Teach global awareness of poverty, war, pollution, sustainability for World Month

Hello my friends of the Omschool. April is Earth Month and this year I'm thinking of it as World Month too. With terrible wars in Ukraine, Palestine and now the US in Iran, our earth and the people who live on it, face devasting circumstances and consequences of the circumstances. Consequences that will not go away when the guns are silent. I just watched a documentary on Fleury-devant-Douaumont, one of many "ghost cities" obliterated in WW1 in battles such as the Somme, Ypres and Verdun. It is a cemetery and the ground is too toxic ever to rebuild anyway. These cities bear the distinction "mort pour Le France (died for France). There are countless others around the world, from countless wars, disasters, impoverishment, disease, all man-made, destroyed or with lasting, extensive damage. Pripyat, Biafra, Hiroshima, Chechnya, Warsaw, Carthage, Nagasaki, Aleppo, Gallipoli, Lebanon, Palestine the list goes on. 

And it's not just war that injures and kills. Exploitation of natural resources by consumer driven societies do just as much harm. In many industrialized 'first world' countries, we live in insular communities which have little or no contact with global issues. So we think it doesn't affect us. We think wrong. 

We consume grotesque quantities of natural resources. We use goods wantonly, we burn vast amounts of fossil fuels every second. We let good clean water run down the drain endlessly. We cram miles of good fertile land with plastic, paper, yard waste, glass, metal. We pay billions of dollars to watch idiots and buffoons entertain us. We are a glutted society, drowning in our own waste. There are beaches in China that appear sandy but are in fact composed entirely of microplastic from global waste. There's a trash island TWICE the size of Texas and growing, called GPGP (the Great Pacific Garbage Patch) floating in the Pacific ocean. 

So what's the point of this discouraging review? That all is not lost. We have a generation of citizens who are forced to sit in our schools every day listening to talk on all sorts of subjects. What if we were to bring this captive audience global awareness of the world around them?  Not just latitude and "name the capital of Tibet" and drawing maps. I'm talking real lessons about real people around the world, 3/4 of which live below the poverty level.

Obviously we can't end the suffering. But we can raise global awareness to the plight of poverty, illness, starvation, lack of literacy and dreadful environmental issues, much of the world lives with. I have interacted with hundreds of students of all ages and I have rarely found any so hard-hearted that they did not show concern when presented with the face of poverty, hunger, disease and want. Knowledge is power and we can empower this generation to go and make a difference in whatever way is right for them. Perhaps a student will join the Peace Corps, write a news expose that touches the public, find a cure for illness, sponsor a child, who knows?

So how do we raise awareness? Here are some websites with resources to educate and inspire students on the needs of the world.

Greater Good. You'll find all sorts of teaching resources for geography, science, demographics, culture and reading. There are map activities, lesson plans, literature links, and more. There are web pages on rain forests, global health care and literacy also. Each link has teacher resources and lesson plans to help students understand the factors contributing to poverty. There are lessons on climate, harvest, natural disasters, politics, disease prevention, vitamin and nutrition deficiencies, dehydration, land mines and disease in general. The rain forest page lists science lessons on water and water shortages, biome and habitat health, symbiosis, etc. The literacy link shows ways to improve literacy, communication and interaction.

World Health Organization Search this informative site for ways to improve and explore health. You'll find statistics, charts, graphs that can be useful in math and science also.

UNICEF The United Nations developed UNICEF (UN Children's Fund) to bring resources to nation's in need. It's primary focus is on children. Click this link to find out more about what educators and students and do to help or be informed.

Peace Corps This site is filled with lesson plans and teacher resources all about global issues. You'll find many lessons for grades 3-12. There are lessons in many different world regions. There are language, literature, environment, health, cross-culture, social studies, geography, service learning and more.

TheWorldWar has free printable World War One resources to teach students about the scope of this "war to end all wars." If only...

Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial site, has a wealth of lesson plans to help students begin to conceptualize the horror of genocide. I find the Hall of Names and their personal stories on YouTube Yad Vashem the most profound. Especially the children. 

Let's bring about some real global awareness of issues that affect us, our world and our neighbors in it.

Free printable Easter coloring pages, crafts, games and party activities

Easter is the highest season in the Christian church and the second largest national holiday in most countries. Easter has taken on a secular side. If you celebrate Easter with eggs, bunnies and Easter baskets here are free printable Easter crafts and activities. Get free printable Easter coloring pages, greeting cards, Easter party games, Easter craft projects, printable Easter baskets, Easter bunny coloring pages, puzzles, mazes, plus a whole lot more. You can print Easter eggs, bunnies, baby animals and cute spring and Easter decorations.

DLTK is always a great resource for educational holiday activities for kids. DLTK has free printable Easter crafts. Easter bunny memory games, Easter bookmarks, Easter party decorations and place cards, Easter greeting cards, dominoes, chore charts, calendars, Easter bingo cards, three Easter mini-books to color, Easter treat holders, Easter worksheets and more.

No article about free printable holiday crafts is complete without a mention of Crayola Get free printable Easter crafts and art projects. Print holiday crafts, word searches, puzzles for Easter. Get free printable Easter baskets, games, greeting cards, puzzles, coloring pages, color your own photo frames and (my favorite kids game) connect the dots. Be sure to bookmark and visit often.

First School has a great assortment of free printable religious and secular Easter crafts for kids. There are stained glass window Easter coloring pages, Easter egg shaped greeting cards. First school has free printable animal craft projects: baby chick and chicken, donkey for Palm Sunday, Easter bunny rabbit, lambs, ducks and geese. These are only a few of the free printable Easter crafts, spring crafts, lessons and activities. Be sure to check out First School for a complete, nicely organized website.

Super Coloring features hundreds of free printable Easter coloring pages including the popular adult coloring pages. These are more intricate and challenging than children's coloring pages. But there are plenty of those too! There are even Disney Easter coloring pages featuring Mickey Mouse and friends. There's a SpongeBob coloring page as well. 

The Toymaker may not have quite as many free printable Easter crafts but what she has are utterly unique. The Toymaker specializes in handmade holiday crafts with an old world Euro flavor. Her free printable vintage Easter crafts feature spectacularly hand-drawn, watercolor art work. Print Easter bunny greeting cards and a 3D Easter bunny paper model. The sweet little Easter baskets will satisfy a lover of Art Deco and the inner child. Little kids will like making Easter baskets to collect their eggs and candy too. 

