Hands-On Learning

Welcome to the Back to Homeschool Blog Hop, where over 50 of my fellow bloggers from the Schoolhouse Review Crew are going to be sharing various posts on the subject of homeschooling. As I have been spending the last month sharing different products in my Back to School/5 Year Blogiversary Celebration, I am going to be sharing with you some of my favorite products, ideas and resources for different subjects. These aren't written in stone, but I plan to share some ideas on:

• Teaching Children to Read
• Online Learning
• Hands-On Learning
• Science
• Math

In honor of today's Back to School/5 Year Blogiversary Celebration review of Fundanoodle, I would like to focus on hands-on learning today.

Anyone who has been reading my blog for a while will know that we like hands-on activities and projects. From the beginning, when we were home preschooling and using Montessori activities, I have tried to make sure the children have had lots of opportunities to have tactile learning experiences.

As they get older it has been a bit trickier for me to figure out hands-on activities for the girls. My only experience with the Montessori was with infants, toddlers and preschoolers. One of the reasons I went with My Father's World is because there is hands-on learning included, definitely my teaching style. With MFW we read a little about our science topic one day and then on our exploration day we do the hands-on observations. There is a math workbook, but there is also lots of work with manipulatives. They also have their Learning Palettes and Learning Wrap-Ups that we reviewed a couple of months ago. These usually go in their #4 workbox. That is about the extent of the hands-on learning for the older children.

This year I also plan on bringing back our Learning Trays for the younger children. There will be such things as: 

Spooning

Pouring

Sticking pipe cleaners and toothpicks into a cheese shaker

Color sorting and counting with pipe cleaners in a cheese shaker

Color sorting pompoms into an egg carton

one to one with tongs

Using a dustpan

Sweeping

There are books out there to help set up your home to do Montessori activities. The one I have used is Mommy, Teach Me! Preparing Your Preschool Child for a Lifetime of Learning.

The children continue to get a lot of practice when they help out in the kitchen. I love having Kids and a Mom in the Kitchen time. Not only do they work on those fine-motor skills, they get to work on math and reading skills while making yummy foods.  I love the opportunity for one-to-one counting as we pour or spoon ingredients into the bowl or pan. But, it can go beyond counting when the children are asked how many spoon/cupfuls we still need to attain the amount necessary. We also use kitchen time as a time for early fraction skills. For example, how many 1/4 teaspoons do we need to make a teaspoon or if I cut this apple into 4 pieces how many will we need to equal half an apple. The girls also help read the recipe to improve their reading skills.  They will read the ingredients while I gather them and then Tabitha will help read the instructions. When Amelia was just learning to read I would write the individual ingredients on flash cards and have her try to sound them out.

What sort of things do you do with your children for hands-on learning?

There will be a wide variety of homeschool posts shared this week by my fellow Crew mates on the Schoolhouse Review Crew. I hope you will find some time to stop by and see what wisdom you can glean. There are always wonderful posts by these great ladies. Here, check out today's posts: Kym @ Homeschool Coffee Break shares My Back to Homeschool Checklist: P is for (Lesson) Plans Tara @ This Sweet Life shares 34 Back-to-School Sweet Bread Recipes Laura @ My (re)Viewpoint shares Kindle Unlimited: Is it Worth Your Homeschooling Curriculum Money? Alyson @ Family Style School shares Motivation and Encouragement for Moms! Social Hour! Kemi @ Homemaking Organized shares Planning the Homeschool Day Anne @ Upstate Ramblings shares High School Record Keeping Julie @ Nurturing Learning shares Memory Work Binder Beth @ Acorn Hill Academy shares Making History Relevant: Timelines Also check out the main post on the Schoolhouse Crew Blog, for all the participating blogs and a chance to enter the huge giveaway worth $1300.
Speaking of giveaways Don't forget to enter to win in this week's Back to School Weekly Giveaway There will be 2 winners again this week! Each winner will receive a copy of The Reading Game