tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44280650130400538082024-03-15T18:10:07.078-07:00Expedition MontessoriA Journey of Discovery with Montessori HomeschoolingExpedition Montessorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02484501057383177664noreply@blogger.comBlogger72125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428065013040053808.post-20112440081263658942015-03-30T08:05:00.002-07:002015-03-30T08:05:48.972-07:00Awesome Lunchbox and Water Bottle Review!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: orange; font-size: xx-small;">**I am an affiliate of <a href="http://planetbox.com/#oid=1027_1">PlanetBox</a>, they provided me with a BottleRocket water bottle at no cost to me in return for an honest review. I purchased the Rover complete system myself and am sharing my review because I choose to. This post contains affiliate links, if you click on a link to Planetbox and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission, this will not affect your purchase in anyway. Thank you for helping support this blog.**</span></div>
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I have a fun new product to share with you all today. I know many Montessori and Homeschooling families are often also interested in environmentally friendly and health conscience products. A while back I shared another product from the same company and I will also do a follow up on that product. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Planetbox Rover lunchbox with BottleRocket water bottle. T's lunch includes a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole wheat bread, cheese crackers, carrot coins, fresh mozzarella balls, strawberries and kiwi, plus a few reese's pieces. </td></tr>
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We have been using the Rover lunch system from <a href="http://planetbox.com/#oid=1027_1" target="_blank">Planetbox</a> for about 8 months now. T (8) takes it to his Montessori school with him every single day. I can not even tell you how many little plastic baggies were saved over the course of this year. I also didn’t have to bother with a bunch of smaller containers that would each need to be cleaned separately. The <a href="http://planetbox.com/#oid=1027_1" target="_blank">Planetbox</a> systems are made of stainless steel and its all connected so you just open it up and place it in the dishwasher or hand wash super quickly. I have not been disappointed with this product at all, its awesome! T loves using it and it makes it easy for me. When I make lunch, it takes about 5 minutes to place it all into the divided spaces in the single tray and close the lid. When I used baggies or separate containers, it would take triple that amount of time. </div>
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We purchased the complete Rover system which includes the tray with attached lid, two water proof containers, carrying bag and magnet set. T used the magnet set for about a month and decided he didn’t really care for them. While it is cuter with the magnets, I think it looks really nice without them. I also was quite happy because they are just an extra step when cleaning because you have to remove them first. The small water proof containers are great for things that would leak like yogurt and juicy fruits. I also have placed things like taco meat, pasta with sauce and mac & cheese in them (of course you’d either have to eat these cold or place them on a plate before reheating since the containers are metal). The lunch bag is the one part that I am not totally thrilled with. I do think its held up nicely but its not perfect. The insulation on the bag gets bent when a water bottle is placed in the pocket. The front pocket next to the water bottle could be a bit bigger (i like to put fruit in it and its a tight squeeze). It is difficult to clean making it not look new for very long. I think that while the metal lunch system will definitely last years and years, the bag will most likely need to be replaced each year to keep it looking nice. I still think this is a good deal because most fabric lunch bags need to be replaced at least once a year. When my son was in primary Montessori he went through 3 lunch bags in one year because the zippers broke or the fabric ripped. These hold up nicely, they just look a bit dingy after a while. I also think he’ll want a new color next year anyway.</div>
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The new product I want to share with you is their new water bottle. When it first came out, I wasn’t planning to buy it. We have been using the Thermos Funtainer water bottles for years and love them. <a href="http://planetbox.com/#oid=1027_1" target="_blank">Planetbox</a> offered to send me a bottle in exchange for a honest review so we gave it a try. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this water bottle. It is about the same size as the Funtainer bottles and has a similar button pop lid. The Planetbox BottleRocket (goes along with their space theme) has a little metal latch that locks the lid so it won’t pop open in transit. This is a necessary part because this bottle is NOT spill proof. The BottleRocket has a silicone spout that opens directly into the bottle so you tip it to drink rather than suck through a straw. It also has a rubber piece in the lid to keep it from leaking. I have found this bottle to be totally leak proof even when laid on its side. In the past my son would bring home his lunch and lay it flat on the counter leaving his Funtainer on its side, it would leak out the top all over his lunch bag. When he does the same with the BottleRocket, it will not leak. Another big benefit of the BottleRocket, is that it has no straw. I know I’m not the only one who hates trying to clean those Funtainer straws! No matter how well I clean those straws, they never quite seem clean enough. No straw in the BottleRocket makes it so I know it is clean, and it can all go in the dishwasher.</div>
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The Gray Planetbox BottleRocket compared to a blue Thermos Funtainer</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Planetbox BottleRocket has No Straw</td></tr>
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The price tag of the <a href="http://planetbox.com/#oid=1027_1" target="_blank">PlanetBox</a> BottleRocket is a bit steep, but that is true for the food systems as well. This bottle costs about $10 more than most Funtainers but the benefits may make it worth the cost. I personally, never paid full price for the Funtainers I bought. I paid about $5-10 for each of our Funtainers which I thought was a much better price for what I got. If I had to pay more than that I think the BottleRocket would be a better quality bottle for the price. I definitely think our Rover system was well worth the cost for the year we have already used it and will use it again next year. </div>
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Right now I am considering purchasing a Launch system which is a larger version with a glass dish that is microwavable. I think it would be nice to have two difference systems to choose from depending on the food he is taking. It works well right now for him to put foods to reheat in his metal container since he has plates to transfer foods at school, I think it would be easier to just reheat in the glass container though. Check out the full Planetbox lineup at their website <a href="http://planetbox.com/#oid=1027_1">PlanetBox.com</a></div>
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Not only will I give you my review but I will also share my 8 year old's review since he is the one who uses these products on a daily basis. T says "Tell Planetbox that I love my lunchbox and new water bottle. It works great and its the coolest in my class. Tell everyone on the blog that they should buy their kids these lunch boxes and water bottles because they are fun and make it easy for kids to pack their own lunches. They keep the food separated and nothing gets squished and the water bottles don't leak. The only thing I don't like about it is that sometimes the lids are a little hard to take off." The lids he is talking about are the big and little dipper containers that go with the rover box, they seal really well and are sometimes hard to get off if a tight vacuum has occurred. The top of the water bottle can be a little difficult to remove as well, it twists off but the rubber part inside also create a vacuum.</div>
Expedition Montessorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02484501057383177664noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428065013040053808.post-31233165311072523072015-03-11T18:27:00.000-07:002015-03-11T18:27:03.250-07:00What have we been up to?Hi everyone! It has been a while since I posted. Life has changed a lot for us and it has not left as much time for blogging. I would like to take a moment to update you on what we have been up to lately.<br />
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T is nearly 9 now. He has been enrolled in a local Montessori school in the lower elementary program for 8 months. In this particular school they have a large enrollment and have split the elementary program into two parts, lower 6-9 and upper 9-12. This is a fairly common practice in schools with large enrollment. The year prior to T attending they had fewer students and the group was combined. They had several students move up from primary (3-6) and new students enroll making the group too large for just one classroom/teacher. I really like the way they have arranged things at his school because while they did split the group, they have several activities together.<br />
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T absolutely LOVES his school. I am happy to report that our decision to stop homeschooling and put him back into a regular Montessori school was a huge success. He is a super social person and he really needed that collaboration time with his peers. No matter how many groups or outside activities I planned for him with other children while homeschooling, it just wasn't enough for him. He is a strong extrovert. I had a bit of trouble understanding this because I am a strong introvert and the idea of homeschooling over any school would have thrilled me, but it was not the same situation for him. He is thriving in his new school.<br />
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We have noticed several improvements in his acedemics while attending his new school as well. He has struggled with handwriting but it has greatly improved this year. It is still far from perfect but it is easier to read and he is not using as many uppercase letters in the wrong places like he used to. He has recently started practicing more cursive writing too. His school has a weekly spelling "test" which I think has really helped him. While they do test the child's knowledge of the spelling of words, it is not a standard test where all children learn the same words, study everyday and pass or fail the test. Each child works through the word cards at their own pace. They do several exercises during the week that incorporate the words so they can learn them through usage rather than studying. If they misspell a word on the "test," they simply repeat the same words the next week and only move on when they have mastered that list of words. I was worried at first because he was always a phonetic speller, but he has really done well with his spelling. He has also improved greatly on his self direction. While homeschooling he would often not know what to work on or he didn't have interest in working on any of the works we had. I think a big part of his motivation is linked to seeing other children use the works in the classroom setting. Also, his Montessori trained teacher has a better handle on keeping plenty of new work rotating in the classroom for when children need motivation.<br />
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We have not found much of a downside to sending him to his new school. I feel like it is a good fit for our family. The costs of private school are substantial which is a downside but we are willing to make the sacrifices to make it happen. Some things I miss about homeschooling include the lack of commute, our own schedule, field trips, and more family time. The commute is not that bad but I do often feel like I am always running the kids somewhere. T is in school each day, B does a small preschool program for a couple of hours a few days a week, then there is karate three times a week. It can be hectic, I miss the easy schedule of homeschooling. I also liked the fact that we could make our own schedule day to day and holidays/breaks. His new school mostly follows the public school schedule which is ok, but that means we have to have breaks during busy times. I personally, really miss the field trips. We loved going to all of the places nearby like museums, zoos, etc. Now we can only go on weekends and breaks when they are crowded. I don't enjoy crowds so we do not visit these places nearly as often anymore. Still, the positives for our current situation far out number the negatives so we plan on sending T back to his current school next year.<br />
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B turned 3 years old a couple of months ago. She has been working on some tot school at home with me and she has also been attending a preschool program. We had some issues with her before starting preschool where she did not want to be separated from me at all. I, growing up as an extremely shy child, wanted to work on this right away. I have always felt that being shy made it much harder to make friends and I just do not want that for my children. I never had a problem with shyness with T, but I feel like B needed to work on it a bit. I am happy to report that she got over being shy very quickly. She is very happy going to preschool and has several friends in her class. When we first started her she was going for 2 days a week for 2.5hrs, after she turned 3 we increased to 3 days a week. We have decided that she will be enrolling in the same school as T next year and joining the primary class. While I thought about homeschooling her, she loves school so much that I feel like it will be a similar situation as her brother. Both children love going to school so much. I think it will be a fun year when they are both in the same school.<br />
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Thank you for reading my long update. I'm sorry it has been so long since my last post. I will try to keep up with posting to this blog more often. We have been doing quite a few fun things on weekends and after school that I would like to share with you all.<br />
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If you haven't liked my page on Facebook please click <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Expedition-Montessori/197752993734744" target="_blank">here</a>. I have noticed several new likes on my page recently which I love. I try to share there when I find something Montessori or homeschool related.<br />
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Oh.... and we got a new puppy this year! He has grown a bit from this picture, but I had to share.<br />
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<br />Expedition Montessorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02484501057383177664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428065013040053808.post-86384479527401890682014-10-15T20:55:00.002-07:002014-10-15T20:55:42.257-07:00PlanetBox Lunch Box Review and Sale!<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
*This post contains affiliate links.</div>
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The new school year brought some changes in our home with T starting back at a school. Over the past two years of homeschooling we all got very used to eating at home for lunch. T would fix his own lunch most days, at whatever time he felt like eating lunch. He often ate leftover dinner foods for lunch as opposed to sandwiches. There are days when he is happy to have a sandwich for lunch but I really wanted to find a lunchbox that would allow him to have other options that he was used to. I found a wonderful lunchbox that is exactly what we wanted. I purchased this lunchbox for T to take to school with him but he is also great for field trips or day trips for homeschoolers as well. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd0tCDsyZIqGwrFNdPDUNjioQWR1WXF5fkrZfQjQZgw8rRf5ZffG8-2kuZ76RGsOwP4-J3nQ3cB1qWvJVFkDyXDwpjZcXAq63zioEqgnh4wsC46M_sYDzpxpE1esf2jNpPgnTPAnUCHVNd/s1600/DSC_0298.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd0tCDsyZIqGwrFNdPDUNjioQWR1WXF5fkrZfQjQZgw8rRf5ZffG8-2kuZ76RGsOwP4-J3nQ3cB1qWvJVFkDyXDwpjZcXAq63zioEqgnh4wsC46M_sYDzpxpE1esf2jNpPgnTPAnUCHVNd/s1600/DSC_0298.jpg" height="220" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First Day of school lunch. Turkey and cheese sandwich cut into the shape of an apple with a left made from nori (seaweed) and a gummy worm inside. Goldfish crackers, baby bell cheese, <a href="http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2010/06/05/recipe-powerballs-two-versions/" target="_blank">chocolate peanut butter power ball</a>, strawberries and raspberries and one small cookie. </td></tr>
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The <a href="http://planetbox.com/#oid=1027_1" target="_blank">Planetbox</a> lunchbox systems is made of stainless steel so I don’t have to worry about chemicals leaching from plastic. I can put it in the dishwasher or hand wash it depending on how quickly I need it washed. It has lots of little sections to keep foods separate and allow for the food to be on display. Sometimes I like to make cute little lunches that have themes, when I have the time, and this works great in the Planetbox. There are three sizes of Planetbox, the largest is the Launch, medium size is the Rover and the smallest is the Shuttle. The Rover kit (which we have) comes with a lunch box, insulated lunch bag, set of cute magnets to go on the top of the box, and two waterproof containers. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMnqVywiBnIESoeeZVGETQd2jktUvk3Fjo03kCcxwrfZaKJvqyvIq1nGID7KFgYRKBp7RVkVgNJhCAqYJefiyRukAKs6Q8f_IAb0cszXgLp3f2Qgzn2Tr8x1sfxV5xME7j2sWlOPLEc9a/s1600/DSC_0297.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMnqVywiBnIESoeeZVGETQd2jktUvk3Fjo03kCcxwrfZaKJvqyvIq1nGID7KFgYRKBp7RVkVgNJhCAqYJefiyRukAKs6Q8f_IAb0cszXgLp3f2Qgzn2Tr8x1sfxV5xME7j2sWlOPLEc9a/s1600/DSC_0297.jpg" height="320" width="299" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First Day of School lunch in Planetbox Rover</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4QgAc4UT4-7BWhsViSGXmgA8N4P7Alf-2xXc6YnH2zjmIOrrKZbG9McSoj7tMkSyhNuSCRiaKBVNiIytqYye0M1VY4vrJv8A8_6mjQQeYgNgUln0j4uk98DsRQJZhHvR-3QP20hwEup3o/s1600/DSC_0306.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4QgAc4UT4-7BWhsViSGXmgA8N4P7Alf-2xXc6YnH2zjmIOrrKZbG9McSoj7tMkSyhNuSCRiaKBVNiIytqYye0M1VY4vrJv8A8_6mjQQeYgNgUln0j4uk98DsRQJZhHvR-3QP20hwEup3o/s1600/DSC_0306.jpg" height="248" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside of the lunchbag has a spot for a napkin or utensils and ice pack.</td></tr>
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My favorite part of the <a href="http://planetbox.com/#oid=1027_1" target="_blank">Planetbox</a> Rover is the one piece, dishwasher safe stainless steal box. Its so easy to pack, send and clean when finished. I love not having to put everything in the wasteful plastic bags. We have a few reusable baggies that work ok, but this is so much easier and faster to pack and clean. T’s favorite part is the little treat compartment in the Rover. There are 4 larger sections but also one tiny little section in the center that holds a treat. I don’t feel bad about sending one tiny little mini cookie or a few M&Ms. He is thrilled with the treat even though its tiny. </div>
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<a href="http://planetbox.com/#oid=1027_1" target="_blank">Planetbox</a> offers several cute magnet sets to go with their lunch boxes. T and I had some trouble choosing a set for his Rover. He ended up choosing the dinosaurs but he was not thrilled with them. They had a lot of cute selections for toddlers and girls but the older boy selection was not very extensive in this box size. Luckily for those purchasing at this time, they now offer custom magnet sets. You can actually put any picture of your choosing on a set of magnets. We are still deciding what we want to have made but I think we’ll be ordering those soon. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj-6hneDHI35ZZMEO_AgICwHSYbXFBwum_S4PWmLOYh52lkR4Dpzy3_EnXQ8h-jTwNWXSlRi8EljTZUK5o-zM5GQ4vlgnV9qz1d8sXa93fftR3q-6nEoz0FmiUDKl9-inzvgWE5cyikzQq/s1600/DSC_0303.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj-6hneDHI35ZZMEO_AgICwHSYbXFBwum_S4PWmLOYh52lkR4Dpzy3_EnXQ8h-jTwNWXSlRi8EljTZUK5o-zM5GQ4vlgnV9qz1d8sXa93fftR3q-6nEoz0FmiUDKl9-inzvgWE5cyikzQq/s1600/DSC_0303.jpg" height="201" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Planetbox Rover with Dinosaur Magnets</td></tr>
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The price of this lunchbox is fairly high. When I first saw the price I was a bit shocked and even thought of dismissing it because of that. The more research I did and the more I thought about it, I changed my mind. First, this is a stainless steel lunchbox that will last for years. Planetbox has a 5 year warranty on them. If you can expect your child to use this lunch box over a five year period the price doesn’t seem so bad. Most plastic lunch boxes out there you are lucky if they last one school year before they need to be replaced. The Planetbox can be used for years and passed down to siblings (although I think B will be getting her own soon). </div>
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I was so happy with my <a href="http://planetbox.com/#oid=1027_1" target="_blank">Planetbox</a> purchase I have become an affiliate and they kindly offered a private sale for my readers. <a href="http://planetbox.com/#oid=1027_1" target="_blank">Planetbox</a> is offering 15% off any of the basic, plus and complete sets (Launch, Rover or Shuttle) to my readers on <b>October 16 and October 17, 2014</b> only. Individual Items and accessories are not included. Please enter the code <b><a href="http://planetbox.com/#oid=1027_1" target="_blank">ExpeditionMontessori2014</a></b> on the last page of your checkout to receive this 15% off discount. </div>
