Dysgraphia and Creative Writing

Dysgraphia is a learning disability in which writing is difficult.  This is more than just the inability too legibly create letters and words.  It extends to the inability to spell and properly organize thoughts on paper. A child that is dysgraphic gets hung up so much on how to form the letters, that their brain often loses track of what they were trying to spell or write. 

Here's a picture of the process for the visual learners...

When my son was diagnosed with dysgraphia in December, it came as no surprise to me.   I have spent much more time on handwriting, spelling and sentence building with him than with any of my other children.  When he practices a lot, his cursive is nice and legible, but it requires so much work and effort on his part, he is unable to write spontaneously.  He can do copy work very well.  He can't easily write what he thinks. 

I have always encouraged my son to type assignments.  He has had his own laptop since he was 10 because of the difficulties he has always had with writing.  He is not a proficient writer, but he types faster than he writes.  He has also learned to rely on the spelling and grammar checking, and I am okay with that.

Obviously because of his difficulties, I will not give up on teaching him the elements of writing (five paragraph essays, in particular), formatting (MLA mostly), and grammar (via intense Latin study and an extremely rigorous grammar program).  We've also come up with an editing process that I found out is used often...just didn't know it already existed.  It's called the power method and it uses an acronym which makes the process easy to remember:

P-lan
O-utline
W-rite
E-dit
R-evise

Now, that may seem obvious, but it is not to an ADHD kid, especially one who hates the writing process.  I have always tried to get my kids to plan out what they are doing BEFORE they write.  They have begrudgingly done it, sort of...however, it wasn't until we were working through Essay Voyages by Michael Clay Thompson last year that they saw the power of the outline.  I gave the four kids I was working with an assignment.  Within the book, there was an outline of an essay.  Their job was to write their own essay, using all the things they had learned thus far from that outline.  They were all astounded at how easy it was when they had a good outline!  From there, the editing and revising was actually easy.  Handwriting aside, the process seemed easier.

However, I had never spent much time on story writing.  I didn't feel I needed to because my kids have always been good, not only at narration, but at making up their own imaginative stories.
One babysitter told us, after watching my children play, that my eldest son would make a good scriptwriter and director.  He would orchestrate elaborate stories into their play sessions.  Not only would he tell everyone what to do, but also what to say.  All the kids would follow his instructions because his stories, created on the fly, were fantastic.  Somehow, it occurred to me last year that my son needed to work and further develop that skill. 

One thing I have learned (listen up curriculum developers) is that the assignments need to be engaging  The premise behind TJeD is to let kids follow their interests and they will learn what they need to learn.  Inside my kid is a story teller without a way to get it out.  I decided that I needed to take things into my own hands and figure out a way to get him writing creatively.  So, given his interests - Star Wars, weapons, adventure stories, games and role playing (although he'd never played an official RPG), I took a lesson from Joseph Campbell and great ideas from George Lucas, a student of Campbell, and put them all together.

Last year, the idea started niggling and I bought some Star Wars books to thumb through.  Of course, my son thought that was divine.   Then, I had to take some time and learn what RPG was all about.  I guess I hadn't realized that Dungeons and Dragons (DnD) is a role playing game.  I never played it, but my friends in high school (yes, almost 30 years ago) did play it.  So I did have exposure, just not experience.

What I ended up with was a writing class for reluctant writers based on the Star Wars universe using role playing games as a way to a create the story.  While I wrote the class for my son, I knew he would not be interested in doing it by himself.  That is where the RPG comes into play.  I knew that if he had to share the story with others and that others would be involved in the story with him, he would work hard.  What an incentive!  So, we invited 11 of his friends to join us.  I used Joseph Campbell's The Hero With a Thousand Faces to teach the boys what makes a good myth.   One young man dropped out, but the older brother of another participant requested to join when he saw how much fun it could be.  These young men, aged 11-14 voluntarily joined us six weeks over the summer to write five 8-10 page stories.  And yes, my son came up with five 10 page stories.  I typed much of it for him because his ideas came so fast, he couldn't capture them all.  We're now working on using Dragon Dictation so he can hand it by himself.

Here is what I found.  The boys loved the themes, character development and structure.  But I think I was the big winners because I learned so much in those six weeks about boys, the writing process, RPG, Star Wars (did I really need to know more???) but most importantly  I also got to know these 11 young men much better.  It was especially funny to see how they would include each other or me in their stories, either by killing them off (not me) or buttering them up (most often me) so that others would include them in their stories.

