All About turtles

Sonshine was briefly interested in Turtles some time back and i tried to take the opportunity to do some activities. But i procrastinated so much that by the time i got to it, he lost the interest. MUST.ACT.FASTER.MUMMY.

We read up on Turtles. This is where I, yes me, learnt that turtles do not have teeth! Did you know that?

I have the turtles from Toob (which was what got him interested in the first place) and sonshine matched them to the pictures i printed from the web. I wasn't getting him to remember the names of the various turtles, it was more to let him know what are the different types of turtles out there.

Sonshine did some copywork. Besides the above, he also copied "Turtles are slow". I am moving on to copywork so that he not only gets to practise writing but also hopefully he would learn how to form simple sentences (which hopefully will help lay some foundation for his composition- this is my worst feared subject for him).

Continuing his practise on writing and spelling.

Wrapping Up: Asia Continent

Here are some of the activities we did to finish up our journey in Asia Continent.

Sonshine re-did the map.

This time, i used an uncolored map (i colored the previous map to help him differentiate the countries). I wanted to see if he was memorising the countries by its color or location. Turns out, he remembered them by location since he poked all the flags in their places as swiftly as ever.

We did Asia Continent puzzles.

Sonshine had a brief read on an Atlas book that Poppy (he calls his grandma that) bought for him.

Sonshine made these Asia landmarks with his papa (who did most all of the work). There is the Taj Mahal (India), Great wall of china and 2 new landmarks he learnt were Gyongbokkung (South Korea) & Minato Mirai 21 (Japan).

These are an outline maps of the countries in Asia. Sonshine had to match the maps to the correct countries.

I realised we have spent alot of time in Asia, or rather we have been doing repeated work on this continent. So it's time to move on! NExt stop, Europe!

Asia Continent

I am re-visiting my series of Geography lessons with sonshine, starting with the Asia continent-where else.

I actually did this with sonny a few years back but stopped until i was inspired to do it again by Counting Coconuts and Chasing Cheerios.

The one we had was shaky so i decided to remake the map. This time i used a combination of laminate, sturdier toothpicks, Styrofoam to make it usable. This activity is a DIY version of Montessori's Continent map work, by the way.

Sonshine enjoyed this activity. He had to insert each flag onto the correct location. I don't know if he remembers what he has learnt from some time back but he managed to locate each country quite quickly. I didn't make all the countries in Asia but i made most of them (not all flags are shown on the photo).

I also made capital cities and had Sonshine match them on the map. I was pleased that he could recall most of the capital cities and didn't had much problem with this either.

Lastly, matching the national costumes with the countries on the map.

All in all, i am pleased that the sonny is able to locate the major countries in Asia. He has even learnt which countries are part of South East Asia, which are part of Middle East. Even i had fun with this! Daddy says Mommy's geography has improved (from hopeless) after researching and making this activity for the boy. That is quite true, LOL!

Solar System

Now that my husband tags along to our library trips, we have a bigger problem! We've got 3 people (Him, sonshine and myself) trying to stuff books (for the boy) into our library bag- competition is stiff, library cards are limited!

Anyway, one of the books my husband picked out was on the Solar System. Although i've taught N before, it doesn't hurt to refresh his memory and learn more about it. And since he's older, he probably understands it better than when he was 2.

We read two books (forgot to take picture), one of which was Dr Seuss's 'There's No Place like Space'.

The books helped N to learn and recall the sequence of the planets & that there are 8 planets in all. I dug out this material i made for him 2 years ago and have him match the labels to the planets.

The books taught us some facts and so to sum up what we read, i made these cards.

Sonshine had to match these descriptive cards to the correct planet cards.

I was over the moon (HA!) when i found out that i had Earth and moon related National Geographic books- how appropriate! We've been reading just to complete our read on Solar system.

Yummy Food

N is a really picky eater. If possible, he would do away with his 3 meals and just live on water. No kidding. In all his 4 years, he has NEVER told us he's hungry. The only stuff he would ask for are all the unhealthy snacks like sweets- before you jump into any conclusion, we don't give in to his request for sweets easily either.