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Here are few lunches T ate in the first few weeks of school. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcPDCuJHMFHY4oAxINZuqi2Fm6ePJt090ShP7Y4Y32ROHMt6xcKTMIK4kh6D46F8PKdZidaXYRm3VJf9m2131PvJT3R7GbYi1-wpLVz8QrFxfX2ktixnCPHMzDUK2qFaLYucMyyDpKOHOW/s1600/fe79d0d4-f658-4d58-b1f1-5e4c0012b892_zpsd09301f7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcPDCuJHMFHY4oAxINZuqi2Fm6ePJt090ShP7Y4Y32ROHMt6xcKTMIK4kh6D46F8PKdZidaXYRm3VJf9m2131PvJT3R7GbYi1-wpLVz8QrFxfX2ktixnCPHMzDUK2qFaLYucMyyDpKOHOW/s1600/fe79d0d4-f658-4d58-b1f1-5e4c0012b892_zpsd09301f7.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leftover orange chicken with rice (inside big dipper), red bell peppers, cheese crackers, fortune cookie, power ball, string cheese, strawberries and one gummy worm.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyztEx7Q3kWGuVRLJAYcF298_N07WaRDlRb8c74xwNuSnSQ3PHYLI3PPcm-PXfxJwuoAPNnKBv8wgzZ95AEGNmdWDhXODT3KdLjtEz4KA4iwTiCE-RUUS9pZtGa0JSLdcmpyUNrwrauahS/s1600/1408481516_zpsc7ad30f7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyztEx7Q3kWGuVRLJAYcF298_N07WaRDlRb8c74xwNuSnSQ3PHYLI3PPcm-PXfxJwuoAPNnKBv8wgzZ95AEGNmdWDhXODT3KdLjtEz4KA4iwTiCE-RUUS9pZtGa0JSLdcmpyUNrwrauahS/s1600/1408481516_zpsc7ad30f7.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Strawberries and blackberries (in big dipper), carrots with ranch (in little dipper), turkey sandwich cut in half and stacked, cheese curds, cheese crackers, small cookie.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja4FZSd1PATPk6uE7bTmAjjuLqnrP9d-m1bO8qhHTs3eTNpg-LXKYa7HwSh_wBqFklSq0Q99JuM_pBxhkFzLWi4BApeg68ud8gz0gNXxAoeMjNWSHjjrw5cpZTaHAspeFZvaVDsWY-WtkW/s1600/1409017766_zps08fba74d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja4FZSd1PATPk6uE7bTmAjjuLqnrP9d-m1bO8qhHTs3eTNpg-LXKYa7HwSh_wBqFklSq0Q99JuM_pBxhkFzLWi4BApeg68ud8gz0gNXxAoeMjNWSHjjrw5cpZTaHAspeFZvaVDsWY-WtkW/s1600/1409017766_zps08fba74d.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leftover grassed beef taco meat (in big dipper), wheat tortillas, lettuce, cheese, cheese crackers, apple and small cookie (T has access to a microwave to heat his meat, you must never place the metal dippers into the microwave, reheat on a plate).</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0y4nm9vo3niZIy5DWcyfPuyB3BKub5dW2JTgZzUR0AYzAndF5bhY2fbfcsAh0qRGIgPorlqnj8nDGvUzgqVOEt0hJnmX0JQJK47aeMo_IWoc4WELNpGUy3XOLLqgZf9ifBC-3g2NThYwR/s1600/1409148659_zps43ff64e2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0y4nm9vo3niZIy5DWcyfPuyB3BKub5dW2JTgZzUR0AYzAndF5bhY2fbfcsAh0qRGIgPorlqnj8nDGvUzgqVOEt0hJnmX0JQJK47aeMo_IWoc4WELNpGUy3XOLLqgZf9ifBC-3g2NThYwR/s1600/1409148659_zps43ff64e2.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Turkey and cheese sandwich, cheese crackers, baby bell cheese, carrots and pea pods with ranch (in little dipper), a few chocolate covered peanuts.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIqMMMAfYKzrgRNupIlFAJfCZ0nvuLor6DieW5qyndgaszwaCHCdsqRCOsUuO__hlRR2YEsgn2OUTm0XaPdzNq-79JzdT9rqct0Je8GoZlJOhcPYFU7TJ6B4hzegz7w1do94mx_ryTBEUe/s1600/ad08497e-5e6b-4047-af3a-997e854f4462_zps7f504757.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIqMMMAfYKzrgRNupIlFAJfCZ0nvuLor6DieW5qyndgaszwaCHCdsqRCOsUuO__hlRR2YEsgn2OUTm0XaPdzNq-79JzdT9rqct0Je8GoZlJOhcPYFU7TJ6B4hzegz7w1do94mx_ryTBEUe/s1600/ad08497e-5e6b-4047-af3a-997e854f4462_zps7f504757.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Turkey and cheese pinwheels, ants on a log (celery with peanut butter and raisins), strawberries and raspberries, string cheese, cheese crackers, power ball and one small cookie.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyLNlrl_7sEHcIxggfEwOi7sU_XQbdkSu1SQgLJkBXI-LqCMhlJv1g7eCwdgxOJGc-bE70u2zJPzGRLqYW9i5FmADPN7cI9hZlemWA1SqlRr0MepR8a3SW-KTqG-c6BbWJaSHCexMrZLtv/s1600/b1f91d3a-8768-4c56-92cb-325c0d7ad614_zps80f3f35d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyLNlrl_7sEHcIxggfEwOi7sU_XQbdkSu1SQgLJkBXI-LqCMhlJv1g7eCwdgxOJGc-bE70u2zJPzGRLqYW9i5FmADPN7cI9hZlemWA1SqlRr0MepR8a3SW-KTqG-c6BbWJaSHCexMrZLtv/s1600/b1f91d3a-8768-4c56-92cb-325c0d7ad614_zps80f3f35d.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Raspberries and plum (in big dipper), cheese crackers, turkey and cheese sandwich cut and stacked, string cheese, orange bell pepper slices and one small cookie. </td></tr>
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*This post contains affiliate links. I am an affiliate of Planetbox, if you click on one of the links in this post and make a purchase I will receive a small commission. This will not cost you anything. This review is my own honest opinion of this product and company. I purchased this product myself and was not compensated for this review.</div>
Expedition Montessorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02484501057383177664noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428065013040053808.post-67095169158805871902014-10-11T15:24:00.002-07:002014-10-11T15:24:26.717-07:00The Future Looks Different For UsIt has been quite some time since I have posted to this blog. Our family has been adjusting to some changes and I have not had the time to write lately. When I started this blog, it was to share our adventures with others who may be interested in the Montessori method at home. This school we decided as a family that homeschooling was not working the way we had hoped. We decided that T (8) would be attending a Montessori school this year. I will be continuing with this blog, but the focus will not be on Montessori elementary homeschooling anymore. I will focus on my toddler, B (2.5) and her early Montessori education at home. I will also focus on some of our after school activities for elementary. We are still very much following Montessori, just not at home full time.<br />
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I would like to share some of the reasons for our decision with you all. A big part of this blog for me is sharing the good and the bad with those who may be in a similar situation. We struggled with homeschooling for 2 school years. My son attended a Montessori school for Primary and when the school developed some major administrative issues, we decided to pull him from the school. We looked for other options but we were very set on a Montessori education and the schools nearby were very limited, especially for elementary. We felt that our best option was to homeschool using the Montessori method. At the time, I was only familiar with the primary program and I dove into researching Montessori's elementary curriculum. I believe that the fact that we started homeschooling at the same time as transitioning to elementary was the worst timing for both of us. I did not have any teaching experience and I had no idea how to plan lessons. My son knew how things worked in primary and did not want to change his methods. We also had not acquired all of the materials we needed because I did not know how quickly he would progress. I purchased mostly primary materials when he was almost finished with them.<br />
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Our first year of homeschooling was horrible to say the least. We struggled every day and I began to give up. My son did not want to be at home, he missed his friends. He struggled with reading and writing which made most other subjects all that much harder. I let go some, and we did some unschooling for most of that year. The second year, I felt that we had wasted so much of the first year that I needed to get him on track. He was still struggling and I wanted to give up. We did a lot of field trips and anything that got him interested in work. The Great Lessons helped with his interest, but not as much as we needed. We talked a lot about how things were going and I found that he was just not happy at home. He missed his friends, he missed working with other children. He has been a very social child his entire life, and he was not thriving in this environment. We had homeschool groups but they were once or twice a week for an hour or two. His sister was home with him, but she was a toddler. He needed the collaboration with his peers that Montessori talks about in her elementary methods.<br />
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Another issue that we had was my daughter who was only 6 months old when we started homeschooling. She was also not happy with the situation. It was very difficult to have mobile infant in a classroom full of elementary Montessori materials. My son worked on the floor on rugs most of the time and she would rampage through the room scattering everything and putting tiny pieces in her mouth at any change. We had to ban her from the classroom altogether for my son to get any work done at all. I had to set up a separate space for her work as she got older because the age difference was just too great. There were times when she had recently turned 2 that she could work in the classroom with her lessons as my son worked on the table next to her. It would only be for short times and both would end up distracting each other.<br />
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In the end, we decided it wouldn't hurt to visit some local schools. There were two open houses of Montessori schools nearby. We took T with us and his eyes just lit up. He was so excited at the thought of attending either of these schools. He talked with the teachers and asked them questions. He walked around the room examining the materials and comparing what they had to what we had at home. I had not seen him this excited about these materials since he left his old school.<br />
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It hurt a little, to be honest, that he wanted so badly to go back to school. I had put everything I had into homeschooling him. I spent all of my evenings preparing lessons and materials for the last two years. I spent my days teaching and doing anything I could think of to get him excited about learning again. In the end, the idea of going back to school is what got him interested in learning. Once we toured the Montessori schools and talked with him, we decided to enroll him. Once he knew that he would be going back to school, he started working harder at home. His reading and writing improve dramatically over the next few months. He seemed happier all around.<br />
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I write this in part to explain our decision to no longer homeschool our child. I also write this in part to let others know that homeschooling really isn't the best option for every child. I love that we have the option to homeschool, and we are keeping that option open for next year if things don't go well at school, but it doesn't seem like it is for us. I have read many blog posts from homeschooling moms telling me that anyone can homeschool and any child can be homeschooled. For a while I felt like a failure because of this. I realize now that just because any child can be homeschooled, doesn't mean they will be happy in that situation. I would rather my son be happy and excited about learning at school.<br />
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I hope to continue this blog with a different perspective but the same goal. I will continue to share our journey through Montessori education, some from home and some from school. I hope you continue on our journey with us and I would love to hear some of your comments on what I share.Expedition Montessorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02484501057383177664noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428065013040053808.post-85833777751638552322014-08-20T14:26:00.001-07:002014-08-20T14:26:06.006-07:00Tot School: DYI Color Matching Toy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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B is 2.5yrs old and she has known her basic colors for quite some time already. She got very interested in colors right around her 2nd birthday. We spent a lot of play time talking about what color her toys were. She would start out by asking what color each toy was and later went to quizzing me, her dad and her brother to see if the answer we gave was what she knew it to be.<br />
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I had plans to make this color matching toy for her months ago but got side tracked and totally forgot about it. I decided to go ahead and make it anyway because I thought she would enjoy playing with it. I am considering added numbers to this toy in the future because she is very interested in numbers at the moment. For now she is having fun matching the color of the little peg man and his cup.<br />
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This is a really simple toy to make and it cost very little. I bought the little wooden peg men and cups from the craft supply store (I think it was Michael's but Ive seen them at Hobby Lobby too). For 6 of each, using coupons I spent less than $5. I used regular watercolor paints (melissa & doug was what I had on hand but any brand would do). I finished them off with natural beeswax polish (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Three-BEEautiful-Bees-All-Natural-Beeswax/dp/B000VLV7BO" target="_blank">Three BEEautiful Bees </a> is the brand I used)<br />
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Once you have your pieces, check them to make sure the pegs fit into the cups. I had to sand several of the cups and pegs to get them to fit well. You need them to go in and out smoothly and leave a little extra space because the watercolors will make them expand slightly and the wax will make them slightly sticky.</div>
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I found that the pegs and cups were quite varied in size so I made sure that each peg fit into a cup and kept them together.<br />
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Paint with regular or liquid watercolors making each set a different color. I had 6 so I made the colors of the rainbow. If you have some wooden pieces with darker parts use those for the darker colors, use ones that have less imperfections for the light colors where they will show through more.<br />
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I let these dry a couple of days before applying the beeswax polish. Usually watercolors dry pretty quickly, they were probably done in a couple of hours but I didn't check. To apply the beeswax, just take a small amount and wipe it all over each piece, including the inside of the cups and allow to dry overnight. The next day take a dry, lint free cloth and buff the surface of each piece, including inside the cup. You really just need to wipe off enough that it doesn't feel very sticky and the pegs slide easily into the cups. At this point you are done! I let them sit for a couple of days before giving them to B just because we had other things planned. I noticed that the stickiness was totally gone after a couple of days.<br />
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I placed these on a small tray for B, but a basket would work well too. If you have a smaller child a basket would be easier to carry.</div>
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<br />Expedition Montessorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02484501057383177664noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428065013040053808.post-67433144794347239082014-08-08T18:43:00.001-07:002014-08-08T18:43:21.027-07:00Everything is Awesome when Lego makes Female Scientists!I posted on Facebook not too long ago about a product that I was really excited about. I promised to tell you all what I thought of it when it arrived. Well, today my Lego Research Institute set arrived in the mail and I have to tell you all about it.<br />
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First, I would like to state that I am a HUGE Lego fan, as are my husband and both of my children. My husband and I played with Lego as kids and still build today. T started with regular Lego (after megablox and duplo) when he was about 3. B started with regular Legos before she turned 2, although she still builds duplo as well. I don't recommend regular Lego for that age unless you are supervising them because it is a chocking hazard. Other than being really big fans of Lego, I have no affiliation with them. The only downside we have found with Lego is the high price tag, but in general, I find them to be worth the price because of the open-ended play opportunities. Now on to the review.<br />
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<b><u>Lego set 21110 Research Institute</u></b></div>
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I ordered this set online on a Saturday morning. I had seen sneak peeks for this set last month and had been waiting for it's release. I woke up on Saturday and a friend had shared a article stating that the set had been released. I immedately went straight to shop.lego.com to see if it was in stock. The list price for this set is $19.99 which is a little high for a 165 piece set, but not so much that I was shocked. I waited long enough to call my local store to check stock and when I found they didn't have it, I went ahead and ordered it. Later that day, I read that they were out of stock and backordered until the end of the month. I was pretty excited that I was able to snag one. It took just under a week to arrive which isn't too bad since it went FedEx Smart Post.<br />
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I would like to make it clear that I bought this set for ME! Yes, that is right, I bought it for myself, not my kids. T (boy 8yrs) wants it also, but there was a limit of 1 per household when I ordered it and I wanted it for myself. I don't order much for me, so I'm not feeling guilty. T gets a regular allowance and I told him that he could buy it himself if he really wants it. I think the fact that he does is a good case that kids like science and they don't really care if the person is a boy or a girl in the set. He might replace their heads and hair with boy minifig heads, or maybe not. I think this set would be great for either gender. I think B (girl 2yrs) will like this set when she is older, right now she is sticking with basic blocks. She has a few girl minifigs that she likes to play with already. I really wanted this set because I love science. I studied biology and chemistry in college and practiced as a microbiologist for a short time and then a chemist for several years before having children. Science is a great love of mine that I hope to continue to pass down to my children.<br />
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This set comes in a cute little box that includes each smaller set in its own individual plastic bag. It also comes with a booklet with the instructions and a short description of each career (astronomer, paleontologist and chemist. It also has information on the lady scientist who came up with the idea for this set.<br />
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I built all three scenes in about 15 minutes. They are not difficult to put together, although the box has it listed as 10+ for age. My 8 year old son was watching over my shoulder telling me he could help me if I have any trouble. There are a lot of very small pieces so finger dexterity is important.<br />
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The chemist is a dark haired woman wearing a white lab coat, orange top, gray pants and safety glasses. She has a work bench with flasks and jars. There are also syringes in the drawer and some glasses with handles in the cabinet. Honestly, I have no idea what the gray and yellow thing in her left hand is supposed to be.<br />
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The Paleontologist is a red haired woman with a blue top and brown pants. She holds a magnifying glass (that REALLY WORKS!!) and has a microscope (sadly this doesn't work, wouldn't that be awesome?) and a skeleton of a dinosaur (T-Rex I assume).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxkzLbGE86Ik6U2EYJjLu4jRZ_dzC6UH0okpaps708G8odqPxw0LJaF52aZIkJIOf4gEItG8ma6aDZU-IS82kIH9fOwDjTCxPNTThmMWTmDM9aBNw1moBE7x2mYOEphCsfaoQs1m81NavM/s1600/DSC_0275.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxkzLbGE86Ik6U2EYJjLu4jRZ_dzC6UH0okpaps708G8odqPxw0LJaF52aZIkJIOf4gEItG8ma6aDZU-IS82kIH9fOwDjTCxPNTThmMWTmDM9aBNw1moBE7x2mYOEphCsfaoQs1m81NavM/s1600/DSC_0275.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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The Astronomer is a blonde woman with a gray blazer, pink top and scarf and blue pants. She has a super cool telescope and a constellation chart. The telescope has a protractor to get the correct angle.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi36QwRAAiqUjsk3fu4JQjO69U6iajmq95MPdnoj4AX2BmJOMZmw13IAUJ-UFHzZlb1zdS6KGM136dv3GPs1pOJoU6N3-YNUugqx9ni9M8124YWckmG9XkJix7WYp2vNcXAO5oU_dh5fpdn/s1600/DSC_0283.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi36QwRAAiqUjsk3fu4JQjO69U6iajmq95MPdnoj4AX2BmJOMZmw13IAUJ-UFHzZlb1zdS6KGM136dv3GPs1pOJoU6N3-YNUugqx9ni9M8124YWckmG9XkJix7WYp2vNcXAO5oU_dh5fpdn/s1600/DSC_0283.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here are a couple of close up shots of the minifigs, they all have two faces. Not sure what was up with the exposure of my photos but the only thing I changed was turning their faces around.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3TDwxS95WJq-6mwGCbAAPcKSuO2ZI3vyZRl5EdhxdrkhFZZ65ndtTEcpoPE_0nCrqvuKM9jGsnm8MffM7rnhLGhP4di9dAFWgpmORFGoXSPrTN0ufn3dluVAI_ImxOeMHXU1F69V1uzFX/s1600/DSC_0287.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3TDwxS95WJq-6mwGCbAAPcKSuO2ZI3vyZRl5EdhxdrkhFZZ65ndtTEcpoPE_0nCrqvuKM9jGsnm8MffM7rnhLGhP4di9dAFWgpmORFGoXSPrTN0ufn3dluVAI_ImxOeMHXU1F69V1uzFX/s1600/DSC_0287.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMZQLO8-MF_4zWSfkRNdDjRtrMTK-gNbzU-gFzzTXbbCSOfpeBrCGUJapxy98y_uw9_Tvk8xJIYTWu6nyttwb7Ymk1LxNwQHQSkv8_UJAzY_hutGpp7ck5ZZz3jpvu9XE9FnTZ2IJpybST/s1600/DSC_0290.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMZQLO8-MF_4zWSfkRNdDjRtrMTK-gNbzU-gFzzTXbbCSOfpeBrCGUJapxy98y_uw9_Tvk8xJIYTWu6nyttwb7Ymk1LxNwQHQSkv8_UJAzY_hutGpp7ck5ZZz3jpvu9XE9FnTZ2IJpybST/s1600/DSC_0290.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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And a closeup of the adorable little syringe (3 were included) and glass with handle (2 were included) that were hiding in the chemist's drawer and cabinet.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjE-o2uzVZwqVa-hX4K-1aHFY3hBA7-mtDw-LKP-10vi07epL1iRL0wVI2gIQP4LFL1OSoJOAL9HJ-6N1VuO4OpyIWevR4MqM7b75Fk4P4ItKz849oKlBytrnuk-K2077SeiMIi_F0sY6y/s1600/DSC_0274.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjE-o2uzVZwqVa-hX4K-1aHFY3hBA7-mtDw-LKP-10vi07epL1iRL0wVI2gIQP4LFL1OSoJOAL9HJ-6N1VuO4OpyIWevR4MqM7b75Fk4P4ItKz849oKlBytrnuk-K2077SeiMIi_F0sY6y/s1600/DSC_0274.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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I just love this set! I was so excited about it and it really is even better than I expected. I had fun building it and then played around with a bit for fun.</div>