My daughters, age 9 and 12 at the time, sat in hiding close to our school room enraptured as they listened in as the boys told their stories.  I am now working on the same process for girls, but the story lines will be much different.  In fact, we're toying with either a time travel element or putting the entire story in a particular period of time...not sure yet about that one.  Perhaps...



So, I'm curious.  Would it make sense to run the Star Wars class again?  Would there be interest?  I know the boys that took it enjoyed it, but I don't know if they will join us again.  By the way, I only charge for the cost of materials for these classes.  I am not interested in making money on it.  Last year, the boys paid $30, which covered all the class costs as well as snacks, materials, books, etc.  Let me know if you have someone interested.  My son would be...

Sensory Diet - Keeping Toddlers (and Everyone Else) Happy

It's important for toddlers and preschoolers to touch and feel many different textures.  It's part of what occupational therapists call a "Sensory Diet."  One part of my kids' sensory diet is "GLURCH."  Glurch is a weird substance who's name is derived from the first three letters of each of its components:  1 part glue:1 part liquid starch.  Just pour glue into a cup or bowl.  Add an equal amount of liquid starch.  Stir.  Then, you might have to get in there with your hands to knead.  Store it in an air tight container.

I  was cleaning out a craft cabinet in which I found several very old containers of pearlized and gel glue from five years ago.  I really didn't expect it to be usable, but it was just fine.  Apparently I had closed the containers tightly when I stored them.  The result, several batches of glurch that my younger kids call "slime."

First, we have pearlized green glue turned into green slime that looks like, well, a bodily fluid that comes from the nose, which is the boys' favorite.

I also found red and pink gel glue that became lava slime.  The plastic dinosaurs find it much more pleasant than real lava.

The last thing we tried was a combination of clear glitter glue and blue gel glue.  It's more blue than clear and the glitter makes it really shimmery.  The girls seem to like that one the best.

We especially like to keep this around on days when the older kids need mom and the little people need to be distracted and entertained.  This works splendidly.

And, it's great for covering toys and finding them, wadding up and blowing into with a straw to blow "bubbles" and letting settle down your arm, just for the eek effect.

It's also a great science experiment, if you want to explain the science behind polymers.  Here's a nice description compliments of www.science-class.net:

A POLYMER is unique because it has qualities of both a solid and a liquid. It can take the shape of its containers like a liquid does, yet you can hold it in your hand and pick it up like a solid. Solid molecules are tight together, liquid molecules spread out and break apart (drops) POLYMER molecules CHAIN themselves together (they can stretch and bend like chains) and that makes them special. Jell-O, rubber bands, plastic soda bottles, sneaker soles, even gum are all forms of polymers.

We also let them make and play with OOBLECK which is 1 part cornstarch to 1 part water.  You can add food color as you like.  Adjust the proportions and you have sidewalk paint when you add more water.

Oh, and don't be surprised if your older kids get in on the fun.  My 12 year old daughter can't stay way from either substance!

"Save the Relics!"

 

     My post secondary training is in lasers and fiber optics.  I entered the field under the advisement of my Chemistry teacher, Mr. Rhode. He suggested it based on my apparent comprehension of Science.  I wasn't great at Science.  I got A's, but that's because I loved Math and much of what it took to make it in Science in high school was the ability to apply Math to Science.
 
     I got out of the laser business in 1991.  I moved from working in a photonics research lab to becoming a Unix System Administrator.  While that might sound like a step down, it was the career that led me into training and curriculum development.  Even better, I actually got to talk to people.

     Fast forward 14 years and I got into the laser business again, but this time I was offering a laser class for middle school students of my homeschool group.  The first class was right before I had my fourth baby.  I had seven kids attend and it was a lot of fun. I've overhauled the curriculum each time I've offered it.  Then, this spring  I found teachengineering.org and saw they had a curriculum. I did make one change to the curriculum, which was to change the premise of the story.  The original curriculum was protecting a mummified troll and the students were required to build a security system to prevent its theft.  We just changed it to protecting relics on display at the Cathedral. Other than that, it was perfect for my needs, so I chucked what I had written and offered this new class to my two middle-schoolers and one other high school bound young man from our homeschool group.

     Yesterday was the "project day" they had earned after enduring demonstrations and lectures about lasers and light from me (based on the teachengineering.org curriculum.)  Their job was to design and build a laser security system in a three dimensional space in order to protect a "relic."

