Week at a Glance:

• Book of the Week GIVEAWAY: One Tiny Turtle by Nicola Davies
• FREE choice journal writing
• Turtles Make Ten Math Game
• Turtle FREE printable books
• Turtle FREE printable counters

Book of the Week GIVEAWAY: One Tiny Turtle by Nicola Davies

Why we love this book:

The book begins with a brief introduction with facts about sea turtles and explains that this book is about the loggerhead turtle. The story begins with a tiny “Loggerhead” baby living in an ocean nursery of weeds and driftwood. The narrative takes us along on the journey of Loggerhead‘s life as she grows and wonders about the sea for thousands of miles. After thirty years, Loggerhead returns to the beach where she was born. She lays her soft Ping-Pong ball, eggs in a deep, safe hole. And before the summer is over the tiny, baby turtles wriggle from their eggs and skitter toward the sea. One day the baby turtles will return to this beach and begin the circle of life once again.

Since our visit to Sea Turtle Inc., Rescue and Education Center, Miss  Enigma has been smitten with turtles. They are in fact her favorite animal (well, next to dogs).  When I spied the book One Tiny Turtle, I knew I had hit right upon one of her fondest memories. The book is especially nice because along side the narrative of Loggerhead‘s life are facts about sea turtles. The story-telling style of the book makes this very accessible nonfiction for younger children. However, this is not a book strictly for little tikes. It is packed with information making it an excellent research resource for older children.

We invite you to join Miss Enigma as she enjoys a little sea turtle reading, writing and arithmetic . . .

Journal Entry, Miss Enigma, Age 5

Journal Writing

• This turtle laying her eggs is one of Miss Enigma’s first journal entries in kindergarten. It reflects her fascination with sea turtles.
• Miss Enigma loves this journal entry so much that it is framed and displayed on her art shelf.
• My approach to introducing journal writing to children is very simple. I don’t use prompts or story starters.
• I begin with very simple directions:
  • “This is your new journal. Today you can draw a picture or write letters and words.”
  • For the first few writing sessions, I follow: 10 Easy Steps to Introduce Journal Writing
• My children know that their journal is all about them. It is a place to write about special memories, specific interest and things they are learning about.
• Journal Writing with Kindergarteners

 Turtles Make Ten Math Game

• While at Sea Turtle Inc. Rescue Center, we purchased a set of plastic sea turtles.
• We used these turtles to play a simple math manipulative game. (of course she couldn’t find the entire set, so we had a few stand-ins.)
• We put down a sheet of yellow and blue construction paper to represent the sand and the sea.
• As each tiny sea turtle swam out to sea we changed our addition sentence. This could also be done as subtraction.
• If you don’t have plastic sea turtles you can use the FREE printable counters I’ve included in this post.
• Looking for something more advanced? Check-out our advanced version of Make Ten Math Game for older children.

Print this book FREE: 10 Tiny Turtles Illustrated

• Book designed for guided reading.
• Can be used for basic counting and number recognition or for acting out addition and subtraction operations.
• Highlight T words: ten, tiny, turtle
• Highlight TH words: the, then, there

Print this book FREE: 10 Tiny Turtles Blank

• Blank version for children to read and illustrate.

•  Children can use FREE printable turtle counters as math manipulatives.

Print these counters FREE: Ten Tiny Turtles

We’re GIVING AWAY one copy of One Tiny Turtle by Nicola Davies

To enter this contest, use the Rafflecopter to answer the following question. After you leave a comment, you can move ahead with more entries.

Answer the following question in the comments section of this post.

When you were a child, what was your favorite animal? Horses, puppies, pigs, dolphins, turtles . . .  (Or just say “Hey.” We’re flexible around here.)

The Rules:

No entries after 11:59 pm Central Time, Sunday, June 2, 2013

The winner must be a resident of The United States.

The winner will be selected at random and announced Monday, June 3, 2013. Check back to claim your prize. It might be you!

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Week at a Glance:

• Book of the Week GIVEAWAY: Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert
• FREE printable Plant Curriculum, grade specific
• Math: Plant Collage Shapes and Patterns, Geoboard Plant Shapes, Pattern Block Flowers
• Art: Oodles of Shape Flowers Collage
• Journal Writing: How to Draw and Label a Plant Diagram
• FREE printable Guide: How to Plant and Grow Seeds
• FREE printable Book: I Love the Wildflowers

Book of the Week GIVEAWAY: Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert

Why we love this book:

Time to celebrate! The planting season has begun for us here in Texas. Planting a Rainbow is one of our favorite planting books. We use it every year to kick off the spring planting season.The children love Ehlert’s bright, bold and colorful artwork. Her text is simple and yet full of nonfiction learning opportunities. This week we will be sharing an abundance of plant activities and resources. Planting a Rainbow is a must read during a gardening theme!