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Since I have red hair I swapped the brown hair for red on the chemist (to make her me) and put on her scared/shocked face. I also put the microscope in her lab since I love using them as well. I put the little yellow disc under the microscope to pretend it is a petri dish growing something yucky.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJdlNKsu474JkYhkVOeGm6nCxRMotGyt2I_XYc7G2RNefrmeHvOE4H9rVSyeUpzVXCcXVPNbxxH0agrBlq4qhalwDg0e8zii71lQjNS5w8QPMw2oIyHJPWu75w6vs1UflddQFlYbiQ7knv/s1600/DSC_0291.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJdlNKsu474JkYhkVOeGm6nCxRMotGyt2I_XYc7G2RNefrmeHvOE4H9rVSyeUpzVXCcXVPNbxxH0agrBlq4qhalwDg0e8zii71lQjNS5w8QPMw2oIyHJPWu75w6vs1UflddQFlYbiQ7knv/s1600/DSC_0291.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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The set up of the microscope didn't really work for her actually using it without a step stool of some kind. I took apart the stand, placed the microscope on the lab bench and used the stand as a chair. I was able to look into the microscope much easier this way.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPB2obTFiHKKobOiHqXALRpP4_UDdfPbTsLReqWIjBFMgeT7jb8xxDGlgT-ZEwi0IB8mqgl0VYPwocLAmjBhK5G3kNYuN3UBg0HF__-cQ0WUNVg-jp68jwJxbauAgOe4act69sqsBJBxLK/s1600/DSC_0294.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPB2obTFiHKKobOiHqXALRpP4_UDdfPbTsLReqWIjBFMgeT7jb8xxDGlgT-ZEwi0IB8mqgl0VYPwocLAmjBhK5G3kNYuN3UBg0HF__-cQ0WUNVg-jp68jwJxbauAgOe4act69sqsBJBxLK/s1600/DSC_0294.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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I highly recommend buying this set if you are able to get your hands on it. I'm sure it will be available soon and surely there will be plenty before the holidays. I think it is a great way to introduce little girls, and boys too, to different fields of science in a fun way. I am really happy that Lego made these female scientists. I would have been happier if one of them was male just because it might appeal to both boys and girls equally, but it might change the message to girls since they are all different fields of science. To be totally honest, there are so many boy minifigs, I don't see why any boy that liked this set couldn't just swap out the heads/hair to make them boys. The lab coat body looks neutral, the others look more feminine but you could swap out the torso as well. Or just let the boys play with girl minifigs, the girls have been playing with boy minifigs forever.</div>
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Expedition Montessorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02484501057383177664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428065013040053808.post-39952901520581537412014-07-31T15:23:00.003-07:002014-07-31T15:23:48.047-07:00Happy Birthday Harry Potter!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8pGnZTn3bD963AEImB-WGi9KAwJyfeeAfWEMvOZ1S4NxAfyT92fZH_qWUCb2Sb8WgtsJgmek2h3pNTTXlmxhcCWvaV1orIsHlpFArjD0myJOD6SqMk8JKMPRug7G_BnMIv9zO4g53a2bs/s1600/DSC_0227+copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8pGnZTn3bD963AEImB-WGi9KAwJyfeeAfWEMvOZ1S4NxAfyT92fZH_qWUCb2Sb8WgtsJgmek2h3pNTTXlmxhcCWvaV1orIsHlpFArjD0myJOD6SqMk8JKMPRug7G_BnMIv9zO4g53a2bs/s1600/DSC_0227+copy.JPG" height="229" width="320" /></a></div>
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Wait... you didn't know that July 31st is Harry Potter's birthday? Ok, I'll admit it, I didn't know until last week either. A bookstore nearby was hosting a Harry Potter birthday party last Saturday and I took T. We had an awesome time!</div>
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I started reading the <a href="http://harrypotter.scholastic.com/" target="_blank">Harry Potter series</a> aloud to T when he was about 4 years old. We had been reading aloud to him since birth and he became quite advanced in his ability to comprehend complex story lines. At first I thought it might be too old for him but we gave it a try. He really enjoyed the story, as did I, so we continued. As we continued, we discussed the story line just to make sure that he was actually understanding the plot. We took breaks between books to explore other pieces of literature but we always came back to Harry Potter. I have to admit, I didn't expect that I would love it as much as I did. After each book was completed, we would sit together (sometimes Dad joined too) and watch the movie that went along with it. We would then discuss the similarities and differences between the book and the movie. Of course, the movies were never as good as the books but they did do a really good job on the movies as well.</div>
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In honor of Harry Potter's birthday we attended the bookstore's party which included the children being sorted into houses by the sorting hat. T was sorted into Ravenclaw, which disappointed him a bit because he wanted Slynterin or Gryffindor. Each child received a goodie bag with a coloring page of their house crest, stickers, a word search, a maze and two bookmarks. T's favorite part was the glowstick wand each child got. The served birthday cupcakes (the one pictured below was mine, T got one with green frosting for Slytherin but he ate it so fast, I didn't get a picture). They also served pumpkin juice which was sort of like a pumpkin latte but without the coffee. I thought it was yummy but T didn't care for it. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9JPHbXishupvS2IEMcjzVT_O5YuyC_-C48YTfXLmCalEspbjQzft47PXD3WlYUOITxhokujtp0aZcbzvITjRX5MCiuzA71RJ4e3UlRav4bww7qtu67zfQlsztfW217qUgj7OAU31qVkgl/s1600/pumpkinjuice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9JPHbXishupvS2IEMcjzVT_O5YuyC_-C48YTfXLmCalEspbjQzft47PXD3WlYUOITxhokujtp0aZcbzvITjRX5MCiuzA71RJ4e3UlRav4bww7qtu67zfQlsztfW217qUgj7OAU31qVkgl/s1600/pumpkinjuice.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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While we ate, one of the employees read from the book "<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3950967-the-tales-of-beedle-the-bard" target="_blank">The Tales of Beetle the Bard</a>", which we really enjoyed as we haven't read that one yet. They also had a Harry Potter trivia with prizes for the top two winners. We didn't win but it was fun just the same. Finally, we played a guessing game where the child randomly chose a character name from a jar. Everyone except that child got to see who the character was, then the child had to ask "yes or no" questions to determine which character they had chosen to be. T was a bit embarrassed that he first chose Hermione but he was thrilled that he chose Tom Riddle for his second character. For those who haven't read the books, the reason he was embarrassed is because Hermione is a girl. It was a really fun afternoon of Potter fun and it was all Free! </div>
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When we got home we were on a Harry Potter kick and T suggested we watch one of the movies. I normally would have said yes, except that he had just gotten back from a week at his grandparents house where they let him watch TV all day long if we wants. I told him I had a better idea and pulled up a photo that I had pinned quite a while ago of <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/91197961179279219/" target="_blank">DIY wands from chop sticks</a>.</div>
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We collected supplies from our art closet and got to work. T decided that chop sticks were too short for a proper wand but we had some small wooden dowels that worked nicely. We slightly sharpened the tip of each dowel with a pencil sharpener. Then I used a low temperature hot glue gun to add lots of glue to one end. We didn't use many beads as in the inspiration photo we just used a 8mm round bead for the end. I rolled the glue in my hands after it had cooled a bit to smooth it out. T wanted his just smooth, I added a spiral of glue all of the way down my handle.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8qwby3fSQ0mNl7OGwf_25RYKMaKB7cCsWnairNGePYt0_6c-xDk37lHkfEuG2OQCGYNADUE4mZc4SUkyiAY_Ao6V9PiWP16Eo8sLnU80y3XAiFPW_Fxgmy0EZZVkqfJNgQ04rca6dWQR-/s1600/wand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8qwby3fSQ0mNl7OGwf_25RYKMaKB7cCsWnairNGePYt0_6c-xDk37lHkfEuG2OQCGYNADUE4mZc4SUkyiAY_Ao6V9PiWP16Eo8sLnU80y3XAiFPW_Fxgmy0EZZVkqfJNgQ04rca6dWQR-/s1600/wand.jpg" height="137" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before painting</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimTGdWpV1ZayVPaGe9RVFvN_XvUgxk-aEN9mUjkyBVtU4vGxa8Jad6_0VVWocmhAa7x-d4JbwaBhF-hIrFowp0jj5gplJf_DODJFeYIogGXXUjdACSlfy9zXzQE-DFZZyvdufEbCWRlX1w/s1600/wand2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimTGdWpV1ZayVPaGe9RVFvN_XvUgxk-aEN9mUjkyBVtU4vGxa8Jad6_0VVWocmhAa7x-d4JbwaBhF-hIrFowp0jj5gplJf_DODJFeYIogGXXUjdACSlfy9zXzQE-DFZZyvdufEbCWRlX1w/s1600/wand2.jpg" height="190" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Close up of my wand handle with spirals.</td></tr>
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T mixed some red and green acrylic paint to make a nice dark brown for his wand. After his was painted, I added a little white and yellow to the brown to make a lighter brown that is almost gray once dry. Once painted and dry, they actually look like solid wood. We thought they turned out really nice. The wand with the longer handle that is lighter in color is mine, the darker wand with the shorter handle is T's.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUh4EjBbwGx-1j5X34UEOaXjYofKSiPgEBCZetykjM92tRoHc8nfZArC459bAXIzoodfO2fc6FyQjhy35OLXSzpvQ2GO5BUEtbaUQemvTAEIYGigYGyH4pG9exRdlahl2uuZDruDBXso9U/s1600/DSC_0227.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUh4EjBbwGx-1j5X34UEOaXjYofKSiPgEBCZetykjM92tRoHc8nfZArC459bAXIzoodfO2fc6FyQjhy35OLXSzpvQ2GO5BUEtbaUQemvTAEIYGigYGyH4pG9exRdlahl2uuZDruDBXso9U/s1600/DSC_0227.JPG" height="286" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhudieNgNWXjMFxjnKSqnWmpdVe-Ql-lTA3Xanj4tbfq004z05V9BlB5qV1nhh3RS5iqzW7CrmVl3RfQst05OhhbNQcC-tp_H2n0TokrnOieoHx2eCpKtvln6MQzVS2wMHA1to5xXqaw6cM/s1600/DSC_0228.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhudieNgNWXjMFxjnKSqnWmpdVe-Ql-lTA3Xanj4tbfq004z05V9BlB5qV1nhh3RS5iqzW7CrmVl3RfQst05OhhbNQcC-tp_H2n0TokrnOieoHx2eCpKtvln6MQzVS2wMHA1to5xXqaw6cM/s1600/DSC_0228.JPG" height="198" width="400" /></a></div>
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T proceeded to dress in his Death Eater halloween costume from last year and enjoyed playing with his new wand.</div>
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If you or your children are interested in magic or other fun fantasy novels, consider reading the Harry Potter series. T is planning to reread the entire series soon on his own. The movies are really good too. I feel like the first few movies are fairly tame for younger children but you may want to pre-watch the second half of the series as they get quite dark. We read these and watched the movies over several years. I was comfortable with him, at 4, reading/watch the first books but he was 7 before we finished the series. Even if you aren't interested in Harry Potter, this wand craft would be super fun for any sort of magical play. Just supervise young children because these can be dangerous.</div>
Expedition Montessorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02484501057383177664noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428065013040053808.post-79702042161559674222014-07-28T11:11:00.000-07:002014-07-28T11:11:39.538-07:00Frozen Felted NecklaceThe Disney movie Frozen has been a huge hit with kids everywhere and B (2.5yrs) is no exception. Frozen was the very first movie she ever saw at a movie theater. She has been obsessed ever since! She knows the words to all of the songs and sings them all day long. We are not big on characters in our home but every once in a while the kids are just so into something that we just go with it.<br />
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I have been seeing some lovely chunky necklaces all over the internet over the past few years. I've always liked how they look but I was concerned about the small beads and metal connectors most of them have. I also have only been able to find the big beads that are quite heavy. When you add a bunch of these beads together, its just too much for a 2yr old's neck. I decided to try something different, and it was so easy that she could help with much of it.<br />
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T (8yrs) and I have dabbled with wet felting in our homeschool in the past. We found it to be quite messy so B was not allowed to participate. I was planning to give it a try outside this summer with both kids but then I found a <a href="http://www.megacrafty.com/2011/09/tip-easy-way-to-make-felted-balls.html" target="_blank">pin on pinterest</a> that changed everything. With this simple trick, even toddlers can participate in wet felting balls even in the house.<br />
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<b>Before you begin, please remember that all children should be supervised while wearing anything around their necks, like this beautiful necklace. Also remember to supervise your children while they are using tools that may be sharp. </b><br />
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You need one small plastic container with a lid that is watertight. The <a href="http://www.megacrafty.com/2011/09/tip-easy-way-to-make-felted-balls.html" target="_blank">original poster</a> used Ziplock brand, I used Glad because it was what I had on hand. I recommend not using Glad because they are not watertight. I still used it, I just wrapped a cloth around it to keep the water from flying everywhere. If you are buying new, look for ziplock or another brand that would be watertight. Just take a small wad (about double the size you want your ball to be) of wool roving in your choice of colors and place it in the container. Add a small amount (I used 1 TBSP) of hot water and a drop of dish soap, then seal the lid.<br />
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Now comes the fun part.... shake the container! Shake it up and down and all around! Toddlers love shaking things and B was thrilled to shake each and every ball until her little arms got tired. It only takes a few minutes for a perfect sphere to be formed. If you want to speed it up a bit, take the ball out a couple of times and roll it around in the palms of your hands squishing the water out. I did that with most of them because it really made it super fast.<br />
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You could do it the traditional way without the container by just rolling it around in your hands, but when T and I tried this, we had trouble getting the balls to come out even. There were lots of cracks in our hand rolled balls as well, this didn't happen with the container.<br />
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For our Frozen inspired necklace, we used natural white, purple, light and dark teal colored wool roving. Since B is 2 years old the necklace needed to be fairly small. We made two of each color for a total of 8 wool balls. This would be a super cute necklace itself, but B wouldn't consider it a Frozen necklace without Anna and Elsa. We decided to add a bottle cap charm to the necklace.<br />
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To make this charm you need a bottle cap (I bought ours from a craft store and it came predrilled and had a hanging ring), Mod Podge Dimensional Magic and a sticker or printout of your chosen image. Ours was a sticker from an activity book I found on clearance at Target, I just trimmed it to fit into the bottle cap. I did this part myself but Im sure an older child would have no trouble with making the charm as well.<br />
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Place the sticker or printout into the bottle cap</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1_JOcJjRte-aXrf065BQh6eeBkMQpZdCjijRiphRVzzR-_7CD3q5mHk6r6QnAdeU59wtexiOAMDo6RK9Rt7JfJ50uA5Io5VWJcdzKfFuhqSTI2Bt36X-VcEjCd2dGFidtwO0K2erlfFSA/s1600/DSC_0186.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1_JOcJjRte-aXrf065BQh6eeBkMQpZdCjijRiphRVzzR-_7CD3q5mHk6r6QnAdeU59wtexiOAMDo6RK9Rt7JfJ50uA5Io5VWJcdzKfFuhqSTI2Bt36X-VcEjCd2dGFidtwO0K2erlfFSA/s1600/DSC_0186.JPG" height="251" width="320" /></a></div>
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Add the Mod Podge to the top. It will look cloudy when wet but will dry clear. My bottle cap was not totally level so I placed a paper clip under it so it would dry even. I let this sit for 24 hours before moving it.</div>
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Now all of the materials have been made it is just time to assemble the necklace. Grab a piece of ribbon (I had some periwinkle ribbon with shimmery edges left over from my wedding, still fine after 10 years LOL), and a large embroidery needle. Thread the ribbon through the needle and start stringing the wool balls placing the bottle cap charm in the center.</div>
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You might want to use a needle nose pliers to help get the needle through the wool balls. I found this very difficult without the pliers but it was easy with it. I consider this an adult job, even an older child might have difficulty and it can be dangerous with the sharp needle.<br />
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Once you have it all strung it should look something like this. You could leave it as is and tie a bow on the back to keep it closed. I decided to go another route.</div>
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I wanted to make the necklace a little safer for my toddler by using this type of closure. I made another slightly smaller wool ball and put a fairly large hole through the middle of it with a skewer. Then I threaded the ribbon through in opposite directions. This makes the necklace adjustable so it will fit over her large toddler head and yet not so big that it will hang too low while she is wearing it. It also has an added feature of coming completely apart if it is pulled on so that helps prevent strangulation. Of course, you still have to supervise your child while wearing any type of necklace around their neck, but this helps.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgvim2Xpp-Wi7q4AH6pldW2wyuI1011X_KCGLzKEmKplor_QB3Dg2WgZcC7T340aTxmaRj5O8qjRnHRL3hvv54O-FYU0dDwX_QN7C8b7zryfiY7S5Zoi8L3ltioSilMc0RFlbkHJgijb8v/s1600/DSC_0215+copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgvim2Xpp-Wi7q4AH6pldW2wyuI1011X_KCGLzKEmKplor_QB3Dg2WgZcC7T340aTxmaRj5O8qjRnHRL3hvv54O-FYU0dDwX_QN7C8b7zryfiY7S5Zoi8L3ltioSilMc0RFlbkHJgijb8v/s1600/DSC_0215+copy.JPG" height="320" width="242" /></a></div>
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Here is our finished necklace! B was thrilled with how it turned out and she loved that she helped make it herself.</div>
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If you like the outfit, this is where I bought it <a href="http://adorableessentials.com/" target="_blank">Adorable Essentials</a></div>
Expedition Montessorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02484501057383177664noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428065013040053808.post-68021198255881990772014-07-16T13:40:00.001-07:002014-07-16T13:40:05.321-07:00Summer Indoor Activity: Building ModelsA few weeks ago I shared some of our summer reading and mentioned the Barnes & Noble summer reading program. While we were there picking up T's new book, we stopped at the "Bargain books" section just to browse. T spotted this large box and got very excited. Looking at the front of the box I quickly understood why he was so excited. There it was, a 15 inch tall Tabletop Siege Tower. What little boy wouldn't love this? I'm sure many little girls would love it as well. Not only does this kit come with the materials to build this wooden siege tower, but it also comes with a nice book Castles and Warfare in the Middle Ages, which gives a very in depth history of not only the siege tower, but also other middle ages weaponry. What made me actually purchase this kit? The price tag.... after my educator discount, it was less than $5 (its $6.29 online right now if you are interested in purchasing it click the picture below). * I am in no way affiliated with Barnes & Noble or the manufacturer of this kit, I just really liked the kit and wanted to share*<br />
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<a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tabletop-siege-tower-eugene-emmanuel-viollet-le-duc/1114612615?ean=9781435145993" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img2.imagesbn.com/p/9781435145993_p0_v2_s260x420.JPG" height="320" width="251" /></a></div>
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Yesterday was an average summer tuesday, it was very hot out and T had been playing outside for a couple of hours and needed a break from the heat. I have been trying to keep our "screen time only on the weekends" rule in place during the summer so we needed to find an activity. I remembered that we had this kit and pulled it out during B's nap.</div>
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T got right to work sorting the pieces. There are a few nice diagrams of the pieces on the instruction sheet which really helped us keep track of the pieces. </div>
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We also needed to collect a scissors, tape (ended up not using), a ruler (didn't use this either), and glue (we used wood glue).<br />