     I dumped  a laser, twelve mirrors (nine of which were on adjustable bases), clamps, rubber bands, painters tape and duct tape (which holds the universe together) and cardboard on the floor next to the enclosure frame they were to use and told them to have at it.  Oh, and then there was the photo-sensor.

     Just a tip if you decide to use the curriculum...I ordered the photo-sensor recommended on the teachengineering.org website.  Be forewarned that there is "Some Assembly Required" or more like TOTAL Assembly Required.  I have to admit it was a little bit of fun assembling and soldering all 50+ parts on the circuit board.  And, I'm proud to say it worked without any "rework."  I was a little worried since it had been at least 22 years since I've picked up a soldering iron.  I guess all of my time spent in Mr. Worden's electronics lab paid off, finally.

     They did a great job and they tried some interesting things like trying to expand the beam to make it easier to get into the tiny photo-sensor.  They had a lot of fun illuminating the beam with cornstarch to see the laser grid produced by using 8 mirror surfaces.  Even better was when they realized they'd gone just a little overboard with the cornstarch, getting the mirrors so dirty that not enough light was reflecting into the sensor, thus setting off their audible photo-sensor alarm security system!

    It's days like these that I am thankful I get to teach my kids at home.  To see the thought process, the cooperation of all, leadership of some, comedy of errors that occurred at times and the sense of pride and success when they accomplished their task is amazing.  And they had a really good time.  That, my friends, is what makes this job worthwhile!

Long ago in a galaxy far, far away...

I started to write a post about my Star Wars-themed writing program in January.  However, I'm finally just posting it now.  This project has been in the works for six months and I just finished my second weekly class (of six) with a group of ten middle-school aged young men.  We'll finish the pilot of this class mid-July.

Those who have read my other posts here and at my other blog know we're a geeky lot at my house.  I have my stepfather and husband to thank for that.  I grew up watching Star Trek re-runs.  My stepfather hauled us all to Star Wars when it came to our local theater in a tiny town in central Wisconsin.  My husband and I have spent "quality time" watching all generations of Star Trek since our dating days.  We even stream episodes of Next Generation from our early married years and fondly recall snuggling on the couch together.

And it was my husband who introduced me to Joseph Campbell.  When we first met, we talked and talked about what we liked.  Before we even started dating, we met for lunch during a work day (no, it was not a date) and he handed me the book The Power of Myth.   I loved it.  And we talked more about Star Wars and how Campbell greatly influenced George Lucas.  And, Campbell held a place at our wedding.  A poem from The Power of Myth was on the back of our wedding program.

As we had kids and have homeschooled them, the Star Wars and Star Trek sagas have played out in our lives in different ways. For example, we have no less than sixteen reference guides to the Star Wars world, not including the Star Wars Lego guide books.  We have Star Wars Risk.  We, of course, own the movies, but at our house it is a rite of passage when you turn eight years old that you get to watch Episode 4.  The month after you turn eight, you get to watch Episode 5 (Dad's favorite) and then a month later, Episode 6.  This goes on for two more months.  We've determined that Episode 3 is just too dark for kids.  My husband considers the new Star Trek movie one of the best he's seen and the kids have seen snippets of that, too.  We inherited about thirty Star Trek novels from my stepfather.  Like I said, we're geeks.

So, I'm running a writing class for boys.  Here are the rules. They write six pages of story a week.  No grammar or spelling grades.  It's volume.  Have you ever heard boys play "Star Wars?"  This process is all about getting what they play together out of their head and down onto paper.  No interrupting to ask, "Are you sure you spelled that correctly?" or "Are you sure that's the right tense?"  This is about letting the creative process work and to let these boys see they ARE capable of quality writing, and volumes of it.  They are creating their own stories and producing up to ten pages per story a week.  These are boys who don't like to write.  And the stories are good!  The other boys are cheering, laughing, groaning and faking pain while listening to their comrade's stories.  While they are listening, they are getting ideas about what to do with their stories. 

The boys' stories use Joseph Campbell's model for myth in The Hero With a Thousand Faces, also know as the "monomyth".  If you haven't read the book, I suggest you do because in it you will find the archetypes and model of every good story ever told.  Once you have read it, you will be able to find the holes in bad stories and realize what it was in the stories you loved that worked for you.  The book is often the text for college mythology classes, but I have found it to be a valuable resource for those who want to write a good story.  And the class follows many of the exercises of the"progymnasmata" protocol, but don't tell the boys that.

