Alhamdulillah, JazakAllahu Khayran to sister Umm Khalil who commented on the previous post, sharing a Blog find detailing a fantastic child-friendly lesson on the more than / less than signs!
The more than / less than sign is turned into a crocodile! I made ours using green and white craft foam.
The lesson goes something like this.....
The hungry crocodile always likes to eat the biggest number!
Khadeeja enjoyed this and totally understood alhamdulillah, giving the correct sign for each sum without hesitation!
After she placed the hungry croc, she then had to draw in the correct sign.
Alhamdulillah.....easy!
....although completing the MEP workbook questions using the signs required alot of brain power....even for me! lol
Continuing the MEP programme, today was working with the more than and less than signs.
I went into the lesson in the same manner as the previous lesson about odds and evens ....completely spontaneously without a pre-prepared teaching plan.
The reason being, as again this is a whole new concept for Khadeeja, and I felt that making a plan wouldn't really work, as I need to bounce off whether I can see if she is understanding or not.....meaning I need to improvise in the moment to simplify things if it is going over her head, or no need to waste time if she gets it straight away.
The whole lesson from start to end probably took only around 20 minutes.
The sign flash cards below were DOWNLOADED from the MEP site. I used these together with the small hand-held white board, and unifix cubes.
I explained the signs mean more than, and less than when we are doing maths. I explained that it is a quicker way of writing "more than" or "less than" and showed her on the board the time difference to write as words or sign.
She wasn't understanding which sign meant what, her face was completely puzzled, and so I needed to think quickly how to present the information in a way she would understand and remember inshallah....and so alhamdulillah, I devised a little rhyme!!!
To help Khadeeja (and also myself!!!!!) remember which sign meant what, I explained that the sign which points to the Left means less than, and the sign which points to the right, means more than. To help remember this I came up with "L" is for Left, and Left is Less!
So by being able to identify which sign means less, the remaining symbol has to mean more!
As a quick game, I then asked her to raise her right hand if I said more than, and raise her left hand if I said Less than.
I wrote the small rhyme on the board to refer to if she forgot, and placed the unifix cubes on the board, which she then had to put the correct flash card sign in the middle, before writing the sum beneath.
(she was getting confused as to which way the sign was pointing to - she kept muddling the direction thinking the open end was the way it was pointing, so I just scribbled a dot with a whiteboard pen (as they are laminated) on the point of each sign to show this is the direction it is pointing.
We did a few more of these examples, and then I asked Khadeeja to choose her own numbers to work with, before finally I wrote 3 sets of numbers, which she had to simply draw in the correct symbol. (I drew the symbols for her to refer to).
Alhamdulillah she understood the lesson - however I think throughout this week I will probably need to do alot of revision work to ensure she does not forget....I think this is definitely something which can be easily forgotten!!!!! (I know with out realising "Left is Less" I wouldn't be able to remember this myself!)
Following on from our previous maths lesson, we continued working with odd and even numbers, to ensure that Khadeeja fully understood odds and evens inshallah.
A quick lesson using a small hand held whiteboard (because she loves using it!). I drew out a table headed with Odd and Even, instructing Khadeeja to write in numbers 1 - 20 in the correct column.
After she completed the task, I asked her how she knew which numbers were odd and even, to which she answered that each numbers goes in turns, odd, even, odd, even, odd, even etc.
So, to make sure she would be able to recognise any given number, I further explained that any number which ends with 2, 4, 6,8 or 0 will be an even number, and any number that ends with 1,3,5,7 or 9 will be odd.
I wrote these odd and even numbers on the board for her to refer to, as I gave random numbers for her to identify as odd or even. I asked her to explain how she knew a particular number was odd or even, and alhamdulillah she answered. I then asked her to write me any even number, and then any odd number she liked.
I'll probably do a few reminders throughout the week to ensure she fully understands and retains the information inshallah!
(that's usually what I do when we introduce something new in any lesson, be it maths, literacy, Islamic studies etc....throughout the week I will ask reminder / revision questions or ask Khadeeja to explain something quickly at random times, often at dinner weirdly! ...I guess its because we are all sat down together then! )
We've been using MEP Maths which so far, alhamdulillah I am finding great! Today, was the introduction of odd and even numbers, and opposits. Neither of these concepts I have disscussed with Khadeeja previously.