Anyway, in our very feeble attempt to make him eat more, my husband & i went in search for books on eating & eating the right food. We borrowed a couple and read them to him last 2 weeks. He has basically learnt the food pyramid, what are the food he should eat more, what less, how different food benefit  him in varying ways etc

So to drill into him what we have read, i did up the chart above. It's basically categorizing the food, which food gives us fibre, which calcium, protein etc and how each help our body.

While, it has certainly helped him to understand why we need to eat, it hasn't helped in his picky eating ways. BLEH!

Plants & Flowers

We are now reading various books on plants and its life cycles. One of the things we learnt is that leaves come in various shapes. Just for fun, i printed some basic leaf shapes and we studied the terms of each shape.

I printed separately some leaves and sonshine boy had to match. It was abit challenging since the difference can be quite subtle to a toddler.

In line with the theme, i made some leaves and lady bugs. I used these to play multiplication game. First, i put 2 lady bugs in each leaf and i have N to tell me the multiplication equation in order to calculate the total number of bugs.

In another variation of the game, i placed 3 ladybugs on each of the four leaves and two similar equations i.e. 4X3 and 3X4. I asked N  which was the correct equation using this placement.

Types of Animal

We read on Animal categories, we learnt what Amphibians, reptiles, mammals etc are.  Following which we did this activity. N had to read each description and match the label to the correct card. I didnt read out nor explain each card, i watched quietly as he read and matched. 100% accurate!

Matching the animal to the correct labels.

Down under

I WON I WON!

I participated in my very first giveaway at About a girl and won!

What did i win?

A set of Montessori Nomenclature cards on Australia. It was perfectly prepared by her! It came just at the right time! I haven't had time to make or plan anything for the boy but these cards made it really easy for me! I just had to print, laminate and cut!

The boy was super elated to see new cards and was eager to play with them. It made me both happy- that he still enjoys learning and sad- it shows how much he yearns to learn but i just don't have the time! :(

We learnt the various landmarks, things & people we can find in Australia. From these cards, N has discovered that Sydney Opera house, great barrier reef, 12 apostles etc can be found in Australia!

We also learn which animals live in Australia

I made this set of cards, solely inspired by the cards i won. Its the map of Australia, divided into different states. N did it only once and could remember every state without checking the answers!

I also went on a hunt in my house to find things relating to Australia to show N. There's the flag, Kangaroo, cockatoo, sheep, koala bear, Sydney magnets, a didgeridoo (made by N during his Holiday art class) and my fav, a Qantas aeroplane model!

Sonshine boy had lots of fun exploring the cards and he's been asking to play with them over and over again. I've also summarized what we learn by asking him what are landmarks, things, animals we can find in Australia.

Telling the Time- half hour

Sonshine knows how to tell the time by the hour and i've moved on to teach him to tell the time by half hour.

I used this clock which i bought from Popular bookshop to teach him. The difficult part about teaching time by half hour is that the hour hand points somewhere between the two numbers. For instance, if its 9:30, the hour hand doesn't point directly at '9' but between '9' & '10'. Hence, N took awhile to tell the time.

I told him- (DO NOT FOLLOW ME, THIS METHOD IS SO WRONG) to take the smaller number. So between '9' & '10', '9' is smaller, so its 9:30. :P This is not accurate as it cannot be applied to '12:30'.

I bought the above cards-again from Popular bookstore, and used it to practise with N. He was still hesitant but seem to be getting the hang of it. We'll practise more! 

More about the moon

I've been playing some moon activities with sonshine following our read on this book. Nothing really serious some impromptu play.

We were playing playdough the other day and i made the moon in its different phases. We just recited a portion of the book together 'and the moon got smaller and smaller and smaller!' as i pointed each phase.

Another version of our disappearing moon!

I saw this all over the Internet while searching for moon activities. These are Oreo biscuits with the inside scraped to look like the different shapes of the moon. Instead of naming them in its scientific terminology, we just quoted the book again. But Sonshine boy was able to point out which one was the full moon.