Gone Fishin'

My 6 year old has a way of keeping me on my toes.  He does not want to do school anymore because it's "no fun."  So, it was time to get creative.
He got a cheap dollar store fishing pole with a magnet for a hook from his sister for Christmas.  Inspiration!
I got out his flashcards and had HIM put paper clips on each.  (Great skill for developing fine motor skills.)  Before hie could completely finish, enter two year old.  She found the fishing pole and WOULD NOT give it back.  She had "gone fishin'" for his flashcards.  He was LIVID.  The scene he created was loud.
The result of the ruckus?  Enter four year old.  "I want to fish, too" he declared.
I ran out to the garage and grabbed the two kiddy fishing poles we had.  I cut the hooks and managed to tie slip knots on the line.  I added a couple of magnets to the lines.
Four year old and six year old now were putting paper clips on Disney Princess Math flashcards for the two year old.  She switched to fishing for princesses instead of reading words.
Four year old and six year old casted and fished for reading words, with four year old trying to say the letter names or sounds and six year old reading the words.  Two year old was still picking up princesses.
In the end I used:

• 3 fishing poles (kiddie or play type with magnets on the line)
• box of paper clips
• flashcards

Result:  three happy kids under 7, fine motor skill activity, gross motor activity (fishing), reading, letter recognition and PRINCESS recognition (don't all two year old girls need that?)  :-)
What have you done for fun lately?  Leave some creative ideas here.  Help us all out.

iPad NO Disorder

This is all in humor.  Really.

One child, tonight at the dinner table, started displaying this problem.  When asked a question, to which the answer was no, he proceeded to swiped one finger across his face, drawing his head to the side.  He let go and then wiggled his head side to side.

On the iPad, if it thinks you are moving an icon, all the icons will wiggle side-to-side until you hit the back button.  My kids sometimes do this in error and have named that the "no" function because you can't do anything while the icons are "shaking their heads" back and forth at you.

So, after this, all the kids over 5 are now doing the one finger sweep across their face and the side-to-side wiggle to indicate no.   iPad what have you done?

Cooperative Fun Learning

Here's a fun way to keep two age groups busy...

First - the back story.  My 3 year old son is superhero obsessed.  So much so that my pediatrician jokingly asked me if he owns more than one shirt.  The 3 year old was wearing his Superman Underoo shirt, AGAIN.  I explained, that no, he has four Superman Underoo shirts along with two batman Underoo shirts and two Spiderman Underoo shirts.  Most of them are hand-me-downs from his older brothers, but some are new.  Literally, that is all he would wear if I let him.  We've come to an agreement that he CAN'T wear a superhero shirt to church, but otherwise he can wear them.  He's now fond of wearing the Superman shirt under a button-down shirt so he can be just like Superman OR wear a turtleneck under the Superman Underoo.

My 11 year old daughter loves to draw.  One day, I needed both of them busy and SHE came up with this idea.  She drew a picture of random Batman images, including Robin, words in bubble letters like Zap and Pow all while the 3 year old told her what he wanted on the picture he wanted to paint.  She outlined them in Sharpie marker, then she colored them in with watercolor pastels.  She gave the picture to the 3 year old with a brush and water and he had a custom Superhero coloring page.

You could make a coloring book as a gift, if you are looking for a way for the older kids to gift the little ones.  You could also use watercolor colored pencils.  I've even heard you could make dots using washable markers.  What a nice way to get a big kid helping a little one!

This kept them busy for a good hour, with the big 11 year old helping all the way.

Worth Passing On to those with Preschoolers

I belong to a Yahoo! Group about Catholic Homeschooling.  Someone sent this list of 60 things for Preschoolers to do on their own and said to feel free to distribute it!  It's wonderful. Now, you may not have all the toys she mentions, but she has links!  Enjoy.

For what it's worth, I've compiled my list of 60 activities for my preschooler to do independently while I'm doing lessons with my other children. (If you're not homeschooling but still have a preschooler at home, this may help you get some "just for you" time...)

My preschooler will be encouraged to participate with our lessons as she wants to or is capable (like listening to stories during Language Arts or History; she can certainly "do art" but I'm not going to force it and hopefully these activities will keep her occupied and out of trouble.

Feel free to pass this on to anyone else whom you think may find this helpful.

Preschooler Ideas for Younger  Siblings - 3 and up

Since I'm using all the provided curriculum boxes for the kids (from K12), I decided to take the biggest box --the one that the art clay, plaster of Paris, etc. came in, and designate it my three year old's "school box". This way her school box is just like her siblings'. This box will ONLY be used at school time, and will only be used at the table. You can take any box and decorate it and make it the "special" box...brought out only at certain times and each time having something different in it.