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Website is an excellent resource for FREE printable Plant Study curriculum.

• FREE printable Exploring the Native Plant World curriculum for grades Pre-K through Sixth
• Exploring the Native Plant World provides teachers with the tools and activities to teach basic botanical and ecological concepts.
• Grade level specific, hands-on explorations.

Patterns and Shapes Scavenger Hunt

• The Pre-k–Kinder Curriculum focuses on Patterns and Shapes
• One activity leads children on a hunt for shapes and patterns found in the garden.

Yesterday the kiddos filled a vase with bright green clovers.

• I asked Miss Enigma to identify the shape of the leaves.
• Next, she identified the pattern as three heart leaves on each clover.

Collage: Shapes and Patterns of Leaves and Petals

• Miss Enigma created a collage that copied the heart shape and pattern of the clover.
• As a follow-up activity, we went on a scavenger hunt in our yard and she identified other shapes and patterns on leaves and petals.
• Bliss to be out in the sunshine!

Geoboard Flowers

• Read aloud Planting a Rainbow.
• I simply challenged Miss Enigma, “What flowers can you make on the geoboard?”
• “Remember the shapes and patterns we found in our yard.”

Geo-board Butterfly

• Without prompting, Miss Enigma surprised me with a butterfly.
• She was very proud of her ingenuity.

Pattern Block Flowers

• Math activity inspired by Lois Ehlert’s books: Planting a Rainbow and Oodles of Animals

Oodles of Shape Flowers

• Collage Shape Flowers in the style of Lois Ehlert.

How to Plant and Grow Seeds

FREE printable guide for children: How to Plant and Grow Seeds

Drawing and Labeling a Plant Diagram

• A Following Directions Journal Entry
• Print this FREE: Following Directions Plant Diagram

I Love the Wildflowers FREE  printable book and song adaptation.

• FREE printable guide reading book: I Like the Wildflowers
• Song Adaptation of I Love the Mountains

Square Foot Gardening with Children

• Step-by-step directions with photos for creating your own square foot gardens.
• Later this week I’ll post hands-on activities for getting your children digging, planting and growing.

We’re GIVING AWAY one copy of Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert

To enter this contest, use the Rafflecopter to answer the following question. After you leave a comment, you can move ahead with more entries.

Answer the following question in the comments section of this post.

Are you a dirt digger? Do you have a green thumb? Do you enjoy planting a rainbow?  (Or just say “Hey.” We’re flexible around here.)

The Rules:

No entries after 11:59 pm Central Time, Sunday, April 28, 2013

The winner must be a resident of The United States.

The winner will be selected at random and announced Monday, April 29, 2013. Check back to claim your prize. It might be you!

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sharing this week at:

Hip Homeschool Moms

Hammock Tracks

Week at a Glance:

• Book of the Week GIVEAWAY: 10 Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle
• FREE printable books: 10 Little Ducks (3 versions)
• FREE printable duck counters
• FREE printable book: I See a Nest
• Puppet Show: 5 Little Ducks

Book of the Week GIVEAWAY: 10 Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle

Why we love this book:

I first introduced the 10 Little Rubber Ducks last year. Thanks to Miss Enigma we are revisiting today. At the beginning of the book is the news article that inspired Eric Carle to write the story of the 10 Little Rubber Ducks, ” . . . a shipment of 29,000 rubber bathtub toys, including ducks . . . fell overboard from a container ship.” What an excellent example of the writing process for children to learn how ideas for stories begin. This would even be a good lesson for teenage students. They can clip a news article and write a fictional story inspired by the article.

As always, Eric Carle fills the pages of the book with nonfiction concepts. This time around, the 10 Little Rubber Ducks teach us ordinal numbers: first, second, third . . . . Spacial vocabulary is also introduced: west, east, north, south, left, right, up, down . . . . The story gives the children the opportunity to get-up and act-out the story. This makes an easy  little Reader’s Theater with rubber ducks and ocean animals moving left, right, up, down . . . .

Sunday night Miss Enigma presented me with a gift. A little yellow duck she had drawn, colored and cut-out.

Monday morning she announced that for homeschool she was going to preform a puppet show about The Five Little Ducks.

Next thing I knew, she was in our homeschool closet digging through her board books.

• “I found it! I found the Five Little Ducks.”
• On the spot, I decided this would be a homeschool day where I followed Miss Enigma’s lead.
• After calendar time, I read aloud The Five Little Ducks and The 10 Little Rubber Ducks.
• With spring and Easter right around the corner, I thought I would share Miss Enigma’s duck day.

About this time last year I was preparing for my teacher training trip to Cambodia. The 10 Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle was one of the books I purchased for the teachers. I also made a simple printable book for the Cambodian teachers.

