Which number is bigger?

A fun way to teach the little kids which number is bigger, is using some counting props and a chalkboard instead of a paper.

We chose to write some smaller numbers on chalkboard and demonstrate how the signs work.  

In order for the kids to make the connection between the two amounts, you can use some counting props that you have at your house (we have counting teddy bears). After they build their numbers with the props, they will easily see what the difference between those two amounts is.

As for the signs, you can say that the shark is going to eat the bigger amount (therefor the bigger number) and that is why the wider side is pointing towards the higher amount... the shark is trying to get it! We hope this helped :-)

Create your own planets - Solar system art project

The Solar System is on our schedule for the second time in the past 3 years. This is one of the topics the kids enjoy very much and they choose it every time I ask them what they would like to learn about. To kick off the unit, we read the book "There is no place like space" from the Dr. Seuss collection, and since the Cat in the Hat has his own planet at the end of the book, we asked the kid sto design their own Solar system. 

They decided to start by making the stars. They took black construction paper and white paint and by flipping the paint brush's bristles, they splashed the paint on the paper, which makes it look like a galaxy , no kidding!

 

Then they got down to the floor and traced different sizes of circular objects on an easel paper. 

We separated the project into 3 days. This time they colored their planets with markers, choosing their own design. We did stick to 8 planets but they had a free choice of colors and sizes. They got more creative as they went on.

Here they are ready to glue their planets to the "Space" picture. 

 

And now there is a new System up in Space! It's The Adi System!

 

Long O sound Bingo Game

 Bingo is always a favorite with our kids. This time we are playing Long O Sound Words Bingo that we downloaded from this great website http://www.bingocardcreator.com/bingo-cards/speech-and-language/long-o-words

We didn't find a printout with the actual word cards so we ended up printing one sheet one more time and cut out the words. We used those for drawing the words for Bingo fields.

Because we are talking about Space during our Science, I pulled out "special space rocks" and we covered the fields with those. It was more exciting that way. You can use anything you have from Bingo chips from other games to M&Ms, etc.

Addition by 2

This activity could be used for any addition but we are continuing with number 2 right now. The boys are very comfortable counting it in their head by the end of the week, it's amazing!

 Take two dice. Leave one sitting untouched on the particular number you are using to add (in our case #2) and throw the other dice.

 

Then add both numbers. To make it more fun we used blackboard this time. The boys like to erase and rewrite, which is fine with me because it helps them practice number writing. You can also use a regular paper or erasable board.

How many drops of water will fit on a penny

In math we are learning about money and the value of money. I came across this experiment, which brought me back to my school years. Kids have to estimate how much water will fit on their penny. Perfect experiment that fits with science as well as with math.

Then they take their dropper, fill it up with water, and keep dropping the water slowly on the penny. Count the drops. Who was the closest? Do you have more kids? You can see who was the furthest or the next closest. Write it down and compare.

Short and long vowel sounds - Letter O

We are back in school! This is what we did today.

We learned about how to distinguish between short and long O sound. I wrote the words from both groups on the board and we read them out loud. We also explained the meaning of the words.

 

After the kids were comfortable with these words I gave them letter stamps and a sheet of paper and they stamped the words. This helps them remembering how to spell the particular words because they spend time looking for the letters and checking their work.