Waseca Biomes Tree of Life

We’ve been fervently studying animal classification around here, and the Tree of Life material from Waseca Biomes has quickly become a favorite hands-on exploration; it’s been used many times over the last couple of weeks. The material, a tree puzzle, is intended for advanced learners — and between you and me, I have no idea…

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Homeschool Week in Review: Vol 12

What happened this week? It’s always a blur; I need to rely on my phone pics, but it’s somewhat challenging to take good photos with a three-month-old. Nevertheless…  I persisted in snagging a few. Math We did mostly math on Monday and Tuesday. Everyone did bead chains. Then we were burnt out on math and…

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Layers of the Earth Play Dough Mat *freebie*

Sharing one of our much-loved activities from this last week — a layers of the earth play dough mat. In the past we’ve made play dough models of the earth; that’s lots of fun, but I wanted something even easier to put on the shelf that the kids could work on independently. This is what…

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Week in Review: vol 10

Second week of homeschooling is in the books. I’m not sure how that happened so fast. We’ve been focusing on our Great Lessons work (we are doing one per week the first five weeks, you can read more about them here). I figure our first five weeks back are kinda a jumpstart and transition period after…

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Kumon Sticker Science Review

Timberdoodle is a homeschool curriculum company we love very much. Sometimes they give us products to review, and this is one of them. All reviews are 100% my opinion and completely honest! I love connecting the dots between Montessori materials and other mainstream curriculums. Read on to see how the Kumon Sticker Science book relates to…

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Montessori Homeschooling Week in Review: Vol 3

Week three of our new series brings us to Holy Week and the Paschal Triduum. We stayed busy as always with our usual Montessori workload. I’m currently reading Montessori Today: A Comprehensive Approach to Education from Birth to Adulthood by Paula Polk Lillard. This book is a great overview of the whole Montessori pedagogy, and I’ve…

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Great Lessons Montessori Co-Op

We started a small Montessori Great Lessons co-op with friends this school year. In a Montessori elementary classroom, these are presented to the group as a jumping off place for all kinds of science explorations. Because the lower elementary plane is based on cooperative work, it’s great to be able to share our lessons together! Here’s…

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October Science Shelves

Here’s a quick peek at our science shelves for October. We’re still covering the first Great Lesson, and this is largely a space unit: Solar system, cosmic address, stars and constellations, phases of the moon and the seasons.

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How to Make a Solar System Mat

Confession time — No. 1: I am no seamstress. I don’t have much experience with a needle and thread. No 2: My husband stepped on a needle in the process of making this mat because someone, whom shall remain nameless, may or may not have left a needle on the floor. In the nameless person’s…

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