Inside will be her own pencil box that will have a set of markers, (crayola washable, naturally) a pair of Fiskars kid scissors, a box of crayons, a pencil, a pen, and a glue stick. Each day I will put some papers in there for her to either color, cut up, paste things on, or practice writing (simple mazes and such for her to follow, etc.)

Each week I'll put one or two interesting books that she will enjoy looking at. There will also be one or two "special activities" that will change from day to day, made up of (mostly) educational toys and stuff that I currently have on hand but has been "put away" for a while.... Each day there'll be something different to do, either loose in the box or in a zipper top Ziploc bag (the kind with the slider zipper is easier for the kids to manipulate than the traditional ones).

The idea of this box is for her to entertain herself with little or no guidance from me while I work with her older siblings. She will more than likely be participating with us during some lessons (she likes to play "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" with the phonics tiles, LOL) .

Here are some ideas for the activities. Some will be in a zippered bag, some won't. I have 60 activities, so that I'll have enough for 2 per day per month. At the end of the month I'll start over again. The key to the success of these is to keep them a surprise and limit access to them so that the novelty does NOT wear off. Some seemingly obvious things, like legos and matchbox cars are missing from this list because they play with them almost every day. I got the ideas for many of these activities from various websites with preschoolers in mind. I do not have these in any particular order. Obviously they need to be mixed up so there aren't a whole slew of similar activities piggy backing day in and day out......Also, I'm not going to insult your intelligence by reminding you about choking hazards, which some of these activities may contain...use your common sense based upon your child, and you'll be fine!...

1. sock match...several pairs of colorful infant socks that she's outgrown in the bag to match up or just play with. If I know her she'll have them on her hands and feet for half an hour.

2. dominoes...to build with and do who knows what with...

3. Discovery Toys Tinyville Magnets (these are magnets in shapes like people, vehicles, animals, buildings, cloud, stars, moon, etc...) and the magnetic white board

4. Play Doh, with geometric shaped cookie cutters

5. Play Doh with farm animal cookie cutters

6. Paint in a bag...put two colors of paint in a doubled Ziploc bag, seal it with clear tape, and let her squish them to mix the colors. There will be a couple of different color combinations

7. More magnets --from a magnet kit...lots of different plane figures and a magnetic base to build upon

8. Blues Clues Cards there are nine sets of four cards, three "clues" that go with one card. Got these at a dollar store that was going out of business...got them for 50 cents! :-)

9. Mixies cards (11 sets of three different cards that form a picture...these came from somebody's birthday party favor bag)

10. Puzzle Pairs (Discovery Toys two piece puzzles of things that go together, like a sock and foot, sink and soap, etc)

11. Memory...for The Preschooler I'll probably only give her 24 cards at a time as opposed to the full set of 72; this way I can get 3 activities from one memory game and she won't be overwhelmed!

12. Animal Lotto..she can match up all the animals on the boards...

13. Spirit "jigsaw" puzzle...I printed out a horse picture colored to look like Spirit and am gluing it to felt, then cutting it out in simple shapes for her to put together. I will probably put a couple more like this in
there too.

14. Pattern blocks (mine are from K12; easily obtained from curriculum suppliers for a few bucks)

15. Wooden Geometric Solids...these will keep her occupied for at least a half hour; as with above, easily obtained from suppliers, often for under $10 for a nice set of 12 hardwood blocks

16. Math linking cubes- these are the multi link cubes, not unifix cubes. The multi link cubes are connectable all the way around, unlike unifix cubes that only connect one way.

17. Lincoln Logs

18. dry rice with a funnel, measuring cup, measuring spoon, and containers

19. Lacing beads with shoe laces (the long heavy duty ones from ds's old workboots work really well)

20. Giant pegboard and rubber bands

21.Rubber stamps with farm animals

22. Rubber stamps with numbers

23. Discovery Toys Playful Patterns

24. Discover Toys AB Seas alphabet fishing game

25. Discovery Toys Itsy Bitsy Spider Game

26 Discovery Toys Bright Builders (being a former consultant has its advantages!)

27. Stickers! Lots of STICKERS. Draw shapes on a piece of paper and give lots of tiny stickers to fill in the shapes with. You could also write the child's name on there to put stickers on each letter...so the name shows up in stickers. the smaller the sticker the better as it takes more time to fill them in.

