. Ideas like salvation and sin are really difficult for young kids to grasp, and my kids ask questions that get at the heart of these concepts. My sweet child sounded just like Paul when she described her struggle with sin. She told me that God wants her to what is right, but sometimes she can’t do it even though she wants to do it. Paul tells us:
For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Romans 7:19Romans 7:19
English: World English Bible - WEB
19 For the good which I desire, I don’t do; but the evil which I don’t desire, that I practice.
The idea is right there for her. Since she is already thinking about these ideas, I want to give her something concrete to make sense of it all, and a drama similar to this in a more age-appropriate format would be helpful. The lyrics to the song are simple, but truly amazing, and I would definitely use it with the drama. You can find the lyrics at MetroLyrics. Maybe a multisensory approach to sharing the Gospel will bring my daughter closer to accepting Christ! That is truly awesome to me!
Filed under Homeschooling Life | Comment (1)