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Not much glue is needed, I used a toothpick to put the glue into the small crevices. I did the glue parts because we were working on our hardwood floors inside. T was able to put the pieces together himself. The instructions were very clear and allowed us to set pieces aside to dry while assembling other parts. We never had to stop entirely for glue to dry.<br />
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Large rubber bands were provided to stabilize the structure while the glue dried. This was really helpful since T's little hands couldn't reach all the way around it.<br />
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The kit comes with two thick glossy paper flags. T used colored pencils to make his flags and then we used a glue stick to wrap them around the wooden posts.</div>
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Finished model</h3>
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Side view with the drawbridge up</div>
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Side view with the drawbridge down</div>
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Back view with Lego minifigs added</div>
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We grabbed some red and blue (the colors he used on his flags) pom poms from our art closet and he use them as his projectiles. You just twist the dowels on the sides to wind the string and then pull back the catapult and let go. T got the pom pom to go about 10 feet across the room.</div>
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No legos come with this kit, but T has an army of minifigs with random armor and weapons that fit perfectly into this siege tower.</div>
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The instructions were amusing, twice mentioning laying siege to a hamster cage. We don't have hamsters but we do have guinea pigs. T brought them out to play and one decided to invade the tower. </div>
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We had a lot of fun building this model together and T has been playing with it quite a bit already. If you are looking for a fun indoor activity you might want to try one of these kits. I can also recommend the Mindware brand kits, T built the catapult kit a couple of years ago. He brought that one out to battle against the siege tower.</div>
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Expedition Montessorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02484501057383177664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428065013040053808.post-48872189465855965982014-07-10T11:29:00.001-07:002014-07-10T11:29:19.935-07:00Finding Fun Surprises in NatureIt has been a fun day so far. We met up with several families from our homeschool group this morning at a local park and the kids played for hours. The weather here is very hot so we try to do outdoor activities in the mornings during the summer. It was so nice to visit with the other moms like the kids played because we have all been so unorganized due to summer break that this was the first park day we have had since the end of May.<div>
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When we arrived home, after we had lunch, T decided he was just going to go back outside to play some more. B has nap time in the early afternoon so I try to have T play outside or in his room during those hours. He was in the mood for being outdoors even after spending the entire morning out there. About ten minutes into his outdoor play time he came running in all excited. He had found a very special surprise in our front yard under a tree. An owl pellet! He was so excited! His Dad went out with him to check it out before letting him touch it and it did indeed appear to be an owl pellet. If you are wondering what an owl pellet is, please check out my past post entititled "<a href="http://expeditionmontessori.blogspot.com/2013/08/our-first-field-trip-of-new-school-year.html" target="_blank">What's and Owl Pellet?</a>" Of course, T grabbed his owl pellet, magnifying glass and rodent bone diagram and headed to the back porch to dissect it.</div>
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After digging through the pellet he determined that the animal eaten by the owl was most likely a mouse. These bones were quite a bit smaller than the bones in the other pellets he has dissected in the past. </div>
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This is the first time we have ever found an owl pellet so if you would like to give it a try, you might consider purchasing one. Another benefit of purchasing a pellet is that they are usually heated to a very high temperature to help kill any bacteria that might be growing on them. I have given some ideas of where to purchase an owl pellet in my <a href="http://expeditionmontessori.blogspot.com/2013/08/our-first-field-trip-of-new-school-year.html" target="_blank">other owl pellet post</a>. </div>
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It is just so wonderful when nature provides a learning opportunity that get the child excited to learn. Here we are in the middle of summer break, he really needed some science fun. </div>
Expedition Montessorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02484501057383177664noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428065013040053808.post-37454064097788281472014-07-05T15:00:00.004-07:002014-07-05T15:08:48.046-07:00Summer ReadingSummer break in our part of the country is about half over already. I have let T (8) take a break from school work because he (and I) really needed the break. The one thing that I have insisted that he continue with is his reading. T struggled with reading for about 2 years. He was an early reader in terms of phonics but the step between reading short phonetic books (early readers) and chapter books was about 2 years. Once he got it, there was no turning back. He loves reading now, although he still sometimes needs a push to get started on books that take more than 10 minutes to finish. I have been requiring him to read at least 30 minutes each day from his chapter books. I would like to share some of his favorites.<br />
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<span style="color: #38761d;">The Dragon Slayers' Academy by Kate McMullan</span></h3>
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<a href="http://www.penguin.com/read/series/dragon-slayers-academy/786" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images.penguingroup.com/Covers/086/9780448431086H.jpg" height="320" width="215" /></a></div>
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This is a 20 book series about a young boy who attends a school to become a dragon slayer. The boy is not a violent boy and ends up slaying dragons with jokes rather than a sword. My son loves this series. He is in the middle of the 12th book right now. Most of the books are about 10 chapters long and T will read 3-4 chapters in a 30 minute reading block. The series is recommended for kids who enjoy Harry Potter (but maybe aren't ready to read it themselves yet) and The Magic Treehouse series (my son didn't really enjoy this one but he did love Harry Potter).<br />
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<span style="color: #38761d;">Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel</span></h3>
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<a href="http://www.badkittybooks.com/books/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.badkittybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/BadKitty.jpg" height="320" width="259" /></a></div>
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You may know this one as a picture book. The first book in this collection is a picture book but there are also several chapter books that go along with it. Last year I read T one of the chapter books and I have to say, it is really funny, especially if you have a cat. These books are not as full of text as the previous series but there are lots of great pictures and the humor makes my son want to read these just for fun. Bad Kitty is even sponsoring some $1 <a href="http://www.badkittybooks.com/bad-kitty-is-at-the-movies-this-summer/" target="_blank">summer movies</a> in some areas, where you can meet "her".<br />
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><b>The Secrets of Droon by Tony Abbott</b></span></h3>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/52599-the-secrets-of-droon" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388202332l/1061388.jpg" width="220" /></a></div>
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This is a very large series of short chapter books. T has only read the first 4 books and I read that there are 40. This series reminds me of The Magic Treehouse books but it deals with fantasy themes rather than historical themes. Most seem to be around 100-150 pages which is a good size book for T to finish in 3-4 days.<br />
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<span style="color: #38761d;">The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling</span></h3>
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/88455.The_Chocolate_Touch" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347517424l/88455.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
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Silly, funny book about a boy who is given the gift of turning anything his lips touch to chocolate. He then learns that too much of a good thing isn't a gift at all. Super cute, fun book that doesn't take long to read.<br />
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<span style="color: #38761d;">How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell</span></h3>
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21033409-how-to-eat-fried-worms" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1394371967l/21033409.jpg" height="320" width="215" /></a></div>
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Who didn't read this book as a child? I loved this book when I was T's age (and so did my sister, who sent him this book as a birthday gift). There is something about eating worms that kids think is funny. Don't worry, I don't know a single kid who actually ate a worm after reading this book.<br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;">Read Alouds</span></h2>
I also have been continuing our read aloud time during the summer. The kids both really love being read to and I enjoy that special time together. B (2.5) is read several short toddler books throughout the day and at bed time so our main read aloud books are aimed at T (8)'s level. They both listen but he understands the story line and she mostly just enjoys hearing me read.<br />
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<span style="color: #38761d;">The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis</span></h3>
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/series/49073-the-chronicles-of-narnia-publication-order" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1343185059l/140225.jpg" height="320" width="214" /></a></div>
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We are reading The Chronicles of Narnia series in order of publication and have just finished The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. After each book we enjoy watching the movie together. There is some controversy over which order the books should be read. The books currently in print are numbered according to the <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/series/43814-chronicles-of-narnia" target="_blank">timeline of events</a> in the story. We chose to read them in <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/series/49073-the-chronicles-of-narnia-publication-order" target="_blank">order of publication</a> because some of the books take place in an earlier chronological time but reference books that were published before them. For example, a main character Aslan is referenced in The Magician's Nephew (book 1 on numbered series), whereas his introduction is made in The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe (book 2 on numbered series). If you read them in publication order you can just consider that book a prequel when you read it. Either way, this is a wonderful series and the movies for the first three movies were pretty good too.<br />
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<span style="color: #38761d;">The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart</span></h3>
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<a href="http://www.mysteriousbenedictsociety.com/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://a5.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Publication/v4/93/1b/32/931b3228-f5dd-98ff-84cc-2489894ea117/cover.225x225-75.jpg" /></a></div>
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We just started this book last week and the kids are loving it. It is about a mysterious club for gifted children. I will update more on this series (4 books) when we finish the first book.<br />
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What are your kids reading this summer?<br />
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If your child reads 8 books this summer they can earn a free book from Barnes & Noble. T choose a Bad Kitty book from their list of free books. <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/summer-reading/379003570/" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program</a><br />
<br />Expedition Montessorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02484501057383177664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428065013040053808.post-59715171351804546512014-06-26T19:43:00.000-07:002014-07-03T12:26:33.863-07:00Summer Needs a Little PinterestWe have on break from school for about a month now. I believe in letting kids have a break with to be "bored". In the month of June, T participates in our neighborhood swim team which competes with other teams throughout our city. He is still a beginning swimmer when it comes to competing but he has been improving over the last two seasons. He now knows the back, breast, freestyle and butterfly strokes but he needs to work on his speed and form. The team practices every M-Th morning so we have been starting our days early all summer. Days seem longer when you leave the house before 8am and have very little scheduled activities.<br />
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I'd like to share some of the recent projects the kids have been working on over the last two weeks. Most of the creating was done by T (or me) but both T and B enjoyed playing with the finished products.<br />
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Our first pintrest adventure of the summer was Sponge Balls. I have had this pinned for over a year and kept thinking we should try it. I don't normal use sponges at home so we never had the materials on hand. Once I finally bought the sponges we were able to make these very quickly one afternoon while B was napping. T helped and then they both played with them after B woke up. I don't have any pictures of B because she was less than thrilled with her brother throwing water drenched sponges in her face right after she woke up from her nap, so I was busy being a referee.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SPLASH!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He really enjoyed smashing it into his own head</td></tr>
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If you'd like to give these a try, they are super easy, cheap and fun. There are tons of different blogs with instructions so I will just link you to the one I used. I will say that string did not work well for us, it just didn't hold it tight enough. We used large rubber bands instead.<br />
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<a href="http://www.marthastewart.com/265636/sponge-ball?center=276964&gallery=274922&slide=265636" target="_blank">Sponge Balls</a></div>
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Next we tried a super simple and quick DIY super hero cape. This another one of those pins I've had pinned forever. It took about 5 minutes to make two of these capes. You only need an old tee shirt for each cape and a scissors. For my 8 year old, I used an old adult tee, for my 2 year old I used one of my son's old tees (size 5T). After they wore these for about 15mins, they decided they needed some emblems on the back so I cut them out of sticky backed craft foam and just stuck them onto the back of the capes. They ran around with these capes for hours (and for several days).<br />
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<span style="color: red;">**WARNING** your child MUST be supervised while wearing these capes. They are definitely a strangulation hazard if left as is. I am considering cutting the collar and adding velcro to make it safer but haven't yet. These capes are only worn with supervision and put away where they can not access them alone.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Super B and Super T!</td></tr>
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<a href="http://thesoutherninstitute.com/2011/03/diy-superhero-cape-tutorial.html/" target="_blank">Super Hero Capes</a></div>
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For some reason, super heroes need forts! T grabbed two moving boxes from our garage and made himself and his sister a fort. They were basically boxes with windows and doors cut out of them, but they loved them. No pin here, just use your imagination. If you want some inspiration, Ive really enjoyed Fort Fridays at <a href="http://www.allfortheboys.com/home/category/fort-friday" target="_blank">All For The Boys</a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Super T's fort</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Super B's fort</td></tr>
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Lastly, some super hero power crystals. I didn't actually have this one pinned, I was just browsing a favorite <a href="http://www.themagiconions.com/" target="_blank">blog</a> and came across it. T noticed it on the computer screen and insisted they needed to make them. The tutorial calls them <a href="http://www.themagiconions.com/2014/06/diy-wire-wrapped-stone-necklaces-tutorial.html" target="_blank">Wire Wrapped Stone Necklaces</a>, but ours needed more power. T raided his rock collection for some pretty polished crystalline rocks. B got a purple on and T got a greenish one. We wrapped jewelry wire around the rock to keep it from falling out and then make a simple twine necklace. We found that we needed a lot of wire to actually keep those stones in place and the wire we bought was too soft to stay how we made it. I would recommend not using jewelry wire for this. They were fun for a while, but they didn't last. <span style="color: red;">Again, if you have a small child, these would be a strangulation hazard, please supervise small children with necklaces.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjiBa7Era-gN_JSxqCiL8-kLxx6dduXdkLhFiWscnsF7iUTrBBNImgWLpzHfEn3nS4U6wgGfsRIK8Q7fwiRxgZYLAaiDEqLg2vMK9PfzL23K0AeipFLVQoWTESMgDDU3n8gUGArsrRLmmC/s1600/edited_5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjiBa7Era-gN_JSxqCiL8-kLxx6dduXdkLhFiWscnsF7iUTrBBNImgWLpzHfEn3nS4U6wgGfsRIK8Q7fwiRxgZYLAaiDEqLg2vMK9PfzL23K0AeipFLVQoWTESMgDDU3n8gUGArsrRLmmC/s1600/edited_5.jpg" /></a></div>
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We had fun working through some pintrest projects and I think we'll keep looking for more. Some were better than others but they were all fun as an activity. None of them cost more than a few dollars and they all provided hours of fun for the children.<br />
<br />Expedition Montessorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02484501057383177664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428065013040053808.post-41092980822490997512014-06-17T07:48:00.002-07:002014-06-17T07:48:44.645-07:00Enjoying ArtI will fully admit that I am not an artist. I don't know much about art history either. I know the basics, the famous painters/paintings, but techniques and time periods confuse me. I love doing crafts with the kids but real art was not something I felt that I knew enough about to teach T when he got very interested in it. I decided to enroll him in a homeschool art class and he loved it.<br />
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There is a local art studio owned by a Mom of two elementary aged children. She teaches adults and does after school art classes for kids. Recently she began offering homeschool classes during the day which were perfect for us. T went for one hour each week to a class with other homeschool kids close to his age and learned different techniques and mediums. He also attended a homeschool art history class for 45 mins each week where they studied one famous artist of the week. He learned so much about the different techniques that were used and when they were most popular. He learned to paint, draw, sculpt, and even decorate a cake.<br />
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For the last month of classes he worked on his final project which was a painting of his house on a 16x20 stretch canvas. Normally I do not stay for these classes as it is distracting for the children to have parents and siblings hanging around and my 2yr old got very bored the few times we stayed in the waiting area. I knew that he was doing a painting of his house because they told us when we were required to bring in a photo of the house for reference. I didn't see the stages of the painting though, because T wanted it to be a surprise.<br />
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The last day when he was finishing up he let me come in and take a look. I snapped this pic of him putting the finishing touches on the tree next to the house.<br />
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I was really impressed with his painting. It really does look a lot like our house. When T started this class he had just gotten really interested in drawing. The first 6 years of his life he really disliked any sort of drawing/painting so I really was not expecting much from his painting. I was pleasantly surprised at how well he did on this painting. He even added berries to the holly bushes in front of the house.<br />