We began explaining opposites, which she looked at me with a blank face and said "I don't understand what you are saying!", and I thought to myself, how difficult is it to understand the what the opposite of something is!
"Opposite" is a new word for Khadeeja which needed explaining and understanding. So, I gave her examples, but using the word "different" in place of opposite.
So, for example, I explained that small is different to big, tall is different to short etc. I then asked what is different to fat, wide, above, rights, top etc, and alhamdulillah she gave its opposite. I explained that this is what "Opposite means".
We then went on to odd and even numbers. Again, a concept which she had not worked with previously.
So we went back to the very basics!
We used the unifix cubes to help give a physical visual example of odds and evens.
I took 1 cube and asked Khadeeja to do the same. I explained that 1 by itself can not be split into 2 groups, so 1 is by itself without any partner to hold hands with. So 1 is odd.
We then took 2 cubes, and demonstrated that we can split 2 into 2 equal groups that can hold hands, so 2 is even.
Then took 3, and again demonstrated splitting into 2 groups, asking if we could divide 3 into 2 groups that are the same? 1 cube was left over by itself, so I explained that it doesn't have a partner to hold hands with, its all by itself and is sad. So number 3 is an odd number.
We carried on up to 5, and then did 10.
I then laid out the cubes in numbers from 1 to 10 which Khadeeja then placed the number labels (to help with the next part of the activity of identifying odd and even).
Next, I asked Khadeeja to tell me if each number was odd or even, using the cubes to split each number into 2 groups in order to visually identify which could be split equally and which could not.
We then took some beads (which her friend had given her) and I asked her to place a bead on all of the odd numbers, and then the even numbers.
We identified the pattern, that the odd and even numbers alternated.
Next, using the MEP lesson plan, I drew on the white board a number ladder from 1 - 12, which we used to identity the odd and even numbers - counting only the odd numbers aloud and the evens silently, and vice versa.
Finally, in Khadeejas Maths exercise book, we put a table with 2 columns headed odd and even, which Khadeeja had to write the numbers in the correct columns
Yesterday we did a brief lesson on the Qur'an, discussing what it is, how it was revealed and scribed.
Khadeeja made a Tree with tissue, construction and brown papers, and on each leaf wrote something the Qur'an teaches us. I helped with spellings but MashAllah she did pretty well!
Alhmadulillah K has done her first Arabic lesson this morning, following my lesson plan. (refer to previous post for introduction to what I am doing inshallah and book I am following).
Here is her finished work from today. I've put it up on the wall so that we can revise the words throughout the week inshallah.
Ok, the kids are still in bed, my dinner for tonight is cooking bi'ithnillah, I have our work for today all ready in our work boxes. (if you haven't read my previous post about Sue Patricks WorkBox system, inshallah you can read it here)
So here is what our work boxes look like. I bought the shoe-rack from Tesco online (£12). The plastic shoe boxes were 99p each from a cheapy local store.
Below are my boxes for the girls, a different colour each. Sue Patrick recommends clear plastic shoe boxes....but these are what they had in the first store I went into...and I like that they are different colours as I think it will help the kids to know which set is theirs.
I can not remember how I came across this, as I didn't go searching to find anything to do with organising and planning, however Alhamdulillah I some how stumbled across this video on youtube...
....which then led me to watch this video.....
....which then led me to google and trailing blog after blog after blog......reading and understanding "Workboxes"!!!!
So what are workboxes?
I have to admit, I am really quite excited about this as I am going to put this into action after E'id inshallah as I begin my KS1 work with K (and I'm also going to start working with Z as she is starting to show signs of learning interest alhamdulillah so I think she is ready for a little "formal" work - well as formal as "formal" can be with a soon to be 3 year old inshallah!).
Enough rambling and back to the actual topic of the post!
This is Sue Patricks workbox system, and to summarise it is a revolutionary and innovative method of putting organised structure into the home school learning day inshallah.
What is the workbox?
The system consists of 12 "workboxes" which are plastic clear shoe boxes placed on a rack / shelf. Each box is numbered 1 - 12.
In each box you put the days lessons and activities for the child.
Also each box should include everything they will need in order to complete the work - so for example text book, scissors, glue, paper, calculator, felt pens etc etc etc....whatever is needed should be there ready!
The child works through the boxes in order, taking each box to their desk / work area to complete.
If the work in the box contains a lesson in which requires parental instruction / teaching, then you would place a "work with mum" card in there too so the child knows to grab your attention. Otherwise, if there is no "work with mum card" then the child knows they can get on and work independently.