28. Animal cards...you know those "clubs" where you get wildlife cards? Well I picked up half a set at a yardsale and the kids love looking at the pictures...that should keep her busy for 20 minutes

29. Mr and Mrs Potato Head Not sure if it's educational, but it should keep her busy for a half hour, hopefully. LOL

30. Bucket of Goop (three parts cornstarch to one part water) in a small empty oxyclean bucket with a scoop, funnel, graduated cylinder from K12, and another container to pour the goop into. Messy and fun but easy to clean up.

31. Watercolor paints I miss those old "Paint with water" books where all you had to do was have a paintbrush and water. The new ones come with a set of watercolors attached, but in this case, I'd really like the books with the pictures already "colored" and you just swipe it with a wet brush to "paint." Maybe lacking in creativity, but hey. After painting one picture The Preschooler will probably have the paint set ruined by not rinsing out the brush...my idea here is for her do to something WITHOUT guidance from me...oh well...

32. Lacing cards. Using the shoe laces from the lacing beads. I'll cut out shapes from light weight cardboard and cover with contact paper before punching holes in it. Someone else suggested using old bleach bottles but
I'm afraid that cutting them up will ruin my scissors. LOL

33. Felt shapes and felt board...using cookie cutters and other things as patterns, I'll make some little people and geometric shapes for her to play with. I'll cover a piece of sturdy cardboard with felt.

Bananas for the Monkeys Original Author Unknown: Cut five monkey shapes out of brown felt and fifteen banana shapes out of yellow felt. Number the monkeys from 1 to 5 and place them on flannel board. Have the children identify the number on each monkey and place that many bananas in front of it.

34. Puppets in a Bag --yarn, facial features already cut out, a brown lunch sack, and some glue...a puppet kit!

35. Glue, Yarn, and shapes...sorry, no creative name for this. I'll draw some shapes on construction paper and give her a small (the tiny size) bottle of Elmer's glue to squeeze onto the lines I drew (helps build small
motor coordination) and then she can put the yarn on the shapes. Other times, do this with her name, or a house, or something similar. I buy the tiny bottles once, then get the more economical bigger bottles to refill
with later as needed. I don't even buy Elmer's half the time.

36. Collage in a bag...rip out some magazine pages with interesting pictures for her to cut out and paste on a piece of paper...maybe following a certain theme...like one time have it all healthy foods...another time, families and kids, animals, flowers, etc.

37. Bean Sort - Since she's pretty much beyond sticking a bean up her nose and requiring dh to remove it with needle nose pliers, I figure this is now a safe activity for her to do with only moderate supervision. (yes
that's what happened and I got rid of our "Don't Spill The Beans Game" after dd and I were traumatized by this.dd was much more mortified by the sight of her daddy heading toward the preschooler's nose with those pliers...I didn't look.  :) ) Lots of different beans in a bucket for her to measure, pour, sort, and throw on the floor for me to vacuum up.

38. Eyedropper, small container of water, and a mini ice cube tray or Styrofoam egg carton. If you're feeling adventurous, use colored water to make it interesting. Demonstrate how to use the eyedropper both to fill and
empty the cups... Would also work well with mini muffin tins, I suppose...

39. Colored Pasta - color your own pasta, using wheels or any other pasta that has large openings (easy to lace.) Use small amount of rubbing alcohol and several drops of food coloring in an airtight container or Ziploc. Leave the pasta in for a few minutes ; shaking it up or stirring a few times. Take it out to dry in a single layer. . then provide laces to string them up. You could provide some color or shape patterns on cards to duplicate.

40. Penny Count (source: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/3446/keeplittleones.html) I will make a more compact version on a single sheet of paper, and use circles the same size as the counting tokens (bingo chips)...match the colors and number amounts! But I thought the whole idea was pretty neat:
Make a poster board showing "cells" of numbers. Example: Draw a square, write "1" in it. Draw or tape down "1" penny in the square. Do the same with each square...up to ten or twenty...your choice. I'd start with 10 first and then draw two more squares at a time up to twenty as child gets better at this skill.
2) Give your child a basket or plastic container of pennies and have him match up pennies that you have put down with the picture in each square.  (Ex. In the "2" cell, he would put below your example 1, 2 pennies in a
one-to-one correspondence. Check him when he is done by having him count each cell with you. Repetition is what teaches counting!
3) Eventually "test" your child by showing him only a number "3" printed on a index card and have him lay down 3 pennies and say "3". You might even write the word "three" along with the number "3" back in step one so that the child is learning a sight vocabulary word along with the printed "3".  You would only do this if your child already knows the alphabet though. Then you could hold up a card that says "three" and see if he can lay the correct pennies down when seeing the word too.

