20 Best Tips

The Little Rabbit Sensory Bin … or Tray

Initially I had grand plans for a super cute sensory bin to go along with the book The Little Rabbit by Judy Dunn. A few things had been put aside to put in the tub, but when I asked for Kaleb’s help the first day of our unit, he decided that less was more and had just as much fun playing with it.

The Little Rabbit Sensory Bin

Inside our sensory tub/tray:

The Little Rabbit Sensory bin-2

Instead of using a tub for this, we used a shallow lid. Kaleb decided that instead of Easter grass he wanted to use green construction paper for the grass, so we put that on the tray.

The Little Rabbit Sensory bin-1

In the story, the rabbit hutch has hay, so I cut the tan construction paper into thin strips and then Kaleb had fun snipping off small pieces to put inside the hutch {great fine motor work for him, since he typically doesn’t like using scissors}.

The Little Rabbit Sensory bin-4

We added the figures to our tray and this has been the ‘go to’ toy all week for not only Kaleb, but the other kids as well. Tiny little latches, hidden doors – so much fun.

The Little Rabbit Sensory bin-5

Less has definitely been more this week.

Don’t miss The Little Rabbit Printable Pack to go along with the story!

Little-Rabbit-Printables.jpg

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Thanksgiving Number Sort Printable

With Thanksgiving this week, we’ll be working on some fun projects together all focused on the theme of Thanksgiving. To work on the difference between even and odd numbers, I pulled together these number cards to use this week along with our studies.

Thanksgiving Number Sort

Use the Thanksgiving Number Sort cards to have your child work on sequencing numbers from 1 to 20 or have your child sort the numbers by odd or even. If 20 numbers is too many, choose a handful of numbers and record them on the mat {great handwriting practice as well}.

Thanksgiving Number Sort Mat

Print the pages on cardstock and laminate them to make them sturdy {this is how we laminate more inexpensively}. Then let your child sort the numbers by even and odd while spread out on the floor, or pick a handful of the numbers and record them on the last page in the even or odd basket using a Vis-à-vis markers or dry erase markers.

Have fun learning and sorting together!

Don’t Miss These Thanksgiving Printables!

Thanksgiving Printable Pack for Preschool and Kindergarten

~ Thanksgiving Printable Pack for Preschool and Kindergarten

~ Thanksgiving word cards for the Read! Build! Write! vocabulary mats

~ Thanksgiving Preschool Pack from 1+1+1=1

~ Paper strip pumpkin craft

~ pumpkin spice playdough

Have fun – and feel free to share a link to this page with others!

Enjoy!

Printables from A to ZEnjoy free printables? If you are looking for something in particular, be sure to check out my Printables from A to Z list, a complete list of every printable I’ve created over the years. Can’t find what you’re looking for? Leave a comment and I’d be happy to help you out!

Three Letter Word Cards ~ Free Printable

3 Letter Word Puzzle Cards

Looking for an fun {and colorful} way to have your child sound out and spell three letter words? The Three Letter Word Cards contain a list of 42 3-letter CVC words for children to sound and spell using fun picture clues and hands-on learning – and they are FREE especially for my email subscribers – yay!!

Are you already an email subscriber? Please go to this private page and enter the NEW password. You can find the password in your most current email at the very bottom. Become a subscriber HERE and receive instant access. 

 

The Three Letter Word Cards include:

  • 48 full color picture cards with word prompts {lightly shaded in gray}
  • 48 full color picture cards with no letter or word prompts
  • 2 sheets of color-coded letter tiles {upper and lower case}

Ideas for Using the Word Cards

Three Letter Word Puzzles

  1. For early learners – trace the shaded letters using Vis-à-vis markers or dry erase markers
  2. Match the correct letter tile to the letter on the puzzle card
  3. Spell the word with letter tiles using no prompts
  4. Write the letters in the squares using a vis-à-vis or dry erase marker

 


How We’re Using the 3 Letter Word Cards

3 Letter Word Cards - 42 CVC words for spelling and reading

We printed off our set onto cardstock and then laminated them to make them a bit more sturdy. {Note: This is how we laminate more inexpensively}. We’re using a cookie sheet as the base for our word cards and have added magnets to the back of the letters. If you are looking for magnets and an expanded set of GREAT letter tiles, All About Spelling has Letter Tile Magnets and Letter Tiles available that are already perforated ~ a huge help!

The letter tiles include vowels in both blue and pink. If you are teaching your child the difference between consonants and vowels, the pink tiles will come in handy to show that they are vowels in the CVC {consonant-vowel-consonant} words.