How to write poetry: free printable poem template guide

Hello my friends of the Omschool-iverse! Do you like my new title for this space we visit in? Well, funnily enough this post is about versing or, writing poetry. Here's an incomplete, rambling, work-in-progress guide on how to write poetry. I will probably edit many times as I think of more poems starters and tips. We're going to use the poem pattern of tree. This gears us up for April which is National Poetry Month. 

1. Plant your tree. By that I mean, start writing. Just do it.  Grab pen or keyboard and start putting down some thoughts. Look around you and describe what you see. Or write about some feelings, or a situation you are in. 

2. Sprout your poetry tree.  Brainstorm or just let flow. So, brainstorming, or idea gathering is great for prose or non-fiction. But poetry, eh, not so much. Poetry cannot be diagrammed into an outline. Channeling it doesn't really work. I find it works best so sort of riff (free write on a theme). Having said that you could brainstorm on a list of subjects. 

3. Grow your trunk. Identify your theme. Once you've scribbled down some ideas, look for a thread. I know it probably sounds wrong to do it in that order. You should find theme then write. And it's okay to do it that way. Mine tend to be about Lake Michigan or childhood memories. 

4. Branch out. List some phrases What works for me is to begin with a few basic phrases I'd like to build around. Usually they are assonance- alliterative (repetitive first letters) An example from a recent poem was " fine pine time" and "evergreen queen." About 10 should do it. 

5. Add some leaves. From each branch phrase, add a few leaf words and phrases. My examples became "had a fine pine time with the evergreen queen, and the fir campfire, prettiest ever seen." 

6. Let it grow. You may find as I do when I write, that the poem takes on a voice of its own. Suddenly, I'm going it directions I never even thought of. For months now, I've tried to write a poem about dunes on Lake Michigan. And it always goes rogue. Assume that if your poem changes direction it was meant to. 

7. Use the Google thesaurus or keep hard copy on hand. This resources really helps expand vocabulary. Also use Google to find words that rhyme with whatever word you need. 

8. Start a poetry blog. I have one here at The Writer's Garden. 

9. Join a Poetry Slam or writer's group. I'm going to begin reading my poetry aloud on my Youtube channel. Wish me bon chance! 

10. Print your poetry into a binder or book. That's a step I've yet to take but am feeling ready. 

11. Ask to read your poetry aloud, requesting input and really listening to the comments. 

12. Create your writing environment with things that inspire or just make you feel happy. The picture is mine. This probably should go further up, 

Free printable Catholic Christian and Bible coloring pages for Ash Wednesday and Lent

Hello my friends of the Omschool, My family is Catholic and follows Catholic Christian teachings in what we call the liturgical calendar.  Today is Fat Tuesday (where we use up all sweets in the house) Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday when we enter into a time called Lent. Lent is the 40-day countdown to Holy Week (Palm Sunday through Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter). During this time we "follow Jesus" through the desert where he was tempted by the Devil. We practice fasting (giving up certain treats to get closer to God), almsgiving (sharing with those in need) and prayer (talking to God). Here are some free printable Catholic activities based on stories from the Bible to help your family follow Jesus in the Lenten journey. 

Let's start with free printable Catholic coloring pages featuring Bible stories. prayer, sacraments, mass, Gospel, saints, Lent, Advent, holidays and holy days, life of Jesus, Catholic saints' feast days, rosary and stations of the cross. Whew! That's a lot! And The Catholic Kid has free printable Catholic coloring pages galore. 

Catholic Sprouts (love the name) has free printable Catholic activities, Bible coloring pages and Christian crafts. It looks like they are all free to print from a download or PDF. Isn't it amazing how generous people are? There are so many to love but my favorites are printable Catholic ABCs in Spanish and Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious and Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary coloring book to print free. 

Use these free printable Bible coloring pages to make a Lenten Walk with Jesus countdown calendar. Color one picture a day, to celebrate Jesus and all he did on earth: miracles of Jesus, Sermon on the Mount, baptism, holy communion (or Eucharist) and more. Put them in order in a booklet to read to younger siblings. 

Paper Dali has free printable Catholic and Bible story coloring pages and paper dolls to cut, color and assemble. I'm linking you to her home page because I want you to see  how big her collection is. Also, I want to honor her request not to use for anything but personal use. So I'm not sharing any here but linking back.  

St. Anne's Helper has many free Catholic, Christian and Bible coloring pages and activities for Lent and throughout the liturgical calendar. Some are for purchase and some are free. 

Catholic Icing has been one of  my go-to resources for years. I linked to the homepage so you can click around and find what you need. Here is the Lent page with all kinds of Catholic activities. 

Catholic Playground has some of the loveliest vintage Catholic coloring pages to print that I have ever seen. I think they must come from children's books or CCD materials. I think Our Lady of Lourdes is my favorite. 

Karen's Whimsy has been one of my favorite vintage coloring pages sites since I began writing online in 2006 😲(has it been 20 YEARS!?) On her page called "Christianity" you'll find dozens of gorgeous images created from old manuscripts, Bibles, prayer books, etc. Have children color these and make a living stations of the cross. 

And last but not least, is my friend Marilyn The Toymaker, with free printable vintage toy crafts to color, cut and paste. All made by the toymaker herself and free to print. I've linked to the Easter pages but there's so much more and that's  just the holidays. Check out her vintage animal paper crafts. Some are religious and some are just adorable.  Children could make these paper toys as acts of Lenten service and donate to children's missions, senior homes and more. Moses, I think you direct your siblings to make very nice Sun Boxes.

May all your Lenten journeys be all you need them to be. Love, Teacher Omi

Free Printable Catholic Lenten coloring pages, Bible activities, Christian crafts

Hello my Omschool friends. Our family is Catholic and when I homeschooled our children, we followed the liturgical calendar and based our lesson plans around that. Our high holy day is Easter. For Catholic and Orthodox Christians, Easter is about more than just Easter baskets, bunnies and candy. Easter celebrates the Passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. During Lent, which is the 40-day period prior to Easter, Christians ready themselves for Jesus's coming with prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Lent begins in the Catholic liturgical calendar, on Ash Wednesday, following Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras (also called Shrove Tuesday) The date of Ash Wednesday changes each year as Easter is a "movable feast." In 2025, Ash Wednesday was Mar 5.  