41. Super ball or small car and a paper towel or Christmas paper tube. If you feel creative you could make a marble run of sorts with a couple tubes (see www.familyfun.com) I probably won't...she'll be happy enough with this.  Why get more complicated than you need to? I could also let her color it with markers if she wanted.

42. Magnet and paperclips, washers, a nail, etc.

43. A large (big enough to climb in) box. 'Nuff said.

44. A giant piece of paper (or PAVCS posterboard) to color on...whatever desired...just give the paper and markers and you're set.

45. Lots of colored pom poms and tweezers to sort them out...look for tweezers that will be easy for little hands to manipulate, like the ones that come with the game Bed Bugs...heck, look for the Bed Bugs game. LOL

46. Treasure Hunt: large pot or box filled with corn meal, oat meal, rice, etc, with small "treasures" hidden inside...individually wrapped candy, coins, Barbie shoes, game pieces, etc. Make a picture checklist with all the items to find!

47. Colored Straws and scissors: nothing more to say. LOL straws are good for scissor practice because one snip and you have instant results. Provide Elmer's glue and paper and it's time to make a mosaic!

48. Discovery Toys Busy Bugs This can be duplicated with any manipulative, but I just got the game off eBay for $10. Might be able to find something similar in a homeschool catalog... kind of like the penny poster above, just using something different to play with and put the "problems" on index cards instead of the poster. You could use stuff around the house like coins, counters, buttons, pasta...make up index cards with patterns to duplicate/put simple problems on there: show items with number and number word under it, or do a simple problem like 2+2= etc...... This activity will be accompanied by a couple bug books and hopefully a neat bug video from the library!

49. Sticks, chunks of moss, rocks, leaves...with small rubber animals or dinosaurs...add some sand in a 9x13 baking pan...don't worry about sand on the floor...that's what vacuum cleaners are for!!!!! On a nice day do all your school work outside...heck, let the older kid SKIP schoolwork to do this outside... :-)

50. Magnetic Treasure Hunt: like the treasure hunt (#46) above, only this time use metal items and a magnet to attract them! Be sure your magnet isn't too strong or your kid will get several treasures at once!

51. Memory 2 see activity 11

53 Memory 3 see activity 11

54. Checkers and a small purse/canvas bag.... Checkers are cool cause they stack. If you can get more than two dozen, that's even better. Dollar stores often have checker games.

55. Chess pieces. Get a cheap chess/checkers game or two at the dollar store. Rachel likes to play with the pieces like they're alive. :-)

56. Magnetic Marbles I picked these up at a dollar store. Amazing the things you find at these places! I know that they'll be interesting for at least fifteen to twenty minutes...maybe more.

57. Popsicle sticks and Elmer's glue. Bob the builder at your service! Real cool if you have colored sticks...or just color them with markers when done.  This is great for eye hand coordination and small motor building. You could put the glue in a small plastic cup or on a paper plate and have child apply it with a cotton swab to avoid "excessive" glue....

58. Rubber Stamps with letters

59. Viewmaster and reels --I'm trying to collect educational rather than twaddle reels (cartoon characters = twaddle). I want to find reels of  animals and places that are real.

60. Farm Animals and Barn. Our barn was being abused (read: animals left all over the house) plus we really don't have shelf space for the barn to be out  all the time. So I'll bring it out from time to time...maybe when nothing else is working and the Preschooler is being a real pill.

One thing I am going to try not to worry about is "THE MESS" with some of these activities. Messes happen. Elmer's, crayola markers, and watercolors wash off. Sand and rice vacuums up. (You'll note I didn't put finger paints or tempera paint activities here...#1, that's not recommended without supervision...because tempera stains...and #2...well, tempera stains. LOL I've chosen things that will have a moderate clean up factor, if any. I may even let the Preschooler use the vacuum hose to clean up any spills...the other two will probably fight her for the "privilege". LOL And when they're old enough to actually handle the vacuum, it's no longer "fun" for them and they don't want to do it!

On Keeping Toddler's Busy...

I'm helping out this week at VBS and I'm working the nursery.  We are surrounded by 6 lovely teen aged girls, us 5 moms.  We have 18 or so little charges, mostly kids of the Nursery workers, go figure!

So we were brainstorming about how to not lose our sanity keep them busy this week.  Here are some of our ideas.  These are useful when you are homeschooling as well:

New toys that aren't yours.  I resurrected a ball toy that consists of chutes and ramps that balls run down.  It kept many busy...Find a friend with whom you can swap toys.