Benefits
The benefit in this is that the child can see at the beginning of the day what to expect, they know what is coming next...and they know when work for the day is finished inshallah!
It also helps to encourage the child to work independently - they are not having to wait for us to have a free moment to start them off in between all the juggling we are tasking! They can take their box and get to work, everything is there ready for them!
And maybe most importantly of all....it keeps us organised! We have to make sure we have the work prepared before the day begins ....otherwise there will be no work!
This is just a simple summery of what workboxes are, and if you search google images you will see so many families have tweaked the system to suit their own families needs - for example rather than using shoe boxes, some have used tray drawers, some box files and some even used gift-paper decorated cereal boxes(to save space) !
I personaly like the shoe box concept as my girls are young, I think they would benefit being able to see everything for the day.
12 boxes seems like allot of boxes to fill with school work!
When I began reading about workboxes, I thought 12 boxes seems crazy! I don't do 12 separate lessons with K each day....no one does!!!!!
However, you don't put 12 separate lessons in the boxes.....
firstly, you can put some fun educational toys, puzzles, games or crafts in a few of the boxes.....so for example maybe box 1, 2 and 3 will have school work you want them to complete, then box 4 will have a world map puzzle (you know the one you never pull down off the shelf!), and then a couple more boxes of school work, then box 7 could have a craft etc etc.
The child can see the fun boxes that they will get to after they complete their work inshallah.
Secondly, as Sue Patrick discusses in her book (yes I bought the ebook!!!!...I'll get to that later!) children often learn better when material / lessons are presented in smaller chunks. So you can divide your lessons over 2 or 3 boxes and even spread them out....thus making it more digestible to your little youngster inshallah!
Google " Sue Patricks workbox system" and you will find literally hundreds of homeschooling blogs all talking about this (although most are all American Christan home schoolers!).
All the blogs out there explain the system much better than I have....they all include photos too which makes it easier to understand.
If you go direct to Sue Patricks site here - there is a little information about the system here, however I found reading blogs who were using the system at home provided allot more information and understanding of how the concept works.
Sue Patricks Book
You can buy Sue Patricks book or ebook on her site....
.... after trailing tens of blogs I didn't think I needed to buy the book to be able to implement the system, as like I said, many of the blogs include detailed explanations, pictures and even printables to label your boxes and schedule strips to get you started.
However, after a couple of days of debating what type of workbox would work best for us (the shoe boxes or drawers) I decided to take the plunge and purchase the ebook. I'm glad I did! I found it quite valuable reading alhamdulillah. (I will just stress that although Sue Patrick is a Christian and occasionally talks about Bible Study, the workbox system is completely secular as is what she writes in her book about the other educational points she discusses).
She has some good educational ideas and understanding of how children best learn....well I thought so anyway although I didn't agree with completely everything! She has some great teaching / learning ideas to impliment which she disscusses to help children digest and retain information.....thus understanding!
After reading her book, I am really excited about implementing this system in our home school inshallah. I feel my eyes have been opened to children's learning processes and I can't wait to start inshallah.
Inshallah it should keep me on my toes and be prepared and planned .....I have to fill the workboxes ready for each new day so I will have to be planned and organised....exactly what I needed!!!!#
Once I've completed my set up I'll post some pics inshallah and update as we start implementing the system inshallah.......I just hope this isn't going to be one of those things I "give up on" because I really do see allot of potential in working this way!
Search google and read more experienced reviews......I found quick way to filter out all the junk from the actual home schooling blogs was to google image, and click into the blogs through the images. (most of the images were from blogs).
I would love to claim innovative credit for this idea, but alas the spark of genius did not come from me! I found this bath time picture game on handmade beginnings, you can see the post here
All you need is the cheap craft foam and a pair of scissors! Cut up shapes to use in the bath - when the foam is wet it sticks to the tiles.
I made these using left over foam I had from a previous activity, so hope to buy some more at the weekend so I can make some more creative shapes inshallah!
I did draw onto the foam using permanent marker to write some words I thought K could use to make up sentences, however as soon as the foam was up on the tiles and the water started running off the foam....the pen ink came along with it- leaving not so lovely grey lines running down into the bath....quickly got the bleach out!
Maybe it was just the type of pen I used.....there must be water resistant pens around surely????
The lesson goes something like this.....