Lent "follows" Jesus's during forty days of fasting in the desert when He was tempted by Satan. in preparation for His sacrifice on the cross. During Lent, we try to imitate Jesus. We follow the "Way of the Cross" or Stations of the Cross and pray the rosary. To help children learn about their Catholic Christian faith and observe Lent, here are free printable stations of the cross, rosary, saints and Easter bible story coloring pages. Use these for Lenten devotions.

The Catholic Kid has dozens of free printable Catholic coloring pages for Lent. There are free printable Catholic saints coloring pages too. 

Catholic Mom has an entire liturgical year of free downloadable and printable saints feast day coloring pages organized by month. This site also has 200+ free printable Sunday mass worksheets and activities, gospel Bible story coloring pages and devotional guides that follow the Catholic liturgical calendar. 

St. Anne's Helper has free printable Catholic activities and coloring pages for Lenten devotions. Catholic Icing is a homeschool mom blog with all kinds of printable Catholic activities, games, crafts, lesson plans and coloring pages. Clip Art Library has even more Catholic Bible printables and religious coloring pages. Edupics also has a big assortment of free printable Christian coloring pages. 

Between these sites, you'll free printable and downloadable Catholic Lenten coloring pages across all categories related to the faith, plus Christian games, activities, crafts and lesson plans. Some images are cartoons but others are beautifully drawn stained glass windows in various churches. These would make good adult coloring pages as well as challenging coloring pages for kids.  Categories include: 

free printable rosary coloring pages--Joyful Mysteries from the Bible story of Jesus's life: the annunciation, the Visitation, the Birth of Jesus, the Presentation and Finding the Child Jesus in the Temple--Sorrowful Mysteries from the Bible story of Jesus's life: the Agony in the Garden, the Scourging, the Crowning with Thorns, Carrying the Cross and the Crucifixion--Glorious Mysteries (heavenly events) in Jesus's life include the Resurrection, the Ascension, the Descent of the Holy Spirit, the Assumption and the Crowning of Mary Queen of Heaven.--Luminous Mysteries: the Baptism of Jesus, the Wedding at Cana (Jesus's first public miracle), the Proclamation of the Kingdom and the Institution of the Holy Eucharist. These are Bible events from the life of Jesus. 

free printable Stations of the Cross coloring pages, one for each of the 15 stations

free printable Apostles Creed coloring pages

free saints coloring pages of St. Patrick, Mary Mother of God, St. Joan of Arc, St. Philomena, St. Tarcisius, St. Clare, St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Joseph, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Valentine and other saints. There are several of Pope Francis. 

Use these free printable Catholic Easter coloring pages for Ash Wednesday, Lent devotions, Holy Week, Palm Sunday and the Easter Triduum: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and finally Easter Sunday. Make a Stations of the Cross coloring book for mass and to keep little ones quiet during devotions and to reflect during your stations prayers. These coloring pages make great lent devotional activities to prepare children for Easter.

Funny kids bedtime books to tame a child's fear of monsters

Hello my friends of the Omschool. Did you know, teacher Omi wasn't always an adult? I was a little kid who was often scared of the dark and of the monsters which I was sure inhabited it. But I learned, from my emotional support books how to conquer some of those fears. Books provide what we call bibliotherapy. By reading certain books and stories we find help for mental health issues, such as fear. Kids books offer bibliotherapy by showing children in similar situations safely resolving struggles. And when they use humor, all the better. If your child fears monsters, likely its worse at night. Here are funny kids bedtime books on taming fear of monsters. 

Harry and the Terrible Whatzit (Dick Gackenbach) We kids believe that the basement is a place where awful things live. My grandma used to tell me to fetch a can of peaches for her while she counted. As if THAT was going to help! I'd run so fast I tripped up the stairs. So I really feel for Harry, when he worries that his mother has been taken or worse by a terrible whatzit in the basement. Our brave hero goes looking for her and finds that you can't judge a monster by its two heads. Absolutely hilarious denouement! 

There's a Nightmare in my Closet (Mercer Mayer) Who hasn't been afraid of the thing in the closet and been told "there's nothing there"? My grandfather humored me and closed the door but even then, I knew as did the kid in this book that I was right, there's something inside! But good news for us when IT turns out to be more afraid of us than we are of him.  I absolutely love the annoyed look on the kid hero's face as he comforts the crybaby creep! Here are some free printable lesson plans on Nightmare in the Closet. 

There's Something in the Attic (Mercer Mayer) Along with the dreaded basement, the attic is another scary place where frights of all kinds lurk. In another case of  mistaken monster identity, it appears there IS something in the attic as we've suspected but he identifies as the fearful rather than the feared. And it takes a brave cowgirl to calm him. 

There's a Monster Under my Bed (James Howe) Monsters have a lot of hiding places and under a kid's bed is their favorite. My preferred monster-prevention method was to cram so much under the bed that a monster wouldn't fit. But Simon can't so he must face the under-bed-dwellers, man to monster. You'll love the outcome. 

Little Monster series. Mercer Mayer really knows his monsters and there could not possibly be a cuter monster than Little Monster unless it's his (sometimes annoying) little sister. Kids can address monster fears by seeing that he's just one of the gang. And Little Monster has to do some bully-busting of his own with big Yally who also turns out to be not as brave as he presents. 

Where the Wild Things Are (Maurice Sendak) What is is with monsters not living up to their reputations? In this classic story, Max not only tames but rules the whiny baby wild things! Because really kids are the most wonderfully wild things of all. 

Go Away, Big Green Monster! (Ed Emberley) The monster in this interactive book is real and really scary UNTIL a child takes him down to size. My youngest daughter loved dismantling Big Green Monster and telling him not to come back unless SHE said so. 

Read these books to your kids before bed or in the classroom at school. Allow for lots of discussion. And see my other articles for more bibliotherapy on bullies, conflict resolution and more. 

