Free Online Homeschool Curriculum

I wanted to share a few resources I have come across online that we use with homeschooling. My daughter enjoys them, they are educational and best of all... they are free :)

Starfall Is a great site for preschool-2nd grade. It offers a variety of different games and lessons to help kids in math and reading.

Scott Foresman online Grammar and Writing workbooks ( my favorite find)

These are great! They are online copies of Florida Treasures Spelling/Reading textbooks.

Here are some free worksheets

1st grade math worksheets

Time

Leapfrog (math game)

Water cycle

All sorts of different worksheets (math, language, science, handwriting)

Here are links to free online beginning reading books

Buttons

Shapes

Cat and Dog

I can read

Over in the meadow

Please share any other sites you may know of that we might like. Thanks :)

Clothespins color matching

This is a great project for ages 2-6

I made this fun little project for Aydin. We picked up some paint samples glued them to poster board and glued the matching pieces to clothespins.
This is a great game for practicing small motor skills and mastering color matching.
Also, its hard to see in the pics, but the left side is light colors and right side the darker.

-A great extension would be having the child match light shades to the dark ones.
-Another extension could be having the clothespins be all white, each one having the name of a color written on it. The child could then match the word to the color

Three part lessons

A main approach to teaching in the Montessori classroom is the 3 part lesson. It is amazing for teaching new concepts and names of objects such as colors, numbers, phonetic sounds, shapes, animals, plants, opposites ect. This is a positive way to teach your child. It is self correcting and the approach gives the child a clear understanding of the material taught.

To start a three part lesson choose two items you will be teaching. for the example, I'll use colors.
Get a piece of red paper and a piece of yellow.
Step one: "This is": Point to the red paper and tell the child "This is red." next point to the yellow and say "This is yellow".
Step two:"Show me": Ask the child "Can you show me red?" If they point to it correctly, move on to yellow. if they do not point to red, repeat "Can you show me red?" while pointing yourself at the red paper and getting them to follow. Next ask the child to show you yellow and repeat as needed.
Step three: : "What is": In this step, you point to the red and ask the child "What is this?" In this step, if they say it correctly or not, still move on to the pointing to the yellow and asking what it is. If the child has grasped the concept and said the correct name, then you are ready to present the lesson again and can now add a third item. If they did not successfully name the colors, you can try the presentation again later.

Notice that throughout the lesson there is not the use of "no" or 'wrong" ect. this is important, in my opinion to help keep the activity positive for the child. If they have positive experiences in lessons, they are more likely to want to try again and learn more.
This is such a simple approach to teaching items and you can start with this as soon as your child can talk. It's so easy for children to pick up new knowledge the first few years of life, as they are little sponges wanting to absorb everything. This presentation doesnt over stimulate or offer too much at once. It helps them focus on a few objects at a time and the repetitiveness helps them grasp the concept.

I have used this activity to teach Aydin her numbers, letter sounds, colors, shapes, animals, sight words and more

Caterpillar Sequencing

I was surprised how quick Aydin picked up this activity.
I printed sequencing cards that match The Very Hungry Caterpillar book.
Points of Interest:
Pictures, Story, Science of Life cycle.

Control of Error:
Not having the correct card the story calls for.

Aims:
To demonstrate recollection of the story, ability to match pictures, ability to comprehend the story.

Age:
3 ½ and up

Language:
caterpillar, cocoon, butterfly, egg, leaf, food items,

Materials:
1- The Very Hungry Caterpillar Story book
2- Sequencing cards
3- Work rug

GENERAL PRESENTATION:
1. Have the child get their rug out.
2. Show the child where the game is located and have them carry to rug.
3. Lay out all the cards on the mat.
4. Read your child the first page of the book. Show the child the picture. Ask them to find the matching card.
5. Continue with each page and card of the story.
6. After all cards have been matched go over the cards and tell the story again to the child.
7. have child clean up the cards and return activity and cart to the shelf.

Variation: having child do the activity alone reading the story themselves or without the book.

Easter egg sound Cylinders

Aydi is loving the sound cylinders... although, ours are not cylinders, but easter eggs we found at target=) You can also search online and buy the real Sound cylinders from Montessori stores.

here's a lesson presentation if you want to try it.

Points of Interest:
Different sounds inside the eggs.

Control of Error:
Not having a match for the last egg.

Aims:
Sound discrimination, order, concentration, independence, ability to make a choice.

Age:
3 and up

Materials:

1- 4 Easter eggs all the same color (I used pink) partially filled with 4 different items to make different sounds when shaken. I Used pennies, rice, crumpled paper and basil.

2- 4 Easter eggs in a separate color (we used yellow) partially filled with 4 different items....same ones used in first set.
3- two matching bowls for each group of yellow and pink eggs.
4-work rug

GENERAL PRESENTATION:
1. Have the child get their rug out.
2. Show the child where the game is located and have them carry to rug.
3. Place the two bowls on the mat.
4. Separate the eggs according to their color so that all pink are in one bowl and all yellow are in the other.

5. Pick-up the first egg from the left (we'll say pink) side bowl and gently shake it. Then lay in the middle of the bowls.

6. Choose an egg from the other bowl (yellow) and hold near ear and shake it. If it matches the first egg, place it next to it's match in the center. If it does not match, return it to the bowl. Repeat the activity with each yellow egg until a match is found.

7.Continue until all the eggs have been matched by sound.
8. Place one bowl inside the other and then place all eggs inside top bowl.
9. Have child return the bowls to the shelf and rug to its location.

a great variation would be to use a blindfold on the child and help them find the matches.

Playstand=)

Aydin is loving the new playstand I made her.
It was so simple to make and turned out really cute.
We found the 2 foot wood pieces at home depot for $1 and glued them together.
I used left over fabric to tie them together.



I dyed the silk squares in kool aid and tada!
She's been having fun moving it around and making it into different things. So far its been her house, farm, store and camp out=)