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The Art studio was really great. They met T where he was in ability and helped him improve without making it feel like work. He had fun and he learned a ton. After all of the classes were finished, the studio held a Art Gallery Show. They decorated the studio and displayed the final projects from all of their classes. The children and families dressed up for the show and each child spent some time by their painting talking with viewers about their piece. They also had a fun sundae bar, drinks and goody bags for the kids.<br />
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Homeschooling is wonderful, its great to teach your own child. Sometimes its also wonderful to go outside the home to find other teachers for your children. In Montessori, children are encouraged to find a way to learn what they need to learn. Sometimes their teacher (or homeschooling parent) doesn't have the skills to teach them properly. They need to expand their search to include outside teachers at times. I think T's idea of taking Art classes was just what he needed. I love that he is enjoying creating beautiful works of art and I can't wait to hang this in a special place in our home.Expedition Montessorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02484501057383177664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428065013040053808.post-64999951858373376382014-06-12T14:03:00.000-07:002014-06-12T14:03:15.429-07:00Birthday Celebration Montessori StyleThere is a wonderful Montessori tradition of celebrating birthdays that we decided to do this year. T has had this celebration twice before when he attended a Montessori school but we didn't do it at home last year. This year I decided it would be fun to do it at home. You don't need much and it doesn't take long. You only need a birthday child, a globe, a candle and pictures of the bday child (optional).<br />
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I recently purchased a lot of used Montessori materials from a local school that was closing and found a lovely gold colored candle holder from India in the box. I thought it looked perfect for the candle's role as the Sun. T cut out a sun shape from yellow paper with 12 rays, on which we wrote the months of the year. We lit the candle and placed it, and its holder, on top of the paper sun in the center of the room. T held the globe and walked around the "sun" one time for each year of his life. He turned 8 this year so he walked around the "sun" 8 times. After he walked each time, I talked about a few special things he did for the first time at that age. Examples of special things: learned to walk, learned to ride a bike, went to school, became a big brother/sister, moved, etc. During his walk around the sun we sang the following song (to the tune of the Farmer in the Dell)<br />
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"The Earth goes round the Sun,<br />
The Earth goes round the Sun,<br />
The Earth goes round the Sun and <i>child's name </i>turns one" continues to whatever age they are.<br />
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T, being an 8 year old boy, did not walk around the sun....he ran around the sun. B was sitting nearby but she didn't make it into any pictures because she had to sit far enough back that she didn't get trampled.<br />
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We used our Hugg-a-planet plush globe which was great because I didn't have to worry about it going flying out of his hands while he was running.<br />
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Some schools/homes also use beads in a dish for each year. The child gets to place a bead in the dish each time they go around the circle. T wasn't interested in doing this so we skipped it, he just started at the point where his birth month was and walked around and stopped at the same spot between years.<br />
<br />Expedition Montessorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02484501057383177664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428065013040053808.post-28024415841515078982014-06-12T13:45:00.003-07:002014-06-12T14:03:11.710-07:00Summer has arrivedI have been slacking on the blog lately. Sorry! We have had a very busy May and June. I would like to share some of what we have been up to lately.<br />
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We took a trip to visit family. My Sister is a homeschooling Mom to 4 little girls aged 8, 6, 4 and infant. The kids had so much fun visiting with their cousins. They played together so well. We spent a long weekend at their house and then drove to the big city where my Mom lives.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">B with her newest cousin K</td></tr>
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As homeschoolers, we wanted to explore some of the educational activities the city had to offer. Our first stop, as it often is, the Zoo! Most of these photos were taken by my 8 yr old niece A, she did a great job.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brown Bear</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Juvenile Snow Leopards</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">T's fave, Polar Bear</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">E's (6yr old niece) fave, Giraffes.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elephant</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A close up shot of the snow leopards</td></tr>
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Our next stop was the Art Museum! We had never been there before. The kids really enjoyed all the kid friendly activities they offered.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Drawing using magnifying glasses</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Drawing in sections</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Little art cases you could check out and take with you throughout the museum. The kids loved being able to sit down in the exhibit area and draw.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfPTfQ-kx61zMHeuh5M4Llh8S7w2KNvm3cwomMu_IX8bg7FVOiqsBw6ba74JiRlOWAQqDI4AQlnRPHBrHQuroo5t6-7utCpZbhmFEkZEeqz0hJOPNEIp3r9kCQfhBQbgHJzsFizL6ztTDC/s1600/edited_6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfPTfQ-kx61zMHeuh5M4Llh8S7w2KNvm3cwomMu_IX8bg7FVOiqsBw6ba74JiRlOWAQqDI4AQlnRPHBrHQuroo5t6-7utCpZbhmFEkZEeqz0hJOPNEIp3r9kCQfhBQbgHJzsFizL6ztTDC/s1600/edited_6.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">T saw a sailboat on the lake and sat down to draw it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh181Rey8P-UrQBzIlNH5T8BdEoaNbAL3YjcWDS-yqGUdYYmabUQZG3lEhear-nfWGSdFcu-2faSTzeXdVhkI8IYIB2zpdvVlcgnX4FVlJ4AkkTO_BDZhh5nnnSg0ZOVXpelHjXBdoeZIeD/s1600/photo+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh181Rey8P-UrQBzIlNH5T8BdEoaNbAL3YjcWDS-yqGUdYYmabUQZG3lEhear-nfWGSdFcu-2faSTzeXdVhkI8IYIB2zpdvVlcgnX4FVlJ4AkkTO_BDZhh5nnnSg0ZOVXpelHjXBdoeZIeD/s1600/photo+2.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The little ones played with puppets from another kit we checked out.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKp6FS7FsvlAmBzwh0eOJJQlAILHnLW1WWFSCBkVBS4oTYr8LuVu_xgkS_3Cl1Z5RQzvFwa9a_hWTLAYwf3I28-DWb2ruawZ8sR6G8WDRkz4rPhC8DGG7irMStYtmlAhM4JzdpNK9YtuOt/s1600/photo+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKp6FS7FsvlAmBzwh0eOJJQlAILHnLW1WWFSCBkVBS4oTYr8LuVu_xgkS_3Cl1Z5RQzvFwa9a_hWTLAYwf3I28-DWb2ruawZ8sR6G8WDRkz4rPhC8DGG7irMStYtmlAhM4JzdpNK9YtuOt/s1600/photo+3.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The exterior of the museum</td></tr>
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We needed a little break from activities the next day and just spent some time at the park. The kids loved the large sandbox.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilo1YagPNzTYQQWmr-Mde4MRzOW9sv0GQhrDCOYeONM1qdI7H8ImqjY_HghQdd4SCy2pdcDCUON6vAYRIOBRKK46BUTsLHA77Rmx_xzjcPymS6jwFJEjGcAjZBFOFAU0baZvTLpPvBOdCx/s1600/photo+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilo1YagPNzTYQQWmr-Mde4MRzOW9sv0GQhrDCOYeONM1qdI7H8ImqjY_HghQdd4SCy2pdcDCUON6vAYRIOBRKK46BUTsLHA77Rmx_xzjcPymS6jwFJEjGcAjZBFOFAU0baZvTLpPvBOdCx/s1600/photo+4.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That is T buried in sand behind B</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEypbLChmjj4RwRs3LuGpplFOhEtawpBNfx1LfeNzMkTLXV47TDT7FnSeObeQQVsfE_wvB5ANW9NcddqIKaPs8Y4UF3C_deYH0r-PMzUvlbh-McdWfVOU7Y4vhCcpjXgGnnG2Ayj7pW0UB/s1600/photo+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEypbLChmjj4RwRs3LuGpplFOhEtawpBNfx1LfeNzMkTLXV47TDT7FnSeObeQQVsfE_wvB5ANW9NcddqIKaPs8Y4UF3C_deYH0r-PMzUvlbh-McdWfVOU7Y4vhCcpjXgGnnG2Ayj7pW0UB/s1600/photo+5.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">B with her Cousins</td></tr>
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The night before my sister and nieces left, we celebrated T's 8th birthday. It wasn't actually his birthday but it was close and we wouldn't see them again before it. We had cake and the kids played. They gave him an awesome bday gift. It was a little can with a real mollusk that he pried open to find his very own, natural pearl. T has wanted a pearl ever since he found out that it is his birthstone. The fact that he got to harvest it himself, made it even better. Being homeschoolers, T kept one half of the shell (and the pearl) and sent the other half of the shell with his cousins so that both homes could have one on their nature table.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0xOG0v8AYDA4FLFVH_4J1pt1XyG7ttINw-qU5l1IRWZzmD3oNLJuIr1xnhGHDBtq4icvl8W7dQBbkIE-pSd25V5o0G4H8RQJOB41scTlSVHkRBbBcdpSHIz6sgFhCTwqF0tz41drkrGGq/s1600/pearl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0xOG0v8AYDA4FLFVH_4J1pt1XyG7ttINw-qU5l1IRWZzmD3oNLJuIr1xnhGHDBtq4icvl8W7dQBbkIE-pSd25V5o0G4H8RQJOB41scTlSVHkRBbBcdpSHIz6sgFhCTwqF0tz41drkrGGq/s1600/pearl.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
After my sister and the kids went home we were a bit bored. We took Grandma out with us on some new adventures (she had been with us on all the other trips as well).<br />
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We visited two museums, the first was a hands on museum for kids and the second was a natural history museum. Here are a few pics from those trips:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK2Pbmq0Z4j0DmLNgICRx5mlUj98Npn72HEftvT2H8TXzxmeNyCgl0Xn0TK1B3HRO1G5ihl78yIprlHXL18EycEN8x0xiUTXmMlkWm3cF4IQfgB70Pbs1yggZPvJ6groeGOKDuB8kQeksU/s1600/IMG_1834.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK2Pbmq0Z4j0DmLNgICRx5mlUj98Npn72HEftvT2H8TXzxmeNyCgl0Xn0TK1B3HRO1G5ihl78yIprlHXL18EycEN8x0xiUTXmMlkWm3cF4IQfgB70Pbs1yggZPvJ6groeGOKDuB8kQeksU/s1600/IMG_1834.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">T on the bed of nails</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEith1V360KVOHHXF-kzvUA5mVfOBc7PnMDBkMFT0CleGv6i0EgHzpChUkvae19QkmcrNmINYgUXzuqIQeRtfjPldfjYkWyT2-7D-jKTkoiX_BRYT7XtsijHjOhMJK1iBqVP_Q5IsOJNVMgr/s1600/IMG_1838.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEith1V360KVOHHXF-kzvUA5mVfOBc7PnMDBkMFT0CleGv6i0EgHzpChUkvae19QkmcrNmINYgUXzuqIQeRtfjPldfjYkWyT2-7D-jKTkoiX_BRYT7XtsijHjOhMJK1iBqVP_Q5IsOJNVMgr/s1600/IMG_1838.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Controlling a robot Dinosaur</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMuOEyrGGu8b_huoN26xVwAYxzzoNNoIJNN2tEIZdhzB2v7uW3ogXzfb9X_rHtyqwsZdQ91k8XAXCgQGPHc5FVOAgK4no5XdPa41bA3LZOA6997f5teISSTa9RPt8Dv8-j74gek1dW5on7/s1600/IMG_1842.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMuOEyrGGu8b_huoN26xVwAYxzzoNNoIJNN2tEIZdhzB2v7uW3ogXzfb9X_rHtyqwsZdQ91k8XAXCgQGPHc5FVOAgK4no5XdPa41bA3LZOA6997f5teISSTa9RPt8Dv8-j74gek1dW5on7/s1600/IMG_1842.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cool miniature versions of the Great Lakes. Michigan</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7-fDwLZh7bPuTy0_GPaGZXdZ-mmFj9jYEf6n6ahScjZorcEaX5yhmq-XqcggaZ88J1VJpjds2ODHOZO0PpHmJ8tLUaunGSeUhGqSgkp1w_DReckYr03hkCUkBVU1cYjWWiuYV4ZHDIti5/s1600/IMG_1843.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7-fDwLZh7bPuTy0_GPaGZXdZ-mmFj9jYEf6n6ahScjZorcEaX5yhmq-XqcggaZ88J1VJpjds2ODHOZO0PpHmJ8tLUaunGSeUhGqSgkp1w_DReckYr03hkCUkBVU1cYjWWiuYV4ZHDIti5/s1600/IMG_1843.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake Erie</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsIkhs-mTYsRSHcIeqdFM3kZQOubXXjlwIiy0jx4puZwlST2LKJkN4ZKN2xbKri5HTTud1QLqyDb6m6GRZMPS4_UN15Gq-XIYEko7RkpnBHNkr2GHSGwJOMf8WeYHRdvrwWUu2afZZ_Jty/s1600/IMG_1844.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsIkhs-mTYsRSHcIeqdFM3kZQOubXXjlwIiy0jx4puZwlST2LKJkN4ZKN2xbKri5HTTud1QLqyDb6m6GRZMPS4_UN15Gq-XIYEko7RkpnBHNkr2GHSGwJOMf8WeYHRdvrwWUu2afZZ_Jty/s1600/IMG_1844.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some different types of eggs</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrm0ERqi2wU13a5gvjmHRIqJ6VD26WgV7Kv6i4FEpoAJ4eVLkB3aqkD0inHWImmDyHAj6ovDBoc-KVEDdH6Cj-9Bahs5-p7rJz6IxJbIWOgzmmXzM2ICK4xz-0-Z82_lbGlSP6yHFlekOW/s1600/IMG_1845.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrm0ERqi2wU13a5gvjmHRIqJ6VD26WgV7Kv6i4FEpoAJ4eVLkB3aqkD0inHWImmDyHAj6ovDBoc-KVEDdH6Cj-9Bahs5-p7rJz6IxJbIWOgzmmXzM2ICK4xz-0-Z82_lbGlSP6yHFlekOW/s1600/IMG_1845.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Touching some fish fossils</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxIvw3R1oEvqA4t0B8P7lBSaDpsR8rrv_gYB7v58YrANGBZVgKD4P-Ne6op9QY0M7mIVtn5Ev2pJfNpMa2tUVyWUYptM6kEUJvlzk4u9Qb5ZhDWJ1rx4TfOgjLgsB2g4slmpTWWIYZ6Aeo/s1600/IMG_1852.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxIvw3R1oEvqA4t0B8P7lBSaDpsR8rrv_gYB7v58YrANGBZVgKD4P-Ne6op9QY0M7mIVtn5Ev2pJfNpMa2tUVyWUYptM6kEUJvlzk4u9Qb5ZhDWJ1rx4TfOgjLgsB2g4slmpTWWIYZ6Aeo/s1600/IMG_1852.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rain falling over the Great Lakes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwtoZITCOkocGdE2HmGWWKNgF669BS7yVNMii2a8DDm7HVuRcNnMIKq0YaBBSj5TUuNWvG-wcIrX4QunotHeDw3FXD4hAls66Ny0tgBMOWW_IF1elm1maGCA0EZiwMULI94rc-WlSdd0Xu/s1600/IMG_1857.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwtoZITCOkocGdE2HmGWWKNgF669BS7yVNMii2a8DDm7HVuRcNnMIKq0YaBBSj5TUuNWvG-wcIrX4QunotHeDw3FXD4hAls66Ny0tgBMOWW_IF1elm1maGCA0EZiwMULI94rc-WlSdd0Xu/s1600/IMG_1857.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There was a small Aquarium in the museum</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiew5OXRb_KBMq1PScBfjF6HGHCxFAxhwqN8WZfcOaZctBDaLrJM_sj7P3Yb1Amtlh6GGaq-Prfa-y5rPmKzKCMVaB40QZeqd2nWLRM4kfe3SA3HSGIoBDhjnCOKCorliVKDDtxo-i_kXSj/s1600/IMG_1860.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiew5OXRb_KBMq1PScBfjF6HGHCxFAxhwqN8WZfcOaZctBDaLrJM_sj7P3Yb1Amtlh6GGaq-Prfa-y5rPmKzKCMVaB40QZeqd2nWLRM4kfe3SA3HSGIoBDhjnCOKCorliVKDDtxo-i_kXSj/s1600/IMG_1860.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aquarium tunnel</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi47QKVi-BGbqWFgfVWfNwEZqlMxrRTaGvL-5TWlnPIJ_klJwnYQKsTmtOazokWHgRPGFd3Bt7d6wiEWRBh8PWsoqlTu7-kbudtnm1qQPI15VHzeEMxodGvmo1HNAnmQHGLRZLGWnkfQs5T/s1600/IMG_1865.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi47QKVi-BGbqWFgfVWfNwEZqlMxrRTaGvL-5TWlnPIJ_klJwnYQKsTmtOazokWHgRPGFd3Bt7d6wiEWRBh8PWsoqlTu7-kbudtnm1qQPI15VHzeEMxodGvmo1HNAnmQHGLRZLGWnkfQs5T/s1600/IMG_1865.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Touch Tank with stingrays and sharks</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt7yuMRWdGSANI1oxeVaOD6HW5jO6KkVrvVaLpxU6_yaRnX334i2Gv5Pci2RyX1npbjWyOc6qQ5ZqDdJ0Q0MoWkrvhAXjKGKJ48jM-1dOoHwTvy1GwWzjVD9wTzM4bTPDmoUnmqHcFNqVJ/s1600/IMG_1867.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt7yuMRWdGSANI1oxeVaOD6HW5jO6KkVrvVaLpxU6_yaRnX334i2Gv5Pci2RyX1npbjWyOc6qQ5ZqDdJ0Q0MoWkrvhAXjKGKJ48jM-1dOoHwTvy1GwWzjVD9wTzM4bTPDmoUnmqHcFNqVJ/s1600/IMG_1867.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A shark egg</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTKeGNgx_kR981M809F6kvvzS74TAoCDcKcmxMp6hxOSBFyPuFkhZbWAaz0DMh0rread-r45suC7N3J8TDM1uAydjNAGhi34JlYC0XPrkU5O6GOBbwCidZkurQkFdtZSnFNTCL1-_au7AL/s1600/IMG_1868.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTKeGNgx_kR981M809F6kvvzS74TAoCDcKcmxMp6hxOSBFyPuFkhZbWAaz0DMh0rread-r45suC7N3J8TDM1uAydjNAGhi34JlYC0XPrkU5O6GOBbwCidZkurQkFdtZSnFNTCL1-_au7AL/s1600/IMG_1868.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">T loved the stingray barbs and shark eggs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAVWBQnvGA3MZuceg5YAKe2QbunTkWD3BYVIEZVTi7DZzqyDfeiowNdXHaEvAEkt3xJPNau7F6ZOPZillDZLmw_MGu5VHg6eilGS2P8tZNCY68dFt98CKI_oueli3OWwKfMxrVPQpDCR7C/s1600/IMG_1870.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAVWBQnvGA3MZuceg5YAKe2QbunTkWD3BYVIEZVTi7DZzqyDfeiowNdXHaEvAEkt3xJPNau7F6ZOPZillDZLmw_MGu5VHg6eilGS2P8tZNCY68dFt98CKI_oueli3OWwKfMxrVPQpDCR7C/s1600/IMG_1870.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trying out some pulleys</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKrSl8TmPg12XULDPYoyCqHj7bVcp6Gloq26-bFcpjjcb8pPfz6DdcEmokWhh6BMyOgAlHA6VY93BpOLwrc6EzO5K7v3cKW938EgdNJ_gA7y-kQ-0y6zVarVF2XMgQSsi9JI7zl1ox8stM/s1600/IMG_1872.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKrSl8TmPg12XULDPYoyCqHj7bVcp6Gloq26-bFcpjjcb8pPfz6DdcEmokWhh6BMyOgAlHA6VY93BpOLwrc6EzO5K7v3cKW938EgdNJ_gA7y-kQ-0y6zVarVF2XMgQSsi9JI7zl1ox8stM/s1600/IMG_1872.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...and Levers</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzYP4uuWU5bsaRakvg50oQrAoCUTG2q1k9FmQykHbVwn2w5G7bXJCSPrQQmYinoLio9eLAiUtg1BliSzYUR-bqPgU8TnioGDV7NbMGjvmt85ekxbnxvbjbkyLRLQH4Q4QsGd8rli2-XDoB/s1600/IMG_1878.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzYP4uuWU5bsaRakvg50oQrAoCUTG2q1k9FmQykHbVwn2w5G7bXJCSPrQQmYinoLio9eLAiUtg1BliSzYUR-bqPgU8TnioGDV7NbMGjvmt85ekxbnxvbjbkyLRLQH4Q4QsGd8rli2-XDoB/s1600/IMG_1878.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">....and more pulleys</td></tr>
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The natural history museum had so much more than pictured but couldn't see everything and we visited at Christmas time to see the rest.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEkXN48PlM_132MCZe8clHjWey2aZ4hyY1i91SnJYAd48MccXp_lIN-zxoA6k1A9kkcCkIijCruNQdcI34cToUkcuZcPNBSgEbBszfyGM5M6Afs-veBJ0iKIrlg-R552AT8vr4s0XRyeLF/s1600/IMG_1883.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEkXN48PlM_132MCZe8clHjWey2aZ4hyY1i91SnJYAd48MccXp_lIN-zxoA6k1A9kkcCkIijCruNQdcI34cToUkcuZcPNBSgEbBszfyGM5M6Afs-veBJ0iKIrlg-R552AT8vr4s0XRyeLF/s1600/IMG_1883.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Checking out some insects with Grandma</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivGO09RI9xOsWE7_IrKuiTHTyWh_imrFVDNLg_CIx4Hl8t8TuJJR-cQicAFq62mk1bMt7jt1Mj7eC3udIywpVqfkzsyzguXQXRHBZPoM3T1dPTISKmIGm0bwWPIpcRPrdfhWas_Su3qvrL/s1600/IMG_1885.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivGO09RI9xOsWE7_IrKuiTHTyWh_imrFVDNLg_CIx4Hl8t8TuJJR-cQicAFq62mk1bMt7jt1Mj7eC3udIywpVqfkzsyzguXQXRHBZPoM3T1dPTISKmIGm0bwWPIpcRPrdfhWas_Su3qvrL/s1600/IMG_1885.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">T's fave</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUhHJhN-iwGEqDSw-3-UR1tUL9RrZuU3Bz7sqbUaUtwHBO6LYirdj2QmbsNbY3GzO_Qwi1ltPzg9xUZJMvUBQsmpjfmQfsecaVAL04fuscnBvLOsZJ11rDAZR9Ghp3NBkl5zkyBpTUKTCK/s1600/IMG_1894.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUhHJhN-iwGEqDSw-3-UR1tUL9RrZuU3Bz7sqbUaUtwHBO6LYirdj2QmbsNbY3GzO_Qwi1ltPzg9xUZJMvUBQsmpjfmQfsecaVAL04fuscnBvLOsZJ11rDAZR9Ghp3NBkl5zkyBpTUKTCK/s1600/IMG_1894.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking in the window of an early American toy store</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2lT2tWFC_ULrNV3DbKAaHnCeRccNp02TiQgZrX-mqPKtF6rcbu7YJ75ywjPMmdmn6fLMLzfmKp0q6TLtzKcpyj03WzsOwmEPtcMiFw7fiJTBQVh2qtx5a177kmcAAAKf_lEiZ8lASLXqh/s1600/IMG_1897.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2lT2tWFC_ULrNV3DbKAaHnCeRccNp02TiQgZrX-mqPKtF6rcbu7YJ75ywjPMmdmn6fLMLzfmKp0q6TLtzKcpyj03WzsOwmEPtcMiFw7fiJTBQVh2qtx5a177kmcAAAKf_lEiZ8lASLXqh/s1600/IMG_1897.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking at insects under the microscope</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgSBIJpHUSstCdvCCNsvNzyuuePbsKStI1Z6_BR0GKsy8VKmJlfhdMczG7sv2hBk-9LCbnggS5GeWUEWdPTTN_dcxTkeUEfy0AMqnwXWvWC2-u1XJ72TsB1-jFP0_af1GvT5Yc9c5LEDDX/s1600/IMG_1899.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgSBIJpHUSstCdvCCNsvNzyuuePbsKStI1Z6_BR0GKsy8VKmJlfhdMczG7sv2hBk-9LCbnggS5GeWUEWdPTTN_dcxTkeUEfy0AMqnwXWvWC2-u1XJ72TsB1-jFP0_af1GvT5Yc9c5LEDDX/s1600/IMG_1899.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Butterfly garden room. There is a butterfly on B's knee in this pic. They kept landing on us but flew away before I could get pictures.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqZ4a2VJkTs5bWjkHFASZCAVmBddSAHz_LeEx-gCGKk-s2bpUN8WXJpayPGPS-G-1q2NjpS_DmTW9VjHJBeV7tddw3nDHnWHNVflvS01Fv8U-TtRU4yXhsqKZghQcuZMwMgUeEo8DhGpo2/s1600/IMG_1920.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqZ4a2VJkTs5bWjkHFASZCAVmBddSAHz_LeEx-gCGKk-s2bpUN8WXJpayPGPS-G-1q2NjpS_DmTW9VjHJBeV7tddw3nDHnWHNVflvS01Fv8U-TtRU4yXhsqKZghQcuZMwMgUeEo8DhGpo2/s1600/IMG_1920.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Mammoth skeleton</td></tr>
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We had such a fun time visiting family and enjoying some educational activities that we don't normally get to visit. Once we returned, we had a few days left of regular school to finish up before summer break started. Now that summer break is here, T has been enjoying his time off. He is continuing his reading each morning and occasionally we will be working on other subjects as needed.<br />
<br />Expedition Montessorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02484501057383177664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428065013040053808.post-71483714820283732372014-05-12T18:15:00.003-07:002014-05-12T18:15:33.710-07:00Science Saves the Day!We are at the point in the school year where we just want to be done. T is at a spot in just about every subject that he is at a good stopping point for the year. I'm not saying that he is finished because he is in the middle of the 3 year cycle (6-9) so there is plenty left for him to learn in lower elementary. He just happens to have finished several specific areas that I feel are a good stopping point. We only have three more weeks of school and two of those will be educational travel, not classroom work. Right now we are doing lots of reviewing, spelling, reading and fun projects.<br />