Dr Seuss Day activities, lesson plans crafts, printables for learning centers

Hello my friends of the Omschool, teacher Omi (grama) here with free Dr. Seuss Day lesson plans, activities, crafts and printables. The Cat in the Hat doffs his cap on March 2, to honor the birthday of his creator Dr. Seuss (Ted Geisel). To celebrate things Seuss, the NEA (National Education Association) hosts "Read Across America"  on March 2, to kick off March as National Reading Month. You can explore Dr. Seuss and reading in preschool learning centers with these Dr. Seuss activities, perfect for homeschool as well. 

Reading learning center. Dr. Seuss is right at home in the book or library learning center. Fill your book corner with Seuss books. Scatter some comfy pillows and Dr. Seuss character toys (Cat in the Hat, Lorax, Grinch etc). Emergent readers will love the pictures. Visit Seussville for book lists and ideas.  Throw a Seuss story party. Details to follow. 

Dr. Seuss activities for the art center. Display Seuss books: The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, Bartholomew and the Oobleck and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Each day of Read Across America week, create Seuss inspired artwork. Paint Seuss creatures at easels with brightly colored and neon paints. Model creatures in modeling clay or playdough. Create sculptures by poking recycled materials in Styrofoam blocks. 

To teach Dr. Seuss at the Collage center, make Seuss toys from "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." Put out oddly shaped cardboard containers, egg cartons, aluminum foil and cans, plastic containers and colored fabric scraps. Students can design their own version of toys from Whoville

Jing Tingler

Flu Flooper

Tar Tinkers

Who Hoover 

Who Carnio Flunx 

To teach Dr. Seuss in the Music Center, make homemade musical instruments. Create noise makers like the Grinch's hated 

Gar Ginkers 

Trum Tupers 

Slu Slumkers 

Blum Bloopers 

Who Wompers 

Zu Zitter Carzays. 

Encourage students to give their musical instruments silly Seuss-ish names. 

To teach Dr. Seuss in Dramatic Play or Dress Up center, have students make masks of Seuss characters: Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose

Horton the elephant

Yertle the Turtle

Maisie the bird

the Wickersham monkeys

Kangaroo and her joey

Have children create their own Seuss creatures. Have a Dr. Seuss parade like the one in his first book "And to Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street." Dress in homemade Seuss costumes, play musical instruments and show off homemade toys. 

To teach Dr. Seuss science center, use the Lorax. The Lorax deals with environmentalism. Set up an experiment on decomposition and pollution. Place different pieces of trash in zippered bags with a little water. Monitor them over time to show students how slowly trash decomposes. Here are more free printable Lorax science lesson plans. 

Students could also tend "trufulla seeds" (use any flower seeds, sunflower, cosmos or daisy). 

Make Oobleck mixing liquid laundry starch and white school glue. Here are more free printable recipes for Oobleck, moon sand, noise putty, etc. Use for early chemisty lesson plans. 

To teach a Dr. Seuss practical life area, use "The Cat in the Hat", "Green Eggs and Ham" and "Horton Hears a Who." These books deal with caring for others, preparing food and house cleaning. Do a Cat in the Hat tidy up relay race. Cook green eggs and ham. Care for an insect or goldfish. Use these free printable Dr. Seuss activities in your lesson plans, too

Early math lesson plans from the practical life learning center with printables

Hello my dear friends! Teacher Omi (grama) here with some free early math lesson plans. These preschool activities cost nothing because they use materials you already have on-hand, whether you homeschool or teach in a school classroom. Today's math lesson plans come right out of the toybox or in a preschool classroom, the practical life learning center (called the house area in a Montessori set-up). Use them to teach early math skills like sorting, classifying, organizing, patterns and sequencing. 

Setting the table. I love this early math lesson plan for it's nod to nostalgia. When I was young, we learned in a little girl's club I was part of, how to properly set a table, using real dishes, utensils and table linens. That might not seem like a math lesson, or even very important to know. But it's kinda gestalt in that the whole was greater than the sum of the parts. For one thing, it was relaxing and therapeutic, especially for kids (like me) with a high need for orderliness. Now we might be called OCD or even autistic. Then we were just called organized. 

And there was a lot of emphasis on organizing back then which I see less of, today. And this is where the early math and even science and STEM comes in. All these disciplines rely on sorting, sequencing, organizing, classifying, arranging, method and order. There's nothing haphazard about math and science. And the earlier children learn how to do these things, the easier higher math and science will be. 

So how would you use the practical life or house learning center for early math lesson plans? Well, in those learning centers there's always a kitchen set of some kind, with play food and dishes. Teach children to set the table by showing where each item goes. You can get free printable placemats to help with arrangement. 

Early math lesson plans with play food. There are a multitude of ways to use play food in math lesson plans, particularly the kind which is separated into pieces. Have students disassemble food into pieces and then match up again. Encourage them to talk about what they are doing. You might even make it into a memory game. This teaches fine motor skills, eye hand coordination, matching, sorting and verbal skills. 

You can also teach math and science skills by grouping foods according to color, shape, food group, plant part, etc. These preschool activities help children learn about plant science, nutrition, categorizing and noticing details. 

You might have students arrange food on the printable placemat templates to make complete meals. MyPlate has a large section of free printable nutrition lesson plans to teach about food groups, healthy eating, meal planning and much more. 

After children have explored these concepts, end with a tasting party! My grandson Emmett likes to taste the play  food LOL. So we get out the real foods and sample them. And my personal favorite place to start is with fruits and vegetables. So much color, texture and nutritional goodness. Try making a rainbow fruit and veggie plate. 

Free printable paper airplanes and plane models for aviation science lesson plans

 

Hello and welcome to a beautiful day in the Omschool! Teacher Omi (grama) here with some science lesson plans I know you're going to enjoy! I've got a collection of free printable paper airplanes for you to cut out and assemble! Sprint is the perfect time to turn out attention to flight and aviation science lesson plans. 

Since I was a kid, I've been fascinated with all things with wings, be it birds, bugs, airplanes or helicopters. The science of flight is crucial to our understanding of physics (physical science) Building model airplanes or making paper airplanes are excellent hands-on STEM (STEAM) activities. STEAM is the expanded version of STEM that includes science, technology, engineering, arts and math. Building model airplanes addresses all those STEAM disciplines. 