Playdoh - homemade is best.  Use unsweetened kool-aid type drink mix to color and scent it.  Get out the cookie cutters, rolling pins and have fun.

12' long tube of fabric ribbing.  I kid you not, this is probably the best $12 I have ever spent.  We call it the car wash.  You have two of those adorable teens each hold an end open and send kids through on their hands and knees.  It's hilarious and they have a blast.

Pack-n-play and a large amount of balls = ball pit.  Ball pit balls are very inexpensive and they don't hurt when they hit you.  The pack-n-play helps contain them.  You could also use an inflatable pool.

Dress up clothes.  We're bringing hard hats, shields, knights clothes, princess dresses and cowboy hats.  We're testosterone heavy in the nursery, so I'll be looking for more "manly" dress-up clothes in our bin tonight.

Roads, Rivers and Runways - Get a large sheet of paper and draw a city or just a race track for the boys to run their cars on or make an airport for the planes.  You can draw a lake for the boats, too.

Kindermats.  The make good napping spots, forts, baby beds and tunnels for cars and trucks.

Videos.  I'm a firm believer in judicious use of Veggie Tales.  We use this for that last half hour when we've heard all too many times, "Is it time to go home yet?"

Have a great week!  I'll try to post more as the week goes on...

In Search of Mark and Janice Vreeland of Family Learning

For those that attended my games workshop, I had promised to try and contact Mark and Janice Vreeland that had written that great workbook called "Games...Tools for Learning" that I had gotten at a one day workshop back in 2003. I have tried google searching them, tried their web site, email all to no avail. So, if anyone out there has a copy of "Games...Tools for Learning" that they would like to unload, I know some buyers. I'm happy to act as a go between.

For those interested in further information on a full games workshop that I provide, that would include a workbook and time to create games with other moms, please contact me. The talk I gave at the conference was based on my workshop. My workshop is not like Mark and Janice's. Their seminar was a full day. I do my seminar in 3 hours and you go home with a booklet of quick and easy games. Mark and Janice almost created curriculum out of their games. I don't go that far and I don't use many of their ideas. I have a very different approach and we will have LOTS of fun.


I love doing the workshop and I think it's important, more so for the mom than the kids. Games give moms as much of a needed break as it does for kids. Mom? When was the last time you could say you really had fun teaching a subject? Playing a game with your kids on the subjects they need to learn will help restore our "love of teaching" as much as the kids "love of learning."

I don't charge much for the workshop, just the cost for the workbooks and my travel costs.  My only request is that you have at least 5 people so the copy costs are reasonable.  I get a discount for bulk copying.  So, please let me know via the combox if you are interested.  It would be my pleasure to do the workshop for you.

2010 Minnesota Catholic Home Educators Conference

Are you going to the 2010 Minnesota Catholic Home Educator's Conference? I'm taking a cue for Margaret and posting the three seminars I will be leading:

• Beginning Homeschooling
• Get your Game On!
• How to Get Your Kids to See the Light (or Feel It or Hear It)!

Having been the membership coordinator, general coordinator, advisory member and new homeschool contact for our Parish's home school group, I have lots and lots of experience talking with families either contemplating the vocation of home schooling their children OR those who have just started. My Beginning Homeschooling talk will cover the What? Where? Why? and How? of Home Education.

In 2004, I attended a Game Workshop given by the Vreeland Family. I had been playing games with my kids as a reinforcement for their studies from the beginning and had read many books on the topic. After attending the Vreeland's workshop and making my own games, I wanted to bring the Vreeland's up to Minnesota for a workshop, but they had moved back out East and had retired from the workshop business. I opted to create a mini-workshop of my own. For the conference, I will be doing "Get your game on" which is a pared down version of the workshop for attendees interested in making the most of their curriculum dollar and finding fun ways to reinforce their children's learning.

Lastly, I will be helping parents better understand their children's learning modalities. Before children, I was an adult educator. By adjusting my teaching style, I was able to get the message I was teaching clearly to all my students after I found out about differing learning modalities. This applies to teaching children as well. Learning modalities have other names like multiple intelligences. But really, learning modalities explain how our children best learn. I will give tips on how to determine your child's modalities, typical patterns children go through in maturation (and change in modalities) and I will also explain some ways to incorporate multisensory learning experiences into your day to better reach your children's particular way of learning.

I hope you can make it to the conference!