Thursday, March 12, 2015

Five Favorites

1. So we have jumped slowly into Math U See thanks to my generous friend Rachel (who gave me her materials) and my generous friend Holly (who showed me how she uses them). Time will tell, but our initial foray leads me to believe this will help John understand value a little better.

Add caption

His first assignment was to build the number 572. He grabbed his squares and quickly built a five, a seven, and a two. So I showed him that the five is, in fact, five hundred and that the seven is, actually, seventy. And he seemed to get it. Plus he liked it. And then he and Ainsley built houses with the blocks.
Add caption






2. So I've long known that I'm a sucker for educational materials. I also love pretty much anything manufactured by Melissa and Doug. Combine the two, and I could get us in deep financial trouble. I want this:
Don't you want one of these?
John told me the other day that he can't tie shoes. Of course he can't. He hasn't had lace up shoes since he outgrew his precious blue Keds around age two. It's all velcro, velcro, velcro. So I'm dying to buy this until I reflect that it's essentially this but a price tag:




3. Ainsley's teacher told me to work on telling time, so I'm dying to buy this:



Melissa & Doug Shape Sorting Clock


But it's not whole lot different from this:



which we already own.


4. I did buy this:

Product Details
Add caption


And hopefully it will help John with his addition facts.

5. Finally I have to absolutely rave about The Story of the World. HT: Mary at Better than Eden. I had a tiny image that Blogger doesn't seem to like. Anyway, no time to fight with Blogger because I usually don't win!

The Story of the World is an audio CD series.We spend a fair amount of time in the car, and listening to this is time well spent. The kids l-o-v-e it, and I mean all the kids. Entertaining and educational. Love it.

Click here to add your Five Favorites.






6 comments:

Mary @ Better Than Eden said...

So glad you like SOTW! The boys know way more history than I do, I think! I don't recall ever learning about ancient cultures much in school so much of it is new to me, too. So funny about the shoes. My mother in law (who is a retired preschool teacher) gave us a book all about shoe tying with a fake shoe to practice on…and I'm all, buuutt we have real shoes with laces that are pretty good for that already… (Don't tell her but I sold it ;)

Kris said...

I've used SOTW for all my kids for elementary history and we LOVE it. My 10-year old can't really tie his shoes either. He knows, but it's so hard for him - he's left-handed and it all seems backwards. But he's getting there. You have velcro issues and I have Crocs issues - that's all the child puts on his feet, even in the dead of winter.

Jenna@CallHerHappy said...

Cool resources! How old are your kids? I'm thinking mine might be too young still, but you never know :)

Kelly@http:/inthesheepfold.blogspot.com said...

Mary - Ha! Mum's the word to your mil. It's a teacherly thing. We like our stuff!

Kris - I have tremendous sympathy for left-handed folks because of my sister who was taught every sport from tennis to softball using her non-dominant hand. No one seemed to be able to teach her any other way. FYI, my kids like to go barefoot in 48 degree weather. Not me.

Jenna - Welcome! My kids are 5, 7, 13, and 17. The older two can tie shoes.:)

gmomhpa said...

What is The Story of the World. HT: Mary at Better than Eden? Can't 'google it'... :)

Kelly@http:/inthesheepfold.blogspot.com said...

gmomhpa - Story of the World is a book and audiobook series. If you go to Amazon and search on Story of the World, both formats will come up. Try this link: http://www.amazon.com/Story-World-Classical-Audiobook-Renaissance/dp/1933339128/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426632446&sr=1-3&keywords=story+of+the+world

We started with volume 2 - The Middle Ages. This program weaves historical fact (kings, queens, wars) with stories (Robin Hood,for example). Our entire age span (5-17) loves it. I have not bought the books, but might this summer. Each volume is about 10 CDs and costs around $30.