Here are free printable paper airplanes from Delta. Here are more downloads for free printable paper airplane models from Iowa State University. Fold 'N Fly has a plethora of free printable paper airplanes to cut, fold and assemble. There are instructions plus information of flight duration and expected distance that you can use for measurement and other STEM lesson plans. My favorite part are the suggestions to extend the science lesson plans by encouraging students to experiment with add-ons, different configurations, etc., thereby building in student creativity. 

I suggest giving each student a notebook science journal to record airplane statistics, modifications and results of experiments. Using scientific method shown below, students can collect and analyze data to draw conclusions. 

Science journals employing scientific theory make ideals HOTS (higher order thinking skills) activities. Plus flying their model airplanes gets kids outside, actively learning,  in the fresh air and away from passive staring at screens. 

Free printable calendar lesson plans: reuse old calendars

  Hi friends of the Omschool! Teacher Omi (grama) here with free printable calendar lesson plans and ways to reuse old calendars. If you use paper calendars, you've got a treasure trove of math manipulatives at your disposal. Save your old calendars to make hands-on math activities to teach date and time, skip counting, sorting and organizing and calendar skills.

Reuse old calendars as math worksheets. Give students calendar pages and teach them to count, skip count by 2-8, to help kids understand times tables (fact families). The beauty of  reusing calendars as worksheets is that kids can write on them like workbook pages. Use them to teach days of the week and months of the year. 

Reuse old calendars as flashcards. Let children cut and paste calendar numbers onto recycled cardboard. Then students can arrange flashcards in order or by 2-8 fact families. In this way, you get double duty free lesson plans with math crafts and counting activities. 

Reuse old calendars as games. Have students cut and paste calendar numbers to make Memory games, Bingo or a pathway counting game such as Candyland. Students might also invent their own games. This expands these into cross-curricular free printable lesson plans that include writing, reading, spelling, creative writing, design and STEM activities. 

Reuse calendar pictures as homemade kids books. Calendar pictures are usually centered on a theme (nature scenes, etc.) Instruct students to cut and paste the 12 images onto recycled cardboard. Then they can practice creative writing skills to make these into homemade books. Kids might then read the stories aloud to younger children to practice storytelling skills. 

These free printable lesson plans make excellent resources for classroom and homeschool students. 

Free St. Patrick's Day lesson plans with printables, books, activities, crafts and snacks

 Hello my friends of this blog on free printable lesson plans! Teacher Omi (grama) here from the Omschool! (2nd gen homeschool by grama) with St. Patrick's Day printables, activities, games, crafts and snacks. Learn more about St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland and other Catholic saints with these homeschool activities. 

Any time I post about Catholic activities, I have to share Catholic Icing, a wonderful blog created by a homeschool mom featuring a wide variety of Catholic Christian lesson plans, printables, crafts and more.  You can get secular St. Patrick's Day activities anywhere with leprechauns, rainbows, shamrocks and other Irish schmaltz. But for free printable lesson plans on the St. Patrick visit this blog. 

For free printable coloring pages to explore the Bible, Catholic saints, teachings, liturgical activities and more, visit The Catholic Kid.  Loyola Press has pages of Catholic lesson plans  and The Kids' Bulletin has free printable Sunday bulletins for children that follow the Catholic Bible readings of the liturgical year. EWTN Kids has a lot of good homeschool and religious ed activities too. Catholic.org has a plethora of helpful links, activities and lesson plans. Though these sites are free, they're free for moderators to maintain, so a donation is requested to defray costs. 

For kids books on Saint Patrick, read Gail Gibbons St. Patrick's Day and Tomie DePaola Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland or Patrick, Saint of Ireland Joyce Denham and Diana Mayo. The Wolf and the Shield is excellent for older readers (Sherry Weaver Smith). Check this link to Thriftbooks for other picture books, easy readers and chapter books on St. Patrick, Ireland and the saints. 

Stereotypical foods to serve on St. Patrick's Day include the usual corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, Irish soda bread and beer. However, in 4th century Ireland that would be almost unheard of. The fare in 399 was wheat bread (barley was for ale, fermented to prevent the grain from spoiling), sour milk and cream and cheese. Fish was common too, so salmon, eel and trout. Include garlic, apples and watercress too. 

And Patrick was not Irish but a wealthy patrician (where the name Patrick actual comes from) of Rome living in Saxon Britian, the furthest Roman outpost. So prior to being taken slave (or running away as some stories tell it) he would eat as "an expat with a mild case of affluenza" as one author adeptly put it. So this would include such foods as French wines, game birds and peas with coriander. 

In his Confessio, Patrick recalls as a captive living on deer and wild honey. If you want to eat like Saint Patrick really ate, serve salmon with garlic and butter, creamed peas, flatbreads made of wheat (think pita) buttermilk, simple watercress soup and stewed apples with nuts. 

Hands-On Preschool math and science lesson plans with play food, with free printables

Hello teacher Omi here with more free printable lesson plans from the Omschool! Today we are going to talk about how to use children's toys and common household objects to create interactive, Hands-On lesson plans for preschool, in your classroom or homeschool. Here's an idea to use play food to teach early math skills like sorting, symmetry and matching. These activities build fine motor and STEM skills as well. 

I recently bought some play food for the grandchildren to play with at their kitchen set at our house. Most play food now comes pre-cut. Children can use a knife to "cut" food into pieces and then reassemble by attaching velcro pieces. The bananas corn on the cob are "peelable" too. Use these as an easy matching game. This can be adapted for children ages 18 months through preschool and kindergarten. It's perfect for children with special needs, too.

For the youngest learners, (Omi is looking at you, Remus and Emmett! And Flora you'll be there soon too) simply have them separate the pieces or separate them for children. Then they match up the two halves. For older children (hello Juno and Ezra), put all the pieces in a basket and have them sort to find matching pieces. You can also play a memory game with kids of all ages (that's you, Lucian, Lola, Milo, Moses, Silas and Henry!) by placing food halves randomly on a grid you've made on a board. Cover each and have students uncover two at a time till they find the matching pieces. 

Students can also sort food by food group, color or plant part (in the case of fruits and vegetables. So this activity does does double duty as science lesson plans. 