Ready to have some fun?

Download the 3 Letter Word Cards

3 Letter Word Cards - 42 CVC words for children to sound and spell

This is a FREE download for email subscribers – and it is really easy to subscribe by simply clicking HEREor by entering your email in the box at the bottom of this post. 

Subscribe button

After you subscribe by email, you will receive a confirmation email. Once you confirm your subscription, you will be redirected to a page with a link, password, and directions to get your FREEBIE!! You can always email me if you have any questions and I’d be happy to help you out. 

If you would prefer not to subscribe, the 3 Letter Word Cards are also available for purchase in my Teacher’s Notebook store for $3.00. 

I’d love to hear how your children enjoy them!

 

Ready for Reading?

All About Reading Review-1 All About Reading Review-2

If your child is ready for reading, take a look at All About Reading Level 1. We’ve used it with both of our boys and LOVED it! Use the Reading Readiness Checklist to help you decide if the program is right for you.

 

Supplies for the 3 Letter Word Cards


Printables from A to ZEnjoy free printables? If you are looking for something in particular, be sure to check out my Printables from A to Z list, a complete list of every printable I’ve created over the years. Can’t find what you’re looking for? Leave a comment and I’d be happy to help you out!

Note: This idea came from a set of printables that I originally put together several years ago for Zachary, based on a thrift store find from a reader.

Shape Word Cards for Read, Build, Write Vocabulary Mats

Many of you all have asked for a set of shape word cards to go along with the Read! Build! Write! Mats! Although Kaleb knows his shapes, we are working on identifying shape words and these will be a great help to us in using the vocabulary mats.

Shape Word Cards

 

There are two different pages in the word cards – one in black in white and another in color.

All downloads are in the green columns on the Read! Build! Write! page

The Read! Build! Write! Vocabulary Mats

Not familiar with the Read! Build! Write! mats? Basically, they are a fun way to work with your child on word identification and spelling.

Read, Build, Write collage

Here’s how you use the mats:

Read: Place one of the vocabulary cards in the top box and read the word together.

Build: Use letter tiles or magnets to build the word in the second box.

Write: Finally, practice writing the word in the bottom box.

Print the mats onto cardstock and then laminate them so that you can use Vis-à-vis markers or dry erase markers on the mats.

Read, Build, Write collage 2

Check out the Read! Build! Write! page to find additional themed vocabulary cards to go along with all of the Early Learning Printable Packs that I’ve put together so far.

All downloads are in the green columns on the Read! Build! Write! page

Additional Early Learning Printables

Looking for a few other free printables to use when practicing those numbers? Check out these resources:

~ Color Matching Cards and more

~ Number Tracing Cards ~ great ‘take along’ activity for numbers 1-20

~ Number Playdough Mats {for numbers 1-20}

~ Number Matching Cards ~ colorful and they also include Roman Numerals for older children to use!

Hope these help you all out! Feel free to ‘pin’ the printables and share them with others! If there are some other vocabulary cards that you would like to see me put together, leave a comment and let me know!

 

Calendar Notebook Binder Printables

Calendar Notebook Printables free

 

Call them calendar notebooks. Or calendar binders. The choice is yours. Either way, they are a great way to add a little math learning to your day. While we have a Morning Calendar Board that we all work on together, the notebooks were something that were added this year.

 

The kids are loving them.

I put together two versions of the calendar notebook printables – one for early handwriting and another with cursive directions and tracers. You can choose which one works best for your child {see below}.

How to Use the Calendar Notebook

Here’s a peek at how we’re using ours with the kids, and because some of you may not want to read, here is a video tour our our calendar notebook.

 

 

{feed readers may need to visit the blog to view the video clip}

Kaleb {kindergarten} is using the manuscript version of the notebook and our 3rd and 5th grader are using the cursive version to sneak in a little extra practice {shhhh}. The first few pages of the printables are laminated and we use a vis’-a-vis marker {it wipes off easily with a damp cloth each day} to work in the notebooks. You can otherwise slide the pages into page protectors and use dry erase markers.

 

100 daysWe start off by adding the number for the day we are in school on our 100 Days of School chart. I am determined to do something special this year for our 100th day {and having three kids reminding me about it should help immensely}.

At the bottom of this page we use a vis’-a-vis marker to make an addition problem using the number from the chart and we find the missing number that will add up to 100. The older kids are able to do this fairly easily, but with Kaleb I’m using unifex cubes to help him visualize and group by 10’s until he has a better grasp of the concept.