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Today, I was browsing pinterest for a fun project and came upon this fun chemistry activity called the <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/Exploratorium/new-topic-2014-01-17T01:59:23.255Z/penny-battery/a/penny-battery-activity-guide" target="_blank">Penny Battery</a>. This particular activity is from <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/" target="_blank">Khan Academy</a> (if you haven't heard of them, they offer lots of free online instruction in many different areas). The way it works, you look at the activity guide to determine what materials you need and the basics, then you watch videos showing you how to do it and what it means. I was very happy to find that we had everything we needed at home and it could be gathered in just a few minutes. That may not be the case for your home if you don't have family members who are into electronics.<br />
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For this <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/Exploratorium/new-topic-2014-01-17T01:59:23.255Z/penny-battery/a/penny-battery-activity-guide" target="_blank">activity</a>, we collected 5 pennies (4 that were newer than 1982), a piece of cardboard cut into 4 small squares, water, salt, vinegar, sand paper, electrical tape and an LED.<br />
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We followed the instructions by sanding one side of the 4 post-1982 pennies so that the zinc core was completely exposed on one side. This allowed us to access the zinc on one side and the copper on the other side of each of the 4 pennies. The pre-1982 penny does not have a zinc core so it was only copper. The sanding took the most time, about 5 mins per penny (T did 3 of them while I was collecting the other materials).<br />
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Then we added salt to the water to make a saturated solution. To this we added a splash of vinegar to make it acidic. Then we soaked the cardboard squares while we finished sanding.<br />
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Once everything was ready, we stacked the pennies and the salt water soaked cardboard to make the battery. Each sanded penny was placed with zinc (silver color) facing up, then a soaked square was placed on top of it. Next, we placed one set on top of the other ending in the copper only penny. Each cell is made of zinc, salt water cardboard and copper in that order and there are 4 cells in this battery.<br />
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Once the battery was made, we added the LED, placing the longer wire on the top, copper penny. The light lit up. This was extra exciting for us because we didn't know which color LED we had. In the video they suggested red because it requires just under 2 volts (which is what this battery produces). We borrowed our LED from my husband's electronics stash while he was out of the house and nothing was labeled. It turned out that we had a yellow LED. When we looked it up, we found that yellow requires just slightly over 2 volts (which might be why it wasn't as bright as it could have been).<br />
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T was very excited about his LED lighting up and after we wrapped it with electrical tape, he proceeded to walk around the house using it as a flashlight in dark rooms.<br />
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The <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/Exploratorium/new-topic-2014-01-17T01:59:23.255Z/penny-battery/v/penny-battery-how-does-it-work" target="_blank">Khan Academy</a> also has a video explaining how this reaction works. It was clear enough for my nearly 8 year old to understand. I drew a small diagram while I was explaining it to him. Please ignore my horrible handwriting, I am a scientist and we aren't known for our handwriting.<br />
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There is also a challenge in this activity to determine how to alter the battery to make a blue LED light up. A blue LED requires more voltage so that means more pennies. T quickly said that you would need 7 pennies, and then we watched the video. He was right, seven pennies lit up the blue LED. We didn't have a blue LED to test it out with but seeing it the video was good enough for him to cheer that he knew he was right LOL.<br />
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There is just something about Science that will peek interest and keep things going when we are just running out of steam. Thanks <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/" target="_blank">Khan Academy</a>! (I am in no way affiliated with Khan Academy, I just really enjoyed using this site and thought Id pass it on. Also, you don't have to sign up for anything to use the site, it only asks you to create an account if you want to track your progress)<br />
<br />Expedition Montessorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02484501057383177664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428065013040053808.post-38355644522066619312014-05-07T19:57:00.000-07:002014-05-07T19:57:51.682-07:00Cursive, Spelling, Fractions....Oh My!We are in the school home stretch now that it is May. There are a few areas that T needs to work on before we stop for the summer.<br />
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Last year, T really struggled with his penmanship. It took him so long to write anything down and it was really hurting his ability to express himself in writing. In Montessori, we allow for phonetic spelling to give the child the ability to write down their thoughts without worry of spelling. I have allowed this phonetic spelling until now because it really helped him to grow in his writing ability and also his penmanship. Now that he is finishing his second year of elementary, I feel that he needs to start focusing on proper spelling an sentence structure in his writing. His penmanship has improved greatly, and we have decided to start cursive as well.<br />
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In his work with cursive, he has become interested in Calligraphy. He checked out a few books at the local library and we picked up a simple cartridge style <a href="http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/996312/Staedtler-2-Nib-Calligraphy-Set/" target="_blank">Calligraphy pen</a> for him at an office supply store. <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2376957.1_2_3_Calligraphy_" target="_blank">1, 2, 3 Calligraphy by Eleanor Winters</a><br />
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Our classroom Language shelf got a small makeover to accommodate his new works. I removed the metal insets, which he doesn't need anymore. B hasn't started using them yet, and when she does, I'll need to put them on a lower shelf anyway. The grammar, sentence analysis box and cursive sandpaper letters on the left have been out for a while.<br />
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On the right, Montessori blue lined paper, on top of that is a sample of the cursive alphabet for him to use as a reference. On the left, a spelling workbook that we picked up at a used book store (used as a supplement) and under that, a <a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Cursive-Homework-873455" target="_blank">Choose your Cursive Challenge</a> worksheet.</div>
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On the left, I left out the metal inset paper and pencils because we are still using these for fraction work. Below them, <a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Dictionary-Research-Cards-797393" target="_blank">Dictionary Research cards</a> , a Children's Dictionary and a Dictionary workbook.<br />
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Fractions are something T has worked with before, but we are working on advancing through addition and subtraction of fractions right now. He has been enjoying using his <a href="http://learningwrapups.com/" target="_blank">Wrap-Ups </a>when he doesn't want to do a full lesson.</div>
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If you haven't used <a href="http://learningwrapups.com/" target="_blank">Wrap-ups</a> before, you should give them a try. They have 10 plastic cards that you wrap a string around as you answer the problem. For fractions, it starts with the picture on the left and the corresponding fraction written on the right. They are self correcting too! Once the child finishes his work, he flips it over and there are lines on the back that show where the string should be when it is done correctly. As long as no lines show, they got all the answers correct.<br />
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T has also been using his Multiplication Wrap-Ups to get faster with his multiplication tables.<br />
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Today we had a little fun with fractions and graphing using M&Ms candy. We just took a regular size bag of M&Ms and poured them into a bowl. T sorted them by color and counted how many of each there were. He used graph paper to make a bar graph.<br />
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We then determined what fraction of the whole bag each color was. There were 23 pieces so we concluded that 23/23 = 1 whole.<br />
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T added all of the fractions together to determine that they do, in fact, equal 23/23. Then I gave him a few addition problems which he could do because they had a common denominator. After he did a few addition problems, he tried a subtraction problem. Then he wanted to eat some M&Ms so we took 23/23 - 2/23 and found it to equal 21/23. Once we got to think point, he "needed" to eat that candy so we talked about reducing until they were gone.<br />
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<br />Expedition Montessorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02484501057383177664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428065013040053808.post-11245452668947506342014-04-27T19:08:00.000-07:002014-04-27T19:18:06.472-07:00Montessori Checkerboard and GIVEAWAY!*post contains affiliate links<br />
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I am very excited to announce my very first giveaway!! I have recently become an affiliate for <a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=402172&u=929445&m=42762&urllink=&afftrack=%22%3EMontessori%20Services%3C/a%3E" target="_blank">Montessori Services</a>. Montessori Services is a wonderful online store where you can shop for everything to prepare your Montessori environment at home. I mentioned this store in a past post of my favorite Montessori suppliers and they ranked second, but only because of the fact that they do not offer a wide variety of Montessori materials. They do rank first on my list for supplies to prepare the environment. If you are not familiar with Montessori, a prepared environment simply means that they classroom is set up so that the children can do all of their tasks independently. Lessons are set up with all of their materials together on low shelfs so they can be accessed easily. In the primary and toddler rooms, there are small versions of everything so that children don't need to use step stools or handle tools that are too large for them. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=402172&u=929445&m=42762&urllink=&afftrack=%22%3EMontessori%20Services%3C/a%3E" target="_blank">Montessori Services</a> has all of these wonderful supplies and many of them are offered in sets to make it even easier. They also have a sister site called <a href="http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=418666&u=929445&m=42762&urllink=&afftrack=" target="_blank">For Small Hands</a> that has even more tools in small sizes for young children.<br />
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I have a great item from Montessori Services that I would like to share with you. The <a href="http://shrsl.com/?~5md2" target="_blank">Montessori Checkerboard Mat</a> (Item# <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://shrsl.com/?~5md2" target="_blank">MA175</a></span>) is a must have for anyone who will be using Montessori at home for elementary.<br />
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Corresponding numbers are written below each square</div>
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Bead bars 1-9 fit nicely in each square. </div>
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(These are 8mm beads)</div>
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This product would be great for Montessori classrooms as well but there is one feature that stands out for homeschoolers and that is its size. I have heard so many homeschoolers complain about how large the checkerboard is, and I thought about this too. Traditionally, a Montessori checkerboard is about 30 x 18 inches in size (depending on brand) and it is wooden. They are too big to place on a regular shelf, and even if you did have a shelf large enough, that is a lot of wasted space. In the homeschool environment, space is something we really need to think about. This lovely checkerboard mat from Montessori Services is made of fabric and rolls up neatly with a little ribbon to tie it closed. It fits quite nicely on the shelf with plenty of room for the beads and number chips on the same shelf.<br />
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This is an IKEA shelf with small cubby sizes openings. This shelf has the checkerboard mat rolled up (black), a felt place value mat for the stamp game (green), stamp game (bottom box) and white/gray number tiles (smaller box).<br />
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Another wonderful great feature of this checkerboard mat is just that it is fabric rather than wood. I know that in Montessori we love wooden materials. Wood always feels so nice in the hands and holds up nicely to use. This material is an exception in my opinion. When the beads are placed on the wooden checkerboard they often slide around and even roll off. Some say that this helps children learn to be more careful when using the material but I don't think its really necessary. In my experience, when beads roll it just frustrates the child and they don't really learn to be more careful they just don't want to use that material anymore. This checkerboard mat changes all of that. On the fabric the beads never roll, they stay exactly where they are placed. There is no unnecessary frustration when a bead is accidentally bumped into another square which ends in a wrong answer. Oh, and this checkerboard mat is also less expensive than any of the wooden versions I have ever seen.<br />
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I'd like to explain a little more about the Montessori Checkerboard for those who may not have used one before. The checkerboard uses the hierarchal colors (green = units, blue = tens, red = hundreds), and continues to hundred millions on the bottom row. As you go up in rows the numbers get larger. The second row starts with tens and goes to unit trillions. The third row starts with hundreds and goes to ten trillions and the top row starts with thousands and goes to hundred trillions. Children use these boxes for doing long multiplication.<br />
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In our introduction to this material, T simply placed beads on the mat to build numbers that I suggested (2,547).</div>
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The first calculation T did with the checkerboard, he worked through the problem: 7436 x 42.<br />
First, he placed white number tiles on the bottom of the mat indicating the multiplicand (7436). Then he placed gray number tiles on vertically to indicate the multiplier (42). Then he flipped over the top digit of the multiplier (4) and worked only with the first row on the bottom (2). For each box, he multiplied that digit times the multiplier (6 x 2), (3 x 2), (4 x 2), (7 x 2). He then combined bead bars so that each box only had one bead bar in it. Next he flipped over the two multiplier tiles so that the top digit was showing (4). He continued in the same manner multiplying each digit of the multiplicand (6 x 4), (3 x 4), (4 x 4), (7 x 4).<br />
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Again he combined bead bars so that each box only had one bead bar in it.<br />
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Next comes the fun part, the diagonal slide. The bead bars in the upper row were slid down to the bottom row following their corresponding colors (i.e. the beads in the blue box would slide diagonally to the blue box below and so on for all colors). Lastly, the bead bars were combined, and exchanged if necessary, so that each box had only one bead bar. This gave T his answer with one digit in each place value box. He found that 7436 x 42 = 312,312.<br />
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These kind of huge numbers make lower elementary kids so excited. Once they see how they really can do this type of material they only want to choose larger and larger numbers to work with.<br />
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It is best for children to know their basic multiplication tables before doing this work but it is not necessary. Things will go much faster if they can just do the simple one digit multiplication in their heads but if they can not you don't have to hold off on this material. Just have them place that number of bead bars in the box and count them, then exchange the beads according to place value.<br />
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I have recieved this product free of charge in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links, if you click on one of my links and then make a purchase, I will receive a small commission, it will cost you nothing as the customer. Thank your for supporting our homeschool.<br />
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<a href="http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=418601&u=929445&m=42762&urllink=&afftrack=" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Shop Montessori Services" border="0" src="http://www.shareasale.com/image/42762/300x250MSGirlPouring_00.jpg" /></a></div>
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Now that you have seen how much we love our new <a href="http://shrsl.com/?~5md2" target="_blank">Montessori Checkerboard Mat</a>, I'm sure that you want your own. Here is where my giveaway comes in. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=402172&u=929445&m=42762&urllink=&afftrack=%22%3EMontessori%20Services%3C/a%3E" target="_blank">Montessori Services</a> has graciously offered a $50 gift certificate to one lucky winner. You can use it towards one of these wonderful mats, or whatever else you choose from this store. Let me tell you, my shopping list for this store is long. If you would like to enter for this awesome prize please use the Rafflecopter widget below. This giveaway is only for residents of USA and Canada (no PO Boxes).<br />
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<script src="//widget.rafflecopter.com/load.js"></script>Expedition Montessorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02484501057383177664noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428065013040053808.post-86599342810369614962014-04-22T20:36:00.004-07:002014-04-22T20:42:28.606-07:00Happy Earth Day 2014!Today we celebrated Earth day. We celebrate this day each year and this year I decided to change things up a bit. In the past we have focused heavily on being earth friendly. We try to be very concious of our carbon footprint and do what we can to lessen it. We have covered recycling, reducing waste, etc for so many years I thought it was time for another focus. This year we focused on Peace.<br />
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Montessori focuses a lot on peace in the classroom but sometimes at home we forget how important it can be. There are less conflicts at home just because there are less people to conflict with. I really want my children to know about other cultures and how other people live. The more we understand other people, the more we feel connected to them.<br />
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Yesterday we made tie dye t-shirts to wear today. I made B's for her because 2yr olds and permanent dye don't mix well. Plus, it turned out to be a bit difficult because I forgot to wet the shirts first and the dye took a while to soak in well. T made his entirely on his own. He is so proud of it! I think they turned out so nice. We are planning to put a saying on them but we ran out of time. Soon they will have one of our favorite sayings on them .... "Peace begins with me"<br />
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We read three books during our Earth Day Peace lessons. The first one is called <u><a href="http://www.amazon.com/If-Peace-Is-Jane-Baskwill/dp/1590344480" target="_blank">If Peace is...</a></u> by Jane Baskwill. Its a wonderful book that compares peace to everyday items that a child would recognize, like a candle or a song. It talks about peace being a promise that we all must work to keep. The kids really enjoyed it and I thought it was lovely.<br />
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The second book we read was called <u><a href="http://www.amazon.com/All-Colors-Earth-Mulberry-Books/dp/0688170625/" target="_blank">All the Colors of the Earth</a></u> by Sheila Hamanaka. This is a wonderful book that talks about all of the colors that people (children in particular) come in. It compares our colors to things found in nature. B was especially interested in this book.<br />
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The final book we read was called <u><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0873589017/" target="_blank">Only One You</a></u> by Linda Kranz. This book was so much fun and nearly made me cry, it was so sweet. Its a story of a young fish receiving advice from his parents about life. They give wonderful advice about being yourself and being a friend to others. It ends with a sweet line that we incorporated into our craft: "There is only one you in this great big world....make it a better place." We painted rocks to look like fish in the book, used some scrap wood to make a little sign and placed it in our garden pebble path.<br />