Today was the day! I incorporated 10 Little Rubber Ducks and the printable counting book into Miss Enigma’s school day.

I created several versions of the printable 10 Little Ducks book. Some easier than others. Some more focused on reading and some more focused on counting.

Print this book FREE: 10 Little Ducks blank  

Print this book FREE: 10 Little Ducks illustrated

Print this book FREE: 10 Little Ducks Drifting Away expanded text

Print these counters FREE: 10 Little Duck Counters

• Miss Enigma used the Little Duck counters to illustrate her 10 Little Ducks book. Much easier than drawing all of those ducks on each page!
• These Little Duck counters can also be used to act out the 10 Little Rubber Ducks or The Five Little Ducks, subtracting one duck each time.
• These Little Duck counters can also be used to make a Five Little Ducks book.
• The Little Ducks can also be turned into quick finger puppets.

Wonderful! Lovely! Adorable teachers in Cambodia.

• The teachers in Cambodia made simple little ducks out of  paper plates.
• They made the feathers by tearing scrapes of yellow paper and the beaks by cutting out orange triangles.
• They had fun acting out the story 10 Little Rubber Ducks.
• I miss these sweet teachers.

Meanwhile, back in the States . . .

“Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the duck recital. It is called The Five Little Ducks.”

• This was Miss Enigma’s introduction to her puppet show.
• She invited her brother to join in on the making of the puppets and the presentation.

The two worked together to create a puppet theater using Miss Enigma’s Build and Play Construction pieces and an old sheet.

• Later this week I’ll tell you more about the Build and Play Construction pieces.

• This puppet show was all them! Mommy did not oversee the show.

For guided reading instruction, I printed our FREE printable book I See a Nest.

• Print this book FREE: I See a Nest

I always say teaching and especially homeschooling is about being flexible. I  have to admit, some days I’m more flexible than others. I try to strike a balance between following our daily schedule, building a strong foundation and letting the children follow their own interests. I’m happy I took the time to let Miss Enigma plan her duck day!

We’re GIVING AWAY one hardcover copy of  10 Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle

To enter this contest, use the Rafflecopter to answer the following question. After you leave a comment, you can move ahead with more entries.

To enter this contest, just answer the following question in the comments section of this post.

Are you an organized planner or do you like to go with the flow? How do you strike a balance?  (Or just say “Hey.” We’re flexible around here.)

The Rules:

No entries after midnight Sunday, February 24, 2013

The winner must be a resident of The United States.

The winner will be selected at random and announced Monday, February 25, 2013. Check back to claim your prize. It might be you!

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Sharing this week at:

Hip Homeschool Moms

Week at a Glance:

• Book of the Week GIVEAWAY: The Cheerios Play Book by Lee Wade
• Hands-on Number Activities for Children
• Developing Number Concepts
• Developing Number Recognition
• Developing Number Formation
• FREE printable number books, counters and number formation guide

Book of the Week GIVEAWAY: The Cheerios Play Book by Lee Wade

Why we love this book:

Children love when you combine food and learning! I’m sure many of you are familiar with the Cheerios book series. This week we are developing number concepts. We like the Cheerios book series because it encourages hands-on learning experiences. We begin all mathematics learning with manipulatives. Children must experience math before they move into the abstract memorization of mathematics concepts. While The Cheerios Play Book does not include numbers it is perfect for beginning conversations about numbers and one to one counting of numbers. Older children can skip count by 2′s, 3′s, 4′s and do simple addition and multiplication. And then the kiddos can eat all of the Cheerios! What child wouldn’t like that?

Numbers, Numbers, Numbers

Let Me Count the Ways I Love You!

Developing Number Concepts and Recognition

Number 4: Counting Toothpicks

• fine-motor development
• invariance of a number
• number recognition

Number 5: Exploring Pattern Block Designs

• fine-motor development
• invariance of a number
• number recognition

Number 6: Connecting Linking Chains

• fine-motor development
• invariance of a number
• number recognition
• Skip the teacher store!
• These are baby toys found for cheap at Target or Walmart!
• We also use them for nonstandard measurement activities.

Cardinal Numbers 1 -7: Counting Bird Cards

• Book COUNT number activities
• FREE printable bird counters
• FREE printable book: Counting Birds Up in a Tree

Number 8: Counting Snowflakes

• Number Concepts
• Number Formation
• FREE printable snowflake counters
• FREE printable book: Counting Snowflakes

Cardinal Numbers 1 -9: Building Number Towers

• fine motor development
• number recognition
• Miss Enigma loves our Unifix Cubes!
• She counts, makes patterns, sorts, and measures with our Unifix Cubes.