Capital Cities of the world

We have been reading up on capital cities of the world. As i have mentioned before, the world flags, maps and the likes always intrigue sonshine boy.

I prepared word labels on some of the capital cities we've learnt.

To make it interesting, i used world flags instead of country names. Sonshine boy had to match the various capital cities to the correct flag. He required no help from me.

Through our readings, we've also learn about some famous landmarks and where they are found. I made some word labels and he had to match them to the correct picture. I also had him match the landmarks to the country (flag) where it can be found.

Papa & the Moon

Sonshine boy is currently obsessed with this Eric Carle's book. Its about a girl who wanted the moon and how her papa got it for her. Just like a typical Carle's book, it has subtle science lesson in it! The kids learn that the moon 'shrinks' from a full moon till it 'disappear' and 'grow' again to a full moon. The creative lift the flap pages make the book even more interesting.

As a follow up, i prepared material on the phases on the moon. I shared with N the technical names of each phases as the 'shrinks' and as the moon 'grow'. Well, technical is the word, it was TOO technical for him. The only thing he got out from this was 'FULL MOON'.

We're still reading this book- it has been weeks (Yawn) but sonshine boy still find delight in it. After each read, i would pretend to climb up the very long ladder until i reach the moon (just like the papa in the book). And pretend to wait for the moon to get smaller so that i can take it down & pass it to N. The boy, pretends to be the girl in the book, would 'play' with the moon till it disappeared (just as the book says). He's had so much fun with this despite that we've been playing this EVERY night.

Ah, the simple pleasures of pretend play!

Sorting pictures & words

This is a sorting game that we played recently. I took out 4 different types of pictures, animals, flowers, transportation & insects. Sonshine boy sorts them out on a paper divided in four quadrants.

To make it more challenging, i replaced the pictures with 4 types of species in words from 4 categories, mixed them up and have sonshine boy to sort them. I wanted to see if he knew that say a 'parakeet' is a type of bird, or a 'flounder' is a fish. He did this with no help and could tell me what category each quadrant represents.

{post note: yes i know that my 'hibiscus' word label is spelt wrongly}

Chinese New Year craft

Here's a Chinese New Year (CNY) craft we did!



First, i pasted doubled sided tape on a red paper to make the word, which means 'fortune' in English. At the same time, i taught N how to read it.

To avoid mess, i place the paper in a tray.

Remove the white tape and let your child sprinkle some gold glitter!

The result! Ready to be hanged at our door!

Chinese New Year!

I love Chinese New Year, i've very fond memories of it! I hope N would too!

In celebration of the festive period, i prepared some CNY activities.

I prepared an envelope and pasted the word 'Chinese New Year' on it.

Inside the envelope are pictures of what we can see during CNY from lion dance, chinese latterns to pineapple tarts.

There are also typical chinese new year greetings. Im taking this chance to teach N more Mandarin words.

What's CNY without red packets? I put in some money and asked N to count how much there were in each packet! I'm preparing him for the real task!

This week...

I've finally picked up my inspiration and energy enough to prepare these activities!

Still on the topic of frogs, i printed pictures of frog species we've been learning. N will be matching the frogs to the pictures.

I was inspired when i saw this on Karmeleon Kronicles and created a smiliar activity. You can hop over to her site to learn how to play this activity. :)

N is becoming a pro in transferring the cotton balls using his chopsticks. I decided to up the challenge by having him transfer these cute erasers. He'll also be sorting them as he goes along. 

This is my other attempt to brush up N's handwriting.

I took out the letter 'c' from my DIY sandpaper letters so that N can practise his fingering on it first. I figured 'c' is the easiest of the lot! I wanted N to finger the letter on a tray of sand/flour as per the Montessori activity but realised...i could go high tech on this one! I could use the iphone instead- on the Doodle Buddy application. After N watch me finger the letter 'c', i got him to practise on the application. He got his strokes correct although he used his thumb instead of finger. I decided to let it pass as my objective now is to get him to learn the proper way of writing the alphabets.