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The kids had fun painting some river rocks with paint to look like fish. B wanted pink (her favorite color) and she mixed red and white on the rock to make a wonderful pink fish. She then painted a yellow fin all by herself, which I didn't expect but she was looking at the book for quite a while before painting. I helped her with the eye and mouth.<br />
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T started by painting a white belly, a blue body and red fins. He made his entirely on his own and was very interested in the details.<br />
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Here are all three of our fish. Mine is the last one, and I had fun making it as well. I admit, I am not an artist, but it was fun.<br />
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T used some scrap wood from boards he broke in karate to make this sign. We worked together to color the sign with shades of blue sharpies to resemble water. I wrote the quote with black sharpie. T used his kid sized hammer and nails to put the steak on the back of the sign and pounded it into the ground.</div>
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I love how this turned out in our yard. You can see in the background of the last picture we have a gazebo in the back of the yard, this path leads to it.</div>
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While we were outside, we also spotted a dove flying into a tree in our yard. Of course, doves are a symbol of Peace.<br />
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I also want to give credit to this blog for the idea of making the sign and rock fish. I found it through pintrest. <a href="http://myprimarypassion.blogspot.com/2011/06/where-do-i-begin.html">http://myprimarypassion.blogspot.com/2011/06/where-do-i-begin.html</a>Expedition Montessorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02484501057383177664noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428065013040053808.post-64317427982944825382014-04-07T18:45:00.000-07:002014-04-07T18:45:04.671-07:00Little Passports Makes Geography Fun<h4>
<i style="font-weight: normal;">This post contains affiliate links**</i></h4>
T has never been all that interested in Geography. When he was in primary Montessori school he did have a short period of time when he was tracing the puzzle maps that he was quite interested in learning all of the countries of South America. He actually still remembers them all, but he rarely wants to pull out his puzzle maps or review countries. I've noticed that our geography studies have been lacking just because he isn't all that interested. We are part of a geography club in our homeschool community and that helps but it doesn't really get T interested like I hoped it would.<br />
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I had heard about <a href="http://www.shareasale.com/u.cfm?d=192997&m=32333&u=929445&afftrack=" target="_blank">Little Passports</a> before and visited their booth at a local homeschool expo once but I kept telling myself that I could put something like that together myself. Here is it nearly 2 years later, I haven't put it together myself. One of the best things about Little Passports is that they do all the work for you. You don't have to pick the countries, research the countries, collect postcards/pictures, souveniors, and flags for each country. You also don't have to come up with the fun activities for each country that will get your child engaged. There is just so much to do as a homeschooling parent, especially if you are not using a pre-planned curriculum. I love that my kids got excited about geography without me having to spend so much of my time putting it all together. Then there is the added thrill of getting mail address to them. Our package came with both of their names on it so they were both very excited.<br />
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<a href="http://www.shareasale.com/u.cfm?d=192997&m=32333&u=929445&afftrack=" target="_blank">Little Passports</a> has two options, the first is their original World Edition where you receive a package containing one country each month. The other option is the USA Edition where you receive a package containing one state of the USA each month. I think both are great options, but I think the World Edition fits in nicely to the Montessori method because of the emphasis on world peace. Montessori thought that if we got to know how people around the world lived we would grow closer to one another and peace would follow. Not only would it be a great addition to geography study and continent boxes, but also in the cultural/peace study as well.<br />
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If you would like to learn more about the different options and what you get in each please check out the <a href="http://www.shareasale.com/u.cfm?d=192997&m=32333&u=929445&afftrack=" target="_blank">Little Passports </a>website. They are even having a <a href="http://www.shareasale.com/u.cfm?d=192997&m=32333&u=929445&afftrack=" target="_blank">15% off sale</a> until 4/8!<br />
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Here is what arrive this afternoon at our home:</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Brazil</span></b></h2>
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Here is what comes in the package: a letter from Sam & Sofia describing their adventure in Brazil, a postcard with an animal from the letter, a piece of amethyst (also from the story in the letter), a sticker to place on the suitcase, a Brazil flag sticker for the passport, a push pin sticker to place on the wall map, an activity sheet (2 sided) and a boarding pass with a code for online activities.</div>
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The first thing T did when he heard the package was about Brazil, was he pulled out his South America puzzle map and took out Brazil to show B. Then they looked over their goodies.<br />
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T read the letter to find out about this month's adventure. I think the reading level is around 2nd grade but there are some words that may be a bit difficult because they are names of animals or names that are common for that country.<br />
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The story in the letter described rescuing a rare monkey by hiding him in an amethyst mine. They included a postcard with a photo of the red uakari monkey and a small piece of read amethyst. The kids LOVED this amethyst!<br />
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T spent some time working on the activity page while I put B down for her nap. He was searching for animals in the rainforest.<br />
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As if that wasn't enough geography for the day, T hopped on the computer to see what activities were waiting for him. There was Trivia, a soccer game and an interactive map of Brazil. He really enjoyed reading about different animals, landmarks, sports, food, etc from Brazil. There were several beautiful photos online as well. There were several parts where things could easily be printed and used later offline.<br />
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Finally, I had to tear him away from his geography work to go to his track practice but he has planned to start tomorrow morning with more study of Brazil.<br />
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<a href="http://www.shareasale.com/u.cfm?d=192997&m=32333&u=929445&afftrack=" target="_blank">Little Passports is having a Birthday Celebration. They have been in business for 5 years and are offering 15% off new subscriptions , use the promo code HAPPY5 thru 4/8/14. If you have been thinking about trying it, now is a great time. </a><br />
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**I am an affiliate of <a href="http://www.shareasale.com/u.cfm?d=192997&m=32333&u=929445&afftrack=" target="_blank">Little Passports</a>. I was given this package at no charge in return for my honest review. All opinions on the blog are my own and I would never review a product that I had not used personally. If you click on the links in this post and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting our home school.<br />
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<br />Expedition Montessorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02484501057383177664noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428065013040053808.post-60461401181898896382014-04-06T11:31:00.000-07:002014-04-06T11:31:30.817-07:00Outdoor fun with Science and GeometryThe spring weather has called us outdoors many days in the last few weeks. Friday we decided to take our study of Geometry to a new level. We combined science and geometry in a fun little project. T had a lot of fun practicing his new protractor skills and spotting angles in the real world.<br />
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We started out with a little nature walk where we looked for angles in nature and man-made objects along the way. This stick was the first thing T spotted angles on. We brought along some sidewalk chalk to mark the angles and he used his protractor to measure them. He knew just by looking which was obtuse and which acute.<br />
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We found many angles on a picnic table we came across.</div>
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And right angles on this park bench (it was a bit windy)</div>
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We found a right angled isosceles in the parking lot </div>
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(this was the parking lot for the playground and there were no cars so it was safe to stop and break out the protractor)</div>
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At this point it was too windy to perform our science experiment so we went home for lunch. Luckily, the wind died down in a couple of hours and we were able to go back outside and work while B napped.</div>
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Angles on our driveway.</div>
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A little practice on adding angles, 100º plus 80º equals 180º, or a straight line.</div>
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Oh look, the grass is turning green finally. Found an acute angle of concrete next to an obtuse angle of grass.</div>
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Our garage door is covered in right angles</div>
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Our science experiment was determining at what angle would we get the most distance with a straw rocket. We used this wonderful <a href="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6SAhfoYQVIubXhFTW51b0p6VmM/edit" target="_blank">printable</a> that I found through this <a href="http://mrmusselman.blogspot.com/2012/11/real-stem-integration-with-straw-rockets.html" target="_blank">blog</a>.</div>
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The directions show how to make one of these cute little mini paper rockets. A template is provided and you just cut it out and roll it around a pencil, then attach the fins with tape. T decided to add a little color to his rockets before we cut them out. We decided to make two rockets to give more accurate results. Most science experiments need a good size pool of results to be accurate. At home it was just the two of us performing this experiment so we made two rockets and each of us did the experiment with each rocket. This helped us fill in the charge provided in the printable which is made for groups of 3 or 4 students. </div>
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Once you build your rocket, you place a straw inside and blow as hard as you can to launch it.</div>
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We took our rockets, protector, tape measure and chalk outside. We marked the starting line with chalk and the launcher stood behind the line. Then we lined up the rocket to the proper angles using the protractor and launched the rocket. We measured the distance the rocket travelled and recorded it on our chart.</div>
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(not the best picture because I had to hold the protractor and the camera at the same time, but you get the idea)</div>
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Ready, Aim.....</div>
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Fire!</div>
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Before we performed the experiment, T was asked to predict which angle would produce the farthest distance. The four angles tested were 90º, 70º, 45º and 20º. He chose the 45º angle. He knew that the 90º angle would give the least distance because it is meant to make rockets go straight up. He didn't really know why he thought the 45º angle was best except that it was not the closest to 90º like 70º is and its not the furthest away like 20º is. </div>
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Here is our result chart</div>
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(in the launcher # boxes I added notes as to what color the rocket was (Green/Red, Blue/Orange) and the first initial of the person who launched it so we could keep track.)</div>
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We used inches instead of cm because our tape measure wasn't metric. </div>
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As you can see from the chart, T was correct about the 45º angle being the best angle if you are trying to shot your rocket the longest distance. I drew a little diagram for him to show what that was the case. (the inches at the bottom are just a rounded average of distance we got for each angle)</div>
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When we were done with our experiment, T mentioned that he was going to use this new information at his track & field practice when he throws his mini javelin so that he can throw it a longer distance. </div>
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Expedition Montessorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02484501057383177664noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428065013040053808.post-34993365711893275362014-04-02T19:24:00.001-07:002014-04-02T19:24:03.207-07:00Some Elementary GeometryI mentioned in a previous post about our love of <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/series/71584-sir-cumference-math-adventure" target="_blank">Sir Cumference books</a>. We read the Dragon of Pi book when we celebrated <a href="http://expeditionmontessori.blogspot.com/2014/03/happy-pi-day.html" target="_blank">pi day </a>last month. Yesterday, we read Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland as we talked about types of angles and triangles. We also introduced the protractor. There is a Montessori protractor that is sized to match the metal insets/fraction circles but we do not have one yet. T had fun learning how to use the regular protractor. The book uses a medallion as a protractor so T was excited to get his own. This book actually came with a small very thin plastic protractor but as its a library book we couldn't keep it.<br />
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<span style="color: red;">(please click on any of the following photos and they will get larger, some of them may be difficult to see fully if you don't enlarge them)</span><br />
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We started our discussion with types of triangles. <a href="http://www.montessoriprintshop.com/Free_Montessori_Downloads.html" target="_blank">Montessori Print Shop</a> has a wonderful FREE printable of the seven <a href="http://www.montessoriprintshop.com/uploads/MF-39_Triangles_3-Part_Cards.pdf" target="_blank">types of triangles 3 part cards</a>. He measured the angles of the triangles and we talked about right, acute and obtuse angles. We also talked about what isosceles and scalene meant. He matched the cards to their name and then compared them to the control cards.</div>
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T located each of the seven types of triangles in our geometry cabinet. You can see from the tray that there are only six triangles on the triangle tray in the cabinet. The last triangle (obtuse angled scalene triangle) is located in the last tray of the cabinet with the "extras".<br />
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After matching the triangles from the Geo cabinet, he tried his hand at the blue triangle constructive triangles box. This box contains two obtuse isosceles, two equilateral, three right angled scalene and one obtuse angled scalene triangles. </div>
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Today we moved our focus to the angles. We talked about how right angles are always 90º, acute angles are always less than 90º and obtuse angles are always greater than 90º. T used these <a href="http://www.freemontessori.org/wp-content/uploads/geometry/allAngles.pdf" target="_blank">angle cards </a>from <a href="http://www.freemontessori.org/?page_id=43" target="_blank">Cultivating Dharma</a>. There is a heading for each type of angle and five cards for each. He sorted them, measuring when he needed to.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg__S3gK2dLZGjAB9ICkaO3rkGnHkEMd8OloZBfkUrJV0D7qnuhF2NMJmeelWjOZFKIS_WzxetK5owbXGXhwhlBteU-psccpUXqk80g4dPx9xxdx1BzTWyrSz93o-RBwwgQm5yuCjT4pDAn/s1600/edited_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg__S3gK2dLZGjAB9ICkaO3rkGnHkEMd8OloZBfkUrJV0D7qnuhF2NMJmeelWjOZFKIS_WzxetK5owbXGXhwhlBteU-psccpUXqk80g4dPx9xxdx1BzTWyrSz93o-RBwwgQm5yuCjT4pDAn/s1600/edited_02.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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There is a wonderful short lesson called <a href="http://montessoricommons.cc/the-story-of-geometry/" target="_blank">The Story of Geometry</a>. Don't worry, this isn't another Great Lesson. Its very short and simple. You don't really need any materials unless you would like to do the demonstration and then you only need some rope/string and a few weights/markers. </div>
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The Story of Geometry gives the history of Geometry going back to the Egyptians. The Egyptians had trouble with flooding moving their markers for their farms and they used rope to fix their problem. There is a wonderful free version of this story at <a href="http://montessoricommons.cc/the-story-of-geometry/" target="_blank">Montessori Commons</a> that we used. This site doesn't have any photos so I also used a post from <a href="http://makingmontessoriours.blogspot.com/2011/11/little-montessori-geometry.html" target="_blank">Making Montessori Ours</a> where they did this lesson.</div>
The Egyptians learned that if they always used sides of 3:4:5 in their triangles they would always make a right angled triangle. In our example we used 6" segments so one side was 3x6=18", then 4x6=24" and finally 5x6=30.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtIA29BQ51GSqZli-boL6DAF5nqSlUKg4jPVnuXGhnbxCRjiys3l0kZuSf6w2ig1jic6Ox0d4piQDeO4TF0KWDw91QAix70p3I1K5IyecYBYUWzhiwN-1ua9tyWZizCtSZdvtfGhED0Zp6/s1600/edited_10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtIA29BQ51GSqZli-boL6DAF5nqSlUKg4jPVnuXGhnbxCRjiys3l0kZuSf6w2ig1jic6Ox0d4piQDeO4TF0KWDw91QAix70p3I1K5IyecYBYUWzhiwN-1ua9tyWZizCtSZdvtfGhED0Zp6/s1600/edited_10.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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Later Pythagoras figured out why this worked and named it the Pythagorean Theorem.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB5JQhm5hIdpcIjMJI7RIjPOAE_8SI-dqsJLmA0xMoCMnnnr59UaY1FT3t6O_UWiPR6y9LJsYusdRbnivNdea1-f3lKFOw5jok47qvBXq8EzV9OYm6t0n_BwxMQmCvvnqLnAwdQSiaYp4I/s1600/edited_08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB5JQhm5hIdpcIjMJI7RIjPOAE_8SI-dqsJLmA0xMoCMnnnr59UaY1FT3t6O_UWiPR6y9LJsYusdRbnivNdea1-f3lKFOw5jok47qvBXq8EzV9OYm6t0n_BwxMQmCvvnqLnAwdQSiaYp4I/s1600/edited_08.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
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We used the 3:4:5 for this triangle using inches so there was 3", 4" and 5" sides to this triangle. It made a right angled scalene triangle as it should have. Then we made each side a square and determined its area. I could tell I was losing T by this point so we pulled out our trusty bead squares. He immediately understood what the square of 3, 4, and 5 were. Then we added the beads from the 3 square to the beads of the 4 square and it did, indeed, equal the beads of the 5 square. T understood it but he was less than excited about it. I got a few looks because I was excited that he was learning some more interesting math. I love math but he thinks its a bit boring. This is just a foundation though, he will tuck this info in the back of his mind and will be able to pull it out later and understand it more easily. For now, I think we i'll just stick with measuring angles because he finds that fun.Expedition Montessorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02484501057383177664noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428065013040053808.post-51421998023189870222014-03-30T19:00:00.003-07:002014-03-30T19:00:17.526-07:00Introduction to the Large Bead FrameThe Large Bead Frame is a Montessori material that is mainly used for long multiplication. It is a wooden frame with seven wires, each containing 10 beads in one of the hierarchal colors. Green represents units, blue represents tens, red represents hundreds. The section with the white on the left is simple (1, 10, 100), gray is thousands (1000, 10000, 100000) and black is millions (1000000).<br />
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<a href="https://www.alisonsmontessori.com/v/vspfiles/photos/M65-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://www.alisonsmontessori.com/v/vspfiles/photos/M65-2.jpg" width="148" /></a></div>