Here are some more free printable matching activities (Education.com) and Memory games to print (Busy Bee Kids) for your classroom or homeschool. And check out Enchanted Learning which has 1000s of free printables with banner ads. You can also subscribe for the  nominal fee of $29 a year to print banner-free. If you subscribe for three years, it's only $69 which is almost a full free year. They offer school district pricing too. 

Bibliotherapy with Vintage Children's Literature: Lesson Plans Using Old Kids' Books

Greetings from the Omschool! Teacher Omi (grama) here with lesson plans using vintage children's literature. I was an avid reader pretty much from day 1. I grew up being read to, reading and and then reading to others, as a parent, teacher and grandparent. I have a huge memory bank and now library of old kids' books from my childhood and earlier.  Here are ways to use vintage children's literature as bibliotherapy. 

First, think back to favorite books from your childhood. If you can't remember the title or author, ask a librarian. This is how I unearthed "Mr. Miacca: An English Folktale (Evaline Ness, 1967). A librarian was able to do a Google search and found it because I vaguely remembered that it was written by the same author as another favorite "Sam, Bangs and Moonshine." Another librarian helped me find my beloved book "The Doll of Lilac Valley." I knew the name but not the author and since it was withdrawn from circulation, it seemed lost in time. Which brought me to the next step. 

I do my own searches with Advanced Google Book Search, or Google Books  or just Google, using details I recalled from other works of children's literature I'd loved. This is how I found "Walter the Lazy Mouse" (Marjorie Flack, 1937). I'd been read this story at around age 4 and could only remember that it was about a mouse who moves to an island and makes furniture. 

Use picture memories. Many of my earliest books memories are of the illustrations. Before discovering Walter, anyone I'd ask would suggest "Stuart Little." I knew that wasn't the one because I recall the image of Walter making a stick bed and table. My mental image was a little blurred with Stuart Little but when I saw Walter's furniture, the illustrations fit my memory image perfectly. 

Begin (or continue) collecting old kids' books. Through garage sales, library book sales, thrift stores and now Thriftbooks and Amazon, I've amassed over 1,000 kids books, most written in the 1960s or before. Some were from the Little Lending Libraries. I rarely pay more than a buck or two per volume. I've had to pay more for a few of them because of age and the fact that they're collectibles. "Mr. Bear Squash-You-All-Flat" a classic my dad and I both loved, was going for about $50 but finally, I was able to purchase it for $8 at Thriftbooks. 

Find old kids books at Thriftbooks and Amazon. These sources have the best pricing for purchasing used and vintage children's literature.  I just recently purchased a volume of Childcraft, trying to hunt up a story I'd read as a kid and only just recalled as an adult. As part of our travel quest, my husband and I rediscovered Uzbekistan, specifically Tashkent and Samarkand. He'd not heard of these cities but I remembered reading of them at about age 5, in my grandmother's Childcraft series. 

Try to recall as many details as possible. The Childcraft books were a children's encyclopedia set. My husband had not heard of these so I thought maybe I'd gotten the name wrong. All I remembered was that they were white or silver books with a dark red banner. I searched and found that the Children of Many Lands was volume 5 (with the Uzbekistan stories) but the cover didn't look familiar. I kept searching and found that Grandma Langerak had the 1961 collection with the covers exactly as I had remembered. I was able to locate and purchase volume 5. I've not received it yet so I don't know for sure if the stories of Tashkent and Samarkand are in it but I will update you! (update: The one I found turned out not to discuss Samarkand or Tashkent, so I have to keep searching and to do that, I...

Keep digging. My husband had a favorite book called "The Big Book of Real Trains" that was lost. It took us awhile to locate, first because he forgot the "real" trains part. Then we discovered it had about 6 editions as trains changed over the years. We finally located one based on his memory of the cover. The illustrations were close but not exact. So we'll keep pursuing till we get the correct volume. 

Be prepared for some culture shock. I'll talk more about this is upcoming posts. Just to summarize, your beloved kids books will likely contain some things that might be uncomfortable or even offensive to you now.  Depending on time period, many kids books contained racial profiling, cultural appropriation (or misappropriation) and inappropriate depictions. I recently found a recording of one of my favorite albums "Aunt Theresa Please Tell Me a Story."  I cringed at how missionaries were portrayed as so superior and condescending white saviours to those they were missioning to. The racism, bigotry, inaccuracies and Messiah Complex in "The Stick of Wood That Talked" was rampant. 

But that was then and that's who I was then.  I can't do anything to change the past. I can change the future, which I'm trying to do by understanding what was wrong about the missionary attitude. It's also helped me learn more about myself as a child of would-be missionaries. I've relooked at some of the wrong ways they went about "missioning" and how it impacted me. And it doesn't have to prevent me enjoying my memories. 

Free printable Valentine's Day Lesson Plans: Love coupons

 Hello friends of this free printable lesson plans blog! I'm teacher Omi (grama) of the Omschool! Today I'm sharing free printable Valentine's Day lesson plans to make Love Coupons. We made these years ago, when I was homeschooling our children. A love coupon book is very easy to make with kids of all ages, from toddler to teen. And they make great Valentine's Day gifts that cost nothing. 

You can get free printable love coupons and love coupon booklets to personalize from Spruce Crafts and FTD. BH&G has more Valentine's Day love coupon printables and crafts. But you don't have to print anything if you don't want to. Kids can design their own and probably will enjoy it more. 

For homemade love coupons, simply have kids design a frame pattern like a store coupon. I made some for my now-husband, when we were dating, using index cards. Even the youngest can illustrate or color the coupons. Kids can write in "this coupon entitles the bearer to__________" with a blank to fill in. You can then photocopy the page of coupons to fill in. 

Then practice writing skills having children fill in what the Love coupon is good for. Here are some great free Valentine's Day gifts kids can give. 

--back rub

--do the dishes

--play with little brother

--clean garage

--wash the car

--hugs and kisses

--make breakfast

--feed the cat

--walk the dog

--fold clothes

--quiet time for parent nap

--shovel snow

--rake leaves

--reading to siblings

The list is endless! And best of all, none of these task cost anything. Toddlers can help by doing shorter simpler tasks (sorting socks, picking up toys, drawing a picture). I really encourage all teachers and homeschool families, to keep lesson plans simple. As much as possible, make them, individualized, open-ended, hands-on and designed for high success. 

