Another resource I am very excited about are the TLC Lessons books. (Not to be confused with the TLC Life lessons on tv lol!)  I ran across references to Kaye Espinosa’s series of project books on several early learning sites and was intrigued. When I unearthed some samples I was sold. These books fit my criteria for large-Montessori-family friendly materials. The instructions are written to the student and the results are satisfying.

After the teacher/mom creates the pack of materials, the student can self select a project and complete it fairly independently (assuming he is a reader. Otherwise he may need a bigger sibling to help with direction reading). They help children learn to follow directions, perfect their fine motor skills, and practice spatial awareness. Students learn to make circles, ovals and triangles by cutting off the corners or halves of square papers. They then assemble the pieces according to the instructions. While Mrs. Espinosa is a kindergarten teacher it seems as though these projects would work well through the early elementary grades. In fact a slightly older child could probably do a bang up job very independently.

I love both the concept and the end results. These projects are very much in line with the type found in Natural Structure, a guide for implementing Montessori at home. The NS authors recommend making trays with all the materials needed to independently complete a lesson. TLC will help you do that. They tell you exactly how many papers and in what size and colors to include in your ziplock bag. I would think this would make a good project for a mom’s night.

My children are independently moving furniture at the moment so that is the end of this review. <g> Gotta go help with the room swapping. Check these out and let me know if your family implements any of these project books and if you have a favorite. Once we run through these samples I am going to have to lay down some cash. : )

Our Letter of the Week is E.  See if your child can make out  the E in the image left. <g>  Our theme is the Egg, the shape is oval, the color white (it is too a color – Tomie De Paola says so ; )), and the number is 5.

ASL E and egg

Lit:

Chickens Aren’t the Only Ones – Ruth Heller  This is a great book which teaches about all the animals which are hatched.

Horton Hatches an Egg – Seuss

From Egg to Chicken

Just Plain Fancy is Patricia Polacco’s sweet story of the dilemma an Amish girl faces when her hen hatches a very unusual chick.

Five Little Ducks (who also lay eggs) If by some misfortune you don’t have Raffi’s musical version do treat yourselves to that! Some of my fondest motherhood memories are Raffi songs blasting on the van radio when my big boys were little. I had to sing this book. It just seemed right. : )

The Eagle and the Beetle (Aesop) a nod to classical curriculum. This story involves eggs as well.   Aesop’s Fables are a marvelous addition to any child’s education. Older children can use them for copywork and composition ala IEW.  We are all about multilevel learning. : )

The Elves and the Shoemaker – Grimm  Free online or any illustrated version

Theme unit for Chickens Aren’t The Only Ones.

Discovery Bottles – Static Electricity

Montessori trays: use egg slicer on boiled eggs this week. Use an oval stencil (metal insets) to complete this egg minibook. An extension is to make lines with colored pencil filling in the ovals like this. If you don’t have insets you can make a stencil from a plastic container lid and an exacto knife. Make E’s and 5’s from playdough to cover letter card. Match patterned plastic egg halves. If your child is ready you can put an uppercase letter on one half and a lower case match on the other.

Snack/Practical life work:  make egg salad sandwiches, deviled eggs, scrambled/fried/poached, and omelettes.

Math – match these eggs by number of dots. Put jelly beans in egg cartons with the spaces labeled with 1-12 (or use a half dozen carton with just 1-6) Match these by pattern or print multiples and use them to make repeating patterns. You can glue your patterns to be recreated onto a control card.

virtual games: I don’t recommend many of these but if you need 10 minutes to make  a phone call you can tap these resources.

Art: lots of options. The obvious would be to dye the eggs. An extension of same would be to explore pysanky egg art. Patricia Polacco’s book Rechenka’s Eggs is excellent here. If that is too ambitious there are printable pysanky eggs found here. Cover the E template with eggshell collage. (use the shells saved from those boiled egg dishes)   I love this string art project. Very multisensory and by golly the finished project will, drumroll please, fit in a binder. <g>   Did you know that egg yolk makes an interesting paint technique? Scroll down to Maryann Kohl’s submission. Her books are must have’s for art instruction.

Movement: tape off the floor into a curvy path and have children push boiled eggs along. Walk the line – make an oval tape circle and have the children walk the line carrying the eggs on spoons.

Verse: Humpty Dumpty (craft project on link and here)

Saints/bible heroes: Esther and St Elizabeth of Hungary  Decorate a crown shape (or make one for the child to wear!) with sequins and include in binder with the children’s retelling of one of these queens’ stories. 

Enjoy!

…’cause I just don’t get that much sleep. ; )   Occurred to me I didn’t type up all our stuff.

If you already downloaded the plans for D please recheck that link.  I added the Montessori Dropper tray, duck duck goose game, a letter sort, and links to the saint/bible hero of the week: David.  Remember we won’t do these all at co-op. There is plenty to do the rest the of the week so pace yourself and enjoy just a couple things each day.

If you are following the Funschool posts in your homeschool and blogging about it please leave your links in the comments section so we can visit!