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You can purchase this material, it is a fairly inexpensive piece of Montessori equipment. I purchased one (along with a large order of other defective materials) and it arrived with a missing bead. We needed it right away and I didn't really have the time to wait to buy a new one (and pay shipping costs). This material was actually pretty easy to make with materials we already had on hand. Its not as nice as the real thing but it didn't cost much and we had it made in about 20mins. T helped me make this material as well. We used some disposable chopsticks that we kept from take out, I hot glued them together to make the frame. We used pipe cleaners for the wires, they don't move as easily as they could but its not too difficult. If you have plain wire it would probably work better. I saw somewhere that someone put stir stick straws over pipe cleaner to make them slide easier (sorry i can't remember where I read it to give credit), I didn't have it on hand so we skipped that. The beads are just regular plastic pony beads. I painted the colors on the left side, which is two chopsticks glued together. The number labels are just card stock with sharpie.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh1s1_YDbElVjJayqt6V0ld14_sTOC05l87evTcDyA1H7agSelAhFsKigHUtfzNVAP7NkbGC0j5l6297ZKm3sQiLXgv050MIaY4mTz_zIWDnPI31ibaPgramEe4dHkw6hWDvx2-y6lChlw/s1600/edited_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh1s1_YDbElVjJayqt6V0ld14_sTOC05l87evTcDyA1H7agSelAhFsKigHUtfzNVAP7NkbGC0j5l6297ZKm3sQiLXgv050MIaY4mTz_zIWDnPI31ibaPgramEe4dHkw6hWDvx2-y6lChlw/s1600/edited_2.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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When introducing the child to the large bead frame, they are normally a bit younger than T. We didn't have one so I skipped ahead to some of the more complex math with materials we had. This caused a small problem for T in that normally you would start with addition on the large bead frame before starting multiplication. T had already been working on addition for so long that he could do it on paper with no materials into the billions and then the trillions. He was so excited about doing addition and subtraction into the trillions and then it occurred to him that it really isn't any harder because its just adding digits. He was so proud of himself, even though he said it was easy.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSdyYvkGmssEbyeeV5w0BCqxEoTxcx0JnXvMXCq5ylJPKjJFl4Bccf07Jw9f-8nZ2ET0_4_50gMvI56EdHcuXdNVoOhfLItMcPvGPEvwPKJ2KOovdc2rNWIkvrZWgdx6lgezPwkZUFdSMy/s1600/edited_5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSdyYvkGmssEbyeeV5w0BCqxEoTxcx0JnXvMXCq5ylJPKjJFl4Bccf07Jw9f-8nZ2ET0_4_50gMvI56EdHcuXdNVoOhfLItMcPvGPEvwPKJ2KOovdc2rNWIkvrZWgdx6lgezPwkZUFdSMy/s1600/edited_5.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was his work the day before we introduced the large bead frame</td></tr>
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We really didn't have any further to go with addition and subtraction at this point and we really needed to move on to multiplication past the memorization work that he has done. He really enjoyed building numbers on the large bead frame. I would read a number aloud to him and he would build it on the large bead frame. He thought it seemed very much like a secret code. It was fun until I wanted him to try addition on the bead frame. Since he could already do addition (and subtraction) so easily without the aid of any materials, he found the large bead frame to be tedious. Those of you with Montessori students probably understand what I mean by this. Montessori students are not made to do busy work. They want to do work that is challenging. It was like I was forcing him to take a step back in his math progress and he was not having it. I got some great advice from some other Montessori homeschooling moms and we just built numbers long enough for him to understand how the bead frame worked and then jumped into multiplication. It worked great!</div>
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We started with short multiplication to get the hang of how to use the <a href="http://jmjpublishing.com/JMJpdfs4all/2010BeadFramePaperLg.pdf" target="_blank">large bead frame paper</a>. We used the free download of this paper at <a href="http://www.jmjpublishing.com/hope4memembers.html" target="_blank">Livable Learning</a>. It works wonderfully, the only part I dislike is that we can only do about 3 problems of short multiplication, which means probably only 1 in long multiplication. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSMJKurSy-esQm4m5woCNKl0zs-G0Ra5bbPVdsIgfQiqtdbFm4-MyGFCh5zRdgARrR427YTq-f1iuP79mcHwQ-RDG_58CxtNSCXcSIq8Pv0bHKEwSkLWVsV_BgYzsUkpk4KBUeydct7Ei_/s1600/edited_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSMJKurSy-esQm4m5woCNKl0zs-G0Ra5bbPVdsIgfQiqtdbFm4-MyGFCh5zRdgARrR427YTq-f1iuP79mcHwQ-RDG_58CxtNSCXcSIq8Pv0bHKEwSkLWVsV_BgYzsUkpk4KBUeydct7Ei_/s1600/edited_3.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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At the top of the page there are two main columns. The left side is for the problem to be written, the right side is for the break down. Within each column are colored columns separating each place value. T selected his own problems. <br />
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Here is a closer look as an example:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOPvzru0j2xbMsQhfD51G_jL8zNKv-JRTPE2FPVqu9tLz95d7_NZjBeQ9nfwoa9AXAH4C-Ahfmr1K6Sn0FiKmnQkMpER36F8INW-KcVKGewjjBrrOKEgbPDDGWR8_U44ylzdz_aO6aF9xw/s1600/edited_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOPvzru0j2xbMsQhfD51G_jL8zNKv-JRTPE2FPVqu9tLz95d7_NZjBeQ9nfwoa9AXAH4C-Ahfmr1K6Sn0FiKmnQkMpER36F8INW-KcVKGewjjBrrOKEgbPDDGWR8_U44ylzdz_aO6aF9xw/s1600/edited_4.jpg" height="201" width="400" /></a></div>
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On the left the problem is 6352x9. On the right we break it down into 2 units, 5 tens (50), 3 hundreds (300) and 6 thousands (6000) all multiplied by 9. The child then multiplies 9x2 in their head and moves 8 unit beads and 1 ten bead over on the bead frame (they can also count the beads and do an exchange if they can't do the simple multiplication in their head). The next problem would be 9x5 and the child would move 5 ten beads and 4 hundred beads (9x50=450). Then 9x3 and move 7 hundred beads and 2 thousand beads (9x300=2700) but there is an exchange because there were already 4 hundred beads before adding 7 hundred beads so one bead would be left in the hundreds row and another thousand bead would be moved over. Finally, 9x6 and move 4 thousand beads and 5 ten thousand beads. This would leave us with 5 ten thousand beads, 7 thousand beads, 1 hundred bead, 6 ten beads and 8 unit beads giving the answer of 57,168. The child would then record the answer below the original problem on the left 6,352x9=57,168. As shown on the bead frame below<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh1s1_YDbElVjJayqt6V0ld14_sTOC05l87evTcDyA1H7agSelAhFsKigHUtfzNVAP7NkbGC0j5l6297ZKm3sQiLXgv050MIaY4mTz_zIWDnPI31ibaPgramEe4dHkw6hWDvx2-y6lChlw/s1600/edited_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh1s1_YDbElVjJayqt6V0ld14_sTOC05l87evTcDyA1H7agSelAhFsKigHUtfzNVAP7NkbGC0j5l6297ZKm3sQiLXgv050MIaY4mTz_zIWDnPI31ibaPgramEe4dHkw6hWDvx2-y6lChlw/s1600/edited_2.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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We will be moving on to long multiplication this week. Long multiplication works the same way except the multiplier has more than one digit. My advice to anyone wanting to use this material is to start with addition early, before they can do it all on paper. Many Montessori schools introduce this material in the primary class around age 5, some wait until lower elementary around age 6. T is starting multiplication on the large bead frame at an ok age, usually around age 7 (he is nearly 8). Waiting didn't cause much harm since he jumped in without needing addition on this material but he would have been more comfortable using this material had he already used it for addition. If you don't want to buy or spend a lot on this material, it works fine to piece it together with materials you have on hand. Its not as pretty but it does the job just fine.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg-a6XlVhpn4O1-ntozfeyYv7Vsf-eD9aMVkemza9vSamMjOcuLqDzxSDOKYRj9rpvKNmx3T4G_0p0xBqtUU-6fywBb6ONZE5VagC-L3yQyW9yrP8HGWN_i9NytZVbW7TP8YU1hfac0VYf/s1600/edited_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg-a6XlVhpn4O1-ntozfeyYv7Vsf-eD9aMVkemza9vSamMjOcuLqDzxSDOKYRj9rpvKNmx3T4G_0p0xBqtUU-6fywBb6ONZE5VagC-L3yQyW9yrP8HGWN_i9NytZVbW7TP8YU1hfac0VYf/s1600/edited_1.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Expedition Montessorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02484501057383177664noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428065013040053808.post-62651771997017015392014-03-20T19:46:00.002-07:002014-03-20T19:46:38.884-07:00Where NOT to buy Montessori Materials!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today I would like to share my experiences with purchasing Montessori materials for homeschool. Normally, I do not like to review stores/items that I am not happy with because it gives them advertisement that I feel they do not deserve. I have decided that I would write a review including some stores that I was very unhappy with, in the hopes that it will save my readers the same trouble.<br />
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If you are homeschooling using the Montessori method, you already know that the materials are expensive. There are so many materials and its often difficult to move on in the lessons if you do not have all of your materials ahead of time. In my experience, shopping for materials is quite stressful. There are very few brick and mortar stores that carry Montessori materials (I'm not sure there are any that are open to the public). We as homeschooling parents rarely have the budget to buy the top of the line materials from places like <a href="http://www.nienhuis.com/index.php" target="_blank">Nienhuis</a>. We rely on discount Montessori suppliers because they offer the materials we need at a fraction of the price and the quality is usually good enough for a few children to use, even if it would not be the best for a large classroom of students. There are not that many discount suppliers out there but it is still difficult to know which one to purchase from. I would like to share my experiences with you.<br />
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First, I would like to share my <u>#1 tip for buying Montessori materials for homeschoolers</u>. Look for used materials first! Check your craigslist or garage sale listings for individuals or schools that are selling materials. I was able to find two different Montessori schools who were selling used items at a huge discount. One of the schools had closed due to the owner retiring, she had an entire primary classroom of high quality materials to sell, all about half the price of even the discount suppliers. The other school was still in business, but they were trying to clear out the storage of materials they no longer needed. Some materials were brand new but they had multiples of and they didn't have shelf space for them. Other materials were old and worn had been replaced but still worked fine. I was able to get items that were almost all <a href="http://www.nienhuis.com/index.php" target="_blank">Nienhuis</a>, <a href="https://www.bruinsmontessori.com/home.php" target="_blank">Bruins</a>, <a href="http://www.thematerialscompany.com/" target="_blank">Boston</a>, etc, top of the line for so much less. If you don't see listings, call around and ask your local schools if they have items to sell (or donate) to your homeschool. Also, check online swap groups for used items, sometimes they will live in your area and you can save on shipping. I found a homeschooling mom who's kids had moved on to upper grades and she no longer needed her manuals or materials so she sold them discounted and I saved on shipping since she lived in my area.<br />
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Now I know its not always possible to find these good deals. I didn't find all of these when I really needed them. I had to buy quite a bit new because we needed it. I'd like to share my experiences with some of the online Montessori suppliers and the quality of their materials. I will not include the top of the line suppliers because I do not feel they are relevant. I do love the quality of Nienhuis, Bruins and Boston in the used materials we have but I would not spend the money to buy them new, since we could not do it financially.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">My top choice:</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://www.alisonsmontessori.com/" target="_blank">Alison's Montessori</a></div>
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I love the quality of the materials from Alison's Montessori. A large amount of the used items I purchased are from Alison's and they look almost new even after another family had already used them for two children. The wood is much more sturdy than other discount brands we have. I don't see warping at all on these materials. All of our golden bead materials is from Alison's and the beads are plastic but quite nice to handle. The color of the beads matches our bead cabinet (Bruins). Our geometry and botany cabinets and botany/zoology puzzles are also from here and they all look and feel great. The wood has a nice stain to it and it feels like it has a protective seal that helps prevent chipping and dents. There customer service was always helpful when I contacted them.<br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-size: large;"><b>Second place:</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.montessoriservices.com/" target="_blank">Montessori Services</a></div>
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I love the customer service of this store and the materials we have received from them. My child received an item as a gift from this store and it broke very soon after we got it. I contacted them and they sent out a replacement immediately with no questions asked (even as a gift without even asking for the purchaser's info). My only complaint with this store is their lack of true Montessori materials. They have quite a bit for cultural study, books, preparing the environment, small tools (especially their partner <a href="http://www.forsmallhands.com/" target="_blank">For Small Hands</a>), but they do not carry many of the actual Montessori materials (especially for elementary)<br />
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<b><span style="color: orange; font-size: large;">Third place:</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://kidadvance.com/" target="_blank">KidAdvance</a></div>
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My first experience with purchasing Montessori materials was from this store. I didn't really know what I was doing or what we needed at first. I actually bought more primary materials that my older child was mostly done with (luckily I have a little one who will use them). I was happy with most of the materials I purchased. The wood used at KidAdvance is softer than Alison's and several pieces developed chips in the paint soon after we started using them. Our puzzle maps came from here and I think they are ok but not the best. The boards warped quickly, which I think could have to do with the style cabinet we got to put them in. They have two styles, one that has shelves and another that is open in the center and the maps rest on ledges on each side leaving the center of the map hanging. I think if we had the full shelf under them, they wouldn't have warped but I can't be sure. All in all, I was happy with the quality for the price of the materials I purchased from KidAdvance. I did have to send back our bead cabinet because one of the cabinet pieces was not drilled properly and I could not assemble it. They were very easy to work with in the return and they provided return shipping. I ended up buying our bead cabinet used instead. The beads from KidAdvance are not as nice as our Bruins cabinet, and they aren't quite as nice as the Alison's golden beads we have but I am happy with the ones we have in some of our other math materials. I would buy from KidAdvance again.<br />
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<b><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Fourth place:</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://www.montessorioutlet.com/" target="_blank">Montessori Outlet</a></div>
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I do not have any experience with buying directly from this company. We have just a couple of used materials from this store and I am happy with them. I think the quality is equivalent to KidAdvance. I would buy from this store if they lowered the amount for their free shipping. I rarely spend $500 in one order and the price of shipping is so high on these heavy materials that it has kept me from buying from this store.<br />
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<span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;"><b>Last place:</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.montessoriequipment.com/" target="_blank">IFIT Montessori</a> </div>
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(also known as montessori equipment)</div>
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This store is dead last! I will never order from them again and I would urge my readers to stay away from this store! This is definitely the where NOT to buy Montessori materials store!<br />
I purchased a fairly large order from this company this past fall. We were in need of a large amount of math materials and I was searching for a store that had all of them in stock at the time. I was planning to purchase from Allison's but they were out of stock of a few of my items so I decided to try out IFIT. BIG Mistake! I ended up with a big box of unusable materials. I order 7 items and some spare beads and the spare beads were the only items that were not defective. I was shocked at how bad it was! A large bead frame and a golden bead frame BOTH had missing beads. Every piece that was wooden and painted had chips and dents straight out of the box. Several items had missing pieces. Some measuring devices were misaligned. It was horrible! Their customer services was worse yet. They accused me of lying about the condition of the items and asked for pictures. Once they got pictures they told me that I expected too much for the price. I spoke to the owner every time to make things worse. The owner of this company is well aware of the horrible quality of his merchandise but he feels that the discounted prices makes it ok to sell them. I had to open a credit card dispute to get my money back and it took almost 5 months. I am not that picky about materials, I expect them to be useable and to not arrive already damaged. The materials from this company are far, far lesser in quality than Montessori Outlet or KidAdvance and yet the prices are fairly close. Please, stay away from this store!<br />
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I hope this review of Montessori materials suppliers helps others when choosing which store to make your purchases from. I have not received anything in compensation for my reviews from any of these companies. I have shared only my honest experiences.Expedition Montessorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02484501057383177664noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428065013040053808.post-32557197036004070102014-03-18T19:54:00.002-07:002014-03-18T19:54:14.571-07:00Spring has Sprung!We live in Southern USA, the weather is beautiful here right now. We have been enjoying some mid 60-70F days outdoors. Spring has sprung here and it is the perfect time for nature walks.<br />
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The three of us enjoyed walking around a local pond and spying the first signs of spring. B pointed out the animals she saw. She also was very excited about all the colors that come about in spring. B is newly two and colors have become her favorite subject of discussion. She has become very accurate with most colors, although different shades do sometimes throw her off. She is really good at matching colors though. I will have a post about this soon, Id like to share some of her work.<br />
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T had a little more to work on than B while we were walking. I asked him to just observe while we walked around the first half of the pond. There is a large gazebo halfway around the pond that has a picnic table. He decided to stop at the picnic table to do his work. I asked him to draw a picture of what he observed in his main lesson book. (yes, that is B doing acrobatics on the seat behind him)<br />
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I haven't talked about the main lesson book before, because it is not a Montessori material. I took this from Waldorf practices. The main lesson book is used in Waldorf for each subject, it is not unlike the Montessori notebooks in that it is a bound book that you do not tear pages out of. The <a href="http://www.asmallgreenfootprint.com/store/Main-Lesson-Book-landscape-format-32x24-cm-no-onion-skin-184p2328.htm" target="_blank">main lesson book</a> has only 32 pages but they are a nice landscape 32x24cm size. They contain high quality drawing paper and a card stock cover. We only use these books for art, not all of the subjects since the paper is not lined. T also brought along his <a href="http://www.asmallgreenfootprint.com/store/Wooden-Watercolor-Paint-Board-172p665.htm" target="_blank">wooden watercolor board</a> with him to use as a traveling desk. It is just the right size to hold this book and it works great, especially if there are not tables available.<br />
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Once he had finished his drawing we went back to our walk. I gave T that camera so that he could take some shots of things he found interesting. Enjoy!<br />
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I took B over to the little playground while T explored the water edge. </div>
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Nature walks are one of our favorite parts of homeschooling. It is so wonderful to just be out in nature exploring and learning together.Expedition Montessorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02484501057383177664noreply@blogger.com0