Free printable animal tracks flashcards to play nature detective

 

Hello my friends! Teacher Omi (grandma) here with some fun winter science lesson plans for you. Today at the Omschool, we are having a big blizzard, so the ground is covered with snow. Opi (grandpa) was clearing the snow and noticed that lots of different animal friends had visited. How did he know? Yes, you  guessed it. Because he saw animal tracks in the snow! But the mystery was, which animal tracks are they. So we decided to play nature detectives and thought you might like to join us. But first you'll need some free printable animal tracks flashcards to help. 

We can figure out who visited by looking at the footprints and sometimes, tail prints that they left behind. Let's begin by printing those free printable animal tracks identification cards to help us solve the mystery of the who visited our yard.  You can use these to make your own field guide. 

Exploration America offers free printable animal tracks flashcards for you to print out, cut and assemble into a booklet. You can even use these as animal identification coloring pages. Maine.gov offers free downloadable printables of animal footprints and the Minnesota DNR (Department of Natural Resources) has 14 more free animal tracks printables. Massachusetts.gov has free printable animal identification flashcards.  

Along with our field guides, nature detectives need a magnifying glass. A camera would help, to take pictures of the tracks in situ (as they are). We can then make them into a nature scrapbook. We might also bring tweezers and some small plastic bags to collect any specimens we find, of fur. If we find any scat (animal droppings, or poop), we'll just leave it there and take pictures! 

Free printable snowflake patterns for winter science lesson plans

 Good morning! Teacher Omi (grandma) on this lovely winter day! We were just hit with a massive blizzard and it reminded me that when I homeschooled our kids, the weather and seasons played a big part in our lesson plans. Here are free printable snowflake patterns to extend winter science lesson plans! 

First Palette has long been a favorite for free printables, activities and lesson plans. This site offers free printable snowflake patterns and templates for snowflakes to cut. Use these to explore crystals, three forms of matter (solid, liquid, gas), fraction math and weather lesson plans. 

When I was a kid, we learned to cut snowflakes by folding paper. A snowflake crystal always has six sides. To create that, you need a perfect square piece of paper. And to create that from 8x11 paper, fold in half and then half again (quarters). Then without creasing, fold again, into 8ths and cut the excess off. Now open the paper and fold diagonally to form a triangle and then in half again so the points of the triangle meet. Now fold both sides half way in, so they overlap and cut off the excess. 

What you are left with is 12 sections, folded in on each others. Keeping that folded, make any cuts you like but don't cut all the way through. You can cut the center point to make an open pattern. Whatever cuts you make will be repeated 6 times. The snowflake pattern is achieved when the 12 sections are divided into six repeated sets of two each. 

You can do the same design folding the paper into 8ths. You'll still have 12 sections only this time, the pattern will be repeated four times instead of three (or six). It won't be a  snowflake but it will be very pretty. And you can teach fraction math and also the factors of 12: 1, 2,3,4, 6 and 12. You can also teach symmetry (mirror images) by showing how, when you open the snowflake pattern, the repeated patterns are facing each other, exactly the same but opposite. 

Active learning vs. Passive watching: building lesson plans that engage students

Hello Omifans! I've been teaching in one form all my adult life through a spectrum of teaching styles and theories. And one thing that has never changed, though it is seems "more honoured in breach than observance" is the importance of active learning vs. passive. These days, we may talk active learning by we walk cyber school, heavy internet focus and near-constant screen time (via mobile phone, TV etc.).

Yes, I know, it's easier to do everything on the computer and there is surely a place for digital learning. But as our bodies have shown, constant sedentary activities are not healthy. More kids suffer from juvenile obesity, diabetes and learning problems than ever before. Reading comprehension goes down 25% when reading a screen vs. a hardcopy book. 

Cyberschool may have its place but not to the exclusion of hands-on learning. So I'm issuing a Get Up, Learn and Play (GULP) Challenge. Even if you're classroom bound to a large extent, students can and should be doing more hands-on and interactive learning experiences AWAY from a screen. They should be engaged in tactile exploration, building and active play. They should be doing a lot more than seeing and hearing. 

Here are some relatively simple ways to build active learning in your homeschool or classroom:

Don't just turn TV off, put it away.  Losing the remote is not the worst thing that can happen. It will force kids to turn to activities and use their own creatively and inventiveness to entertain. 

Same with phones. This goes for adults too. None of us is going to get to the end of our lives wishing we'd fooled around on our phones more. 

Put on a play or puppet show. Bust out your dress up stuff, recycle bin and craft supplies. Get kids busy writing scripts, creating costumes, working out blocking and stage movement, experimenting with lighting, building sets, designing puppets, even making music to accompany the show. A historical or literature based play? So much the better. You can cover the entire curriculum:  math, STEM, creative writing, social studies, science, reading, drama, by putting on a play. I'll blog more on this for sure. 

GET OUTSIDE: Did I yell that loud enough? Read outside. Have a picnic. Take a nature hike. Do arts and crafts. Cook outside (thank you Coleman stove and campfire!)

Every time I talk to my grandkids (hey Silas, Moses, Lola, Lucian, Milo, Ezra, Juno, Emmett and Remus!) it's the active things I hear about not the TV shows or apps. My kids' best memories are of forts and sidewalk chalk and homemade games! I'll blog more on that later too! 

I'm not trying to guilt anyone for relying on the TV or phone to entertain. I get it. But I will guarantee better behavior and happier kids when you shut those off, haul out the blocks and tell kids to build a city!

Autumn leaf lesson plans with fall crafts, activities and printables

Hello Omifans! Teacher Omi (grandma) here with an autumn leaves party planner complete with fall crafts, activities and printables! From childhood to adulting, I've loved the beautiful season of autumn especially here in Michigan! Fall is the perfect time to explore seasonal science, fall crafts and foods, autumn leaves and harvest themed activities. These fall lesson plans are include cross-curricular, multiage activities for use in homeschool or classroom settings. There's lots to do for the very young toddlers (I'm waving to you, Ezra, Juno, Emmett and Remus!--my youngest grands!)I've included free printables but you probably won't need them as these fall activities focus on nature's bounty which is available for free right outside your door! 