 

number words

We then move to the next page where we talk about what day of the week it is and underline it. We also review what yesterday was and what tomorrow will be. The date is written on the next line {in either 8-17-12 form or August 15, 2012}.

The center box below is filled with the current date number {i.e. 15} and then we find the number before and after. We write the daily number and the number word, draw the hands on the clock and put a line on the thermometer for the inside or outside temperature.

 

days in school tally

Depending on how many days we’ve been in school, we break the number up by 1’s, 10’s and 100’s and show how it is added together. At the bottom of the page we show how it would look if the number were in dollars and cents.

We add a tally mark in the correct monthly box each day we are in school and at the end of the month we add up the days. During the year we can compare from month to month and see how many days we were in school during each month {which is more/less, etc…}.

There are also pages to help us track the weather from month to month and practice writing names {i.e. watching our handwriting improve…hopefully}.

Calendar Binder month glance

Each month of the year there is a blank calendar for the kids to fill in the calendar. They trace the month name at the top and as they fill in the numbers on the calendar, they find the star at the bottom with the same number and color it in.

Kaleb has been working on a pattern with his stars and really loves this part of it. On the facing page, we fill in the graph to show the weather and at the end of the month answer a few questions based on the graph results.

The calendar notebook printables include the following:

  • 12 undated monthly calendars {you can use them year after year}
  • monthly weather tracking graphs
  • Today is, number word identification, telling time and temperature
  • Breaking down numbers by 1’s, 10’s, and 100’s
  • Practicing tally marks
  • Yearly weather tracking
  • Handwriting practice
  • Pattern practice {part of the monthly calendar pages}
  • Identification of seasons
  • 100 Days of School chart

Download the Free Calendar Notebook!!

Ready to download the files? Choose one or both of the files below! They are FREE to download {and feel free to pin, tweet or share this post with others!}.

Download the Calendar Notebook Printables – manuscript version

Download the Calendar Notebook Printables – cursive version

Download the Southern Hemisphere Calendar Notebook Printables

 

Check out these other Calendar Notebook Printables

These ladies also have some great printables to use during calendar time and each offer something a little different – so there may be something you can use as well or something you like even better than mine!

Mama Jenn

Carisa from 1+1+1=1

Motherhood on a Dime

Our Aussie Homeschool

Confessions of a Homeschooler

 

Get a peek at our Morning Calendar Board and grab even more free printables here.

Calendar Board Printables from Homeschool Creations

 

Preschool Corner ~ Police Lapbook

Our boys enjoyed the fireman lapbook that we did so much and asked to do one about policemen.

And we did!

Both of the boys are very much into firemen and policemen at the moment, so we took advantage of that this week and I put together a policeman lapbook for Zachary and Kaleb.  A certain little someone was being a little stubborn during some of it and didn’t want to do it all. Zachary, on the other hand, was able to do most of the cutting for the booklets on his own and then I glued it all together for both of them.

paperclip patterns

We did other activities as well during the week ~ made a stoplight craft {included in the lapbook file}, made red/yellow/green patterns using paperclips, dressed up like policemen, directed traffic, played with our cars/trucks and read lots of books too {see below}.

This is a picture of the inside/outside and back of our policeman lapbook that we did. I used a blue file folder {of course} ~ no fancy folding, and just punched it with a 3 hole punch when we were done so we could put it into a binder to keep on a nearby shelf.

Police lapbook

The front cover is a coloring sheet of a policeman that is part of the full lapbook file. On the back we put the P for Policeman letter tracing sheet that we worked on {included in the lapbook file}.

Inside the Lapbook

~ Count the Fingerprints: 1:1 counting up to 10. I’d highly recommend using a washable ink ~ I’m just saying.

~ Shapes in Signs: A look at signs we see all around us and the shape that they are.

~ What Color is the Police’s Hat? A coloring book to identify color words.

~ Police Patterns: Make simple {or more complex} patterns using a police officer and a magnifying glass.

~ Sign Matching: Play a fun game of memory together with street signs {I recommend printing this one on cardstock}.

~ ABC Matching: Uppercase and lowercase letter matching cards {print on cardstock and laminate to reuse!}.

~ Catch the Robber: A tracing activity to use with your preschooler {I would recommend printing this on cardstock and laminating so you can use it later}.

You can download individual pieces for the police lapbook on my website or the full file {it’s around 2.5 MB}. I have a few additional resources on the website too for you to visit. If you decide to do the lapbook with your kids, let me know and I’ll link to you from my website. :)

Stories & Books We Used

 
Ready to Link Up?

Share what you are doing with your kids! The updated guidelines can be found here if you need them.
 
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