Cardinal Numbers 1 -10: Counting Shells

• fine motor development
• number recognition
• Number Recognition and Number Sorting Box Lesson

Cardinal Numbers 1 -10: Counting Rocks

• fine and large motor skill development
• number recognition
• Kinesthetic Number Concepts Activities

FREE printable Number Concept Guide

FREE printable Number Formation Guide

We’re GIVING AWAY one hardcover copy of  The Cheerios Play Book by Lee Wade

To enter this contest, use the Rafflecopter to answer the following question. After you leave a comment, you can move ahead with more entries.

What is your favorite number activity or book?  (Or just say “Hey.” We’re flexible around here.)

The Rules:

One entry per person, please.

No entries after 8:00 pm Central Time, Sunday, February 17, 2013

The winner must be a resident of The United States.

The winner will be selected at random and announced Monday, February 18, 2013. Check back to claim your prize. It might be you!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sharing this week at:

Hip Homeschool Moms

Week at a Glance:

• Book of the Week GIVEAWAY: Rabbit’s Gift by George Shannon
• Song Adaptation: Ten Little Snowflakes
• FREE printable book: Counting Snowflakes
• FREE printable Snowflake Counters
• The Right Way to Make Paper Snowflakes: link to step-by-step photos

Book of the Week GIVEAWAY: Rabbit’s Gift by George Shannon

Why we love this book:

A pay it forward book woven into a folk tale setting for children. More snow is coming and Rabbit must find more food. When Rabbit finds an extra turnip he decides he wants to share it with Donkey. Not knowing where the gift of the turnip came from, Donkey decides to share it with goat. As the snow gently falls from the sky, each animal decided to pass the turnip to another. By the end of this giving story the turnip comes full circle and returns to rabbit. Rabbit’s simple act of generosity spreads throughout the forest. What a beautiful story of sharing and giving for children. I adore the message in this book!

Song Adaptation: Ten Little Snowflakes

One little, two little, three little snowflakes.

Four little, five little, six little snowflakes.

Seven little, eight little, nine little snowflakes,

Ten little snowflakes falling from the sky.

Start singing and Miss Enigma is immediately on board! This quick song adaptation had her singing and dancing, while she gently did finger motions of 10 little snowflakes floating from the sky.

Print this book FREE: Counting Snowflakes

Print these Counters FREE: Ten Little Snowflake Counters

• two pages of snowflake counters
• big and small snowflake counters

Counting Snowflakes Book Making

• Number Concept and Number Recognition
• I cut apart the snowflake counters and put them into a bowl for Miss Enigma.
• Page by page, Miss Enigma glued the matching number of snowflakes.

Number Recognition

Miss Enigma is having trouble recognizing her numbers. She can easily count objects and do simple addition in her head. However, she has trouble with simple number recognition. Hence, all of the little number books to reinforce her number recognition. I have no worries and know she will certainly learn her numbers.

• Miss Enigma is crazy about tracing. She loves it almost as much as cutting.
• On each page she traced both the cardinal number and the number word.

Art Expression

• On the last page, Miss Enigma was free to draw a winter scene with snowflakes.
• She thought she was very clever to draw a snowman reading a snowman book!
• Kids are always ready to think outside of the box. I love it!

Number Concepts

• Miss Enigma is learning the number 8.
• Yes, we are going number by number at this point.
• As a teaching Mommy, I have to be ready to adapt to my children’s needs.
• I simply modeled how to write the number 8 with yellow highlighter.
• Miss Enigma traced the 8′s and then tried some on her own.
• She glued 8 sparkly snowflakes to her number picture.
• Sparkles always make learning more fun!

The Right Way to Make a Paper Snowflake

Did you know that ALL snowflakes have six branches, never four, five, seven or eight. Always six! You know what that means? Most of us grew-up folding paper snowflakes incorrectly. I was taught to fold a snowflake resulting in eight branches. Ooops! Fortunately scientist and author Kenneth Libbrecht teaches us how to make a paper snowflake correctly.

• The Secret Life of a Snowflake by Kenneth Libbrecht
• The photos in this science book are some of the most amazing and beautiful we’ve ever seen. Kenneth Libbrecht is a scientist who studies and photographs snowflakes under a microscope.
• Be sure to check it out. The photos are spectacular!

Life with Jeannine

We’re GIVING AWAY one hardcover copy of  Rabbit’s Gift by George Shannon

To enter this contest, use the Rafflecopter to answer the following question. After you leave a comment, you can move ahead with more entries.

To enter this contest, just answer the following question in the comments section of this post.

What is the best unexpected gift you’ve received?  (Or just say “Hey.” We’re flexible around here.)

The Rules:

One entry per person, please.

No entries after 8:00 pm Central Time, Thursday, January 31, 2013

The winner must be a resident of The United States.

The winner will be selected at random and announced Friday, February 1, 2013. Check back to claim your prize. It might be you!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sharing this week at:

Hip Homeschool Moms

3 Boys and a Dog