Fall math lesson plans. Fall leaf crafts are perfect for preschool and early elementary (Silas, Moses, Lola, Lucian, Milo and Henry, these are for you!). Go on an autumn leaf walk and collect various colors, shapes and varieties of leaves. Have children sort and categorize leaves by color, tree of origin and size. 

Fall science lesson plans. Using your collected leaves, research leaf types and identify which trees they come from. Discuss deciduous (trees that shed leaves annually)  and evergreen or coniferous (which shed cones). Make a leaf identification chart or booklet. Label leaves. Here are free printable leaf patterns. Wildflower Ramblings has free printable leaf identification cards too. Here are more tree and leaf guides and printables. Here's another guide to tree and leaf identification.

I'll add more to this post soon! Just want to get you started. 

Book BAGS: Apple Party with books, activities, games and snacks

 Hello my dear friends in the Omschool-iverse! Teacher Omi (grama) here with more apple activities plans for autumn harvest lesson plans. We talked in my last post about crafts and snacks for an apple party and today we'll extend that with a Book BAGS unit. Book BAGS are my lesson plans that focus around a (B)book with accompanying (A) activities, (G) games, (S) snacks and craft projects. These free printable lesson plans cover cross-curricular activities: math, reading, literature, science and social studies and are geared to Pre-K up to about grade 2. Book BAGS are heavy on hands-on, multisensory activities for all learning styles and special needs. They're multiage for homeschool families, too! And being that I'm teacher Omi, they feature my beloved baby grands Silas, Moses, Lola, Lucian, Ezra, Remus, Milo, Juno, Emmett and Henry in starring roles (Hi, guys!)

Let's begin with kids books about apples. Here are some favorites.

Ten Apples Up on Top by Theo LeSieg (aka Dr. Seuss!) Here's a video of Ten Apples Up on Top for all learners to sing and read along with. This is perfect for the younger toddler and preschool learners to practice counting (Juno, Ezra, Emmett, Remus this one's for you!) Dr. Seuss books provide perfect emergent reading practice also. Also, value added are games for simple physical education by balancing apples on your head! Then off course you can eat the apples or make them into applesauce. 

The True Tale of Johnny Appleseed by Margaret Hodges. There are many wonderful kids books about explorer and environmentalist John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed) but this one is my favorite. There's a Disney version of Johnny Appleseed legend from 1948 that children will love today. The wonderful thing about this story is that unlike other Americana legends or tall tales like Paul Bunyan or Pecos Bill, this one is essentially all true. Read John Chapman's wikipedia page for details on his life. This book/movie combo is perfect for teaching apple science. 

Use free printable apple lesson plans from Enchanted Learning. This website feature dozens of free printable apple themed activities from craft projects, reading, creative writing, penmanship, science, drawing, phonics, math and more. 

Oh and speaking of applesauce, young learners will love Tigger and the Apple Tree from the Mickey's Young Reader books. The ever-bombastic Tigger assists Rabbit's applesauce-making in his own avant-garde style! Follow up reading by bobbing for apples in a tub of water (older kids) or using fish nets to "fish" for apples (younger learners). Then make your own applesauce with honey (Pooh Bear's recipe). You can peel and core apples or, if you have a applesauce mill, use that (much tastier and prettier). Simply add a dab of honey when done. 

Plant parts booklet. Kids love making their own books and apple science is a perfect subject. You can make kids books simple. Staple a few sheets of paper together (recycled from recycle bin) .Or get fancier and bind books and make a cover. Draw progress of apple from seed, sprout, stem (trunk), leaves, blossoms, fruit and finally back around to seed. Students can make it like a flip book if they choose also. 

Visit and apple orchare and host and apple tasting party. Assemble various types apples and have students sample, rate and categorize. They might arrange by color, sweetness and texture. Make a map of where different apples are grown regionally. Here are some apple varieties to try:

Granny Smith

Northern Spy

Macintosh

Ida Red

Paula Red

Jonathon

Red Delicious

Yellow Delicious

Pink Lady

Cosmic Crisp

Fuji

Gala

Honeycrisp

Sweetango

Winesap (harder to fin)

Host and an Apple Hunt (like an Easter egg hunt). Then make apple prints. Cut apples widthwise and find the star hidden in the apple. Saturate paper towel with food coloring to make stamp pad. Or use lightweight paint  to make apple print T-shirts. 

Teach Bible lesson plans on apples. Of course there's the Adam and Eve story, but I like to focus  Christian lesson plans on the more positive Bible verses such David being the "apple of God's eye" meaning beloved. We are all beloved, as children of God, by extension. 

Teach Jewish Rosh Hashanah lesson plans with apples and honey. Chabad.org offers wonderful lesson plans and activities for kids to explore this Holy Day tradition. 

Free Printable Apple themed Fall Harvest Lesson Plans: Apple Party

Hello to all of Teacher Omi's  ( Grama's ) Omschool friends! I'm Omi to 10 going on 11 wonderful grandkids and as a former teacher and homeschool mom, I'm all about educating kids! The Omschool is 2nd gen homeschool with the grandchildren and I'd love for you to join us! Today we're thinking about one of Omi's favorite foods: apples! Let's explore some free printable apple themed activities for fall harvest lesson plans. 

We live in Michigan and in autumn, Michigan is pretty much apple central! So why not celebrate this fall harvest goodness by throwing an apple party with a potluck of apple foods, apple themed crafts and games and apple lesson plans! First the free printable apple lesson plans.

California Apples.org has a harvest basket full of apple themed lessons, games, crafts, cross-curricular lesson plans, coloring pages, apple recipes, etc. Michigan Apples has a free printable apple resource kit for homeschool parents and teachers. 

For your fall harvest apple potluck, you could make anything from apple soup to apple dumplings, to pork roast with apples (my Omi's special recipe) to Our youngest Emma's famous 9-egg apple peanut butter cake (made when she was four and complete with peelings and seeds!) Last year, I gave each member of the family a bag of apples when they went on sale preference is McIntosh). This includes children. Each was tasked with looking up or inventing an apple themed recipe. This year, we're looking for even more creative goodies. 

I've got to dash to work but I'll post more later in part two of these apple themed lesson plans (plus great-Omi's apple pork roast recipe!)