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International Holocaust Memorial Day: How to remember

 Hello my dear friends. Some blog posts are easier to write than others and today's is one of the hardest of all. January 27 commemorates International Holocaust Memorial Day, to honor the 6-20 million souls killed during the Nazi genocide of Jews, Poles, Slavs, Roma and Sinti in World War II. Sadly, it didn't even end which those millions of people. Anyone deemed undesirable, such as gays, political dissidents, developmentally and physically disabled, was targeted, persecuted and ultimately murdered. 

International Holocaust Memorial Day focuses on this genocide but it's also a day to remember all those lost to war, in refugee situations or in planned genocides, of which our world has seen so heartbreaking and atrociously many. To help understand and lovingly remembered those who were lost, visit Yad Vashem which is the World Holocaust Remembrance Center. It is located in Jerusalem in Israel. 

It is particularly important in this time of conflict in Gaza between Palestine and Israel, to pray for and work toward peace in the Middle East. We will never understand the entire situation. It would be arrogant to think, especially if we are westerners, that we could. We don't explore the situation to pass judgement to but learn and grow. 

Of course, as educators, it's crucial to be very sensitive to each child's response to this situation. Be sure to judge wisely when a youth is old enough to learn about these terrible crises without causing needless trauma over things she can do nothing about. If you are a family of faith, whatever that may be, remind your children that we can offer up these sufferings to our higher power. 

Thank you, Love Omi


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. 



Creating easy free homeschool lesson plans with toys around the house

 Hello friends of my Omschool blog. Omschool is lesson plans from Omi (grandma), a 40 year veteran teacher and homeschool parent. My focus is always on free, cheap and recycled so today, we're looking at free easy homeschool lesson plans with toys around the house. Here are ways to repurpose the play room as a homeschool and toys as lesson plans. 

First, select multipurpose, educational toys. Whenever you purchase a toy for a child, consider how to use it in lesson plans. When people ask what you'd like for the kids, give learning toy suggestions. You could even have a Target, Walmart or Amazon registry. Every toy should provide quality learning experiences. Otherwise it's just a waste of space. 

Now when you plan lessons, you can select from the toys and save money. Montessori says that quality educational activities should use materials found on hand. During the Covid 19 quarantine, I read on Facebook of so many parents looking for online learning activities for their kids. It made me sad because here was a chance for parents to homeschool their kids and all they wanted to do was stick them in front of yet another screen or buy an overpriced, unnecessary curriculum package. 

I get it though; a lot of folks are worried they don't have the skills to educate their children and let Omi just assure you...YOU DO! I was talking to a young mom whose daughter was just diagnosed with autism. She was convinced to enroll the little one in a very expensive program. Basically all the program had done so far was to tell her to engage her daughter in activities (wait for it) around the house. $6,000 to be told that? I'd have told her that for free. 

You don't have to pay for something to learn to do what you probably already do anyway. Trust yourself. There are many excellent schools and programs but ultimately you are the first and most crucial teacher. So give yourself permission to sit back and enjoy watching your children play (as you are able). Montessori also says "Play is a child's work." 

Stay tuned for my list of best educational


toys for children. 


Puddleglum's Apologia or What's wrong with TV, computer games and screen time?


Hello friends of this free printable lesson plans blog! Teacher Omi of the Omschool blog here and in the New Year, I'm thinking of ways to make activities less "see and hear" and more "do"! Let's explore how we as educators can help kids engage critical thinking skills by watching less--TV, computer, phones, screens--and interacting more. 

I'm a Montessori special educator, grounded in hands-on, learning center based, VAKT, higher order thinking skills education. I'm all about getting kids away from TV and computer screens, off the internet and into real-life learning activities. 

Now this might seem daunting as so much of current educational activity is computer-based. And while working with technology is an important skill, it is one kids can and will learn everywhere. What they engage far less in, and need much more of, is DOING: touching, smelling, tasting and experimenting with. While see and hear shows them things, multisensory experiences teach. 

This is obviously going to take a lot of unpacking, so let's begin by clarifying just what is so wrong about TV, screen and computer based activities. Yes, I did say wrong. It's not just that screens are less effective teachers. They're insidiously dangerous. 

Computer-based activities are less so because at least the child is doing something if only inputting data (the lowest form of  learning). But they're stultifying because they don't teach in real-life ways. They rely on magical thinking, exaggerated characters, lurid colors, artificial sounds, and strangely contrived situations, that completely contrast with a child's experience with the real world. And that doesn't even begin to address the lack of creative thinking, imagination and doing required. (But we will, rest assured!)

What worries me even more are the kids TV shows. All that was bad with the video games and computer activities is magnified 100-fold. An unrealistic computer generated cartoon character behaves in unreal ways that defy the laws of nature. Animals are cute little candy-colored creatures that talk and dress like people. They don't get hurt (at least on realistically). They aren't depicted as they really are. They're "cool" and smart and everything always works out. They fly, leap, bounce off things and never fall. In contrast, a gravity-bound child who is subject to the laws and rules of the real world, feels feeble knowing she can't do that.  

Staring at games or TV shows deadens a child's ability to think for herself or even know that she can. Everything is scripted, spoon-fed and done for her. Nothing is required. She experiences only vicariously. She learns that she doesn't impact her world and is not a participant but just an observer. This creates a sense of helplessness, hopelessness and apathy. 

She also learns that she is not only useless, but worthless. It isn't necessary for her to even watch this or that show. It will still happen. She learns she doesn't matter. She's just the straight man, the schlimazel. When I was a kid, Bugs Bunny and Superman were faulted for making us think we too were invincible. That we could eat gunshot-laden birdseed and not explode. But we didn't watch Superman all day and no one knew what an anvil was or thought to drop it on someone's head. 

And I haven't even touched on the "real-life" TV shows where "real" kids (Ryan's World) and adults (Blippi) play with toys all day and never do anything that normal kids are expected to do. They do whatever they want with no consequences. They never do the boring work or difficult jobs that are a part of life. Rules don't apply. And kids see this and think it's real life and their own lives are what's unreal.

No wonder so many adolescents disappear into video games and don't know how to interact in life. They have been taught that real life is boring and of course it is compared to the fake, Marvel-verse they see on screen. No wonder that so many adults cannot hold down a job or walk down the street without all sorts of adaptations, therapy animals and medications. They have been conditioned to think they are broken, compared to the fake-whole they see on screen. They have been confused by what is real and what is pretend.  No wonder self-harm is so alarmingly prevalent now. 

Factor into that the marketing to (exploitation of ) children through these shows and it's a pandemic that threatens to destroy childhood. Please, for the love of children, pull the plug or at least limit screen time to an hour a day. 

Kids should spend the bulk of their days, running, jumping, pretending to be a train engineer, building forts, having acorn tea parties, making messes and having to clean them up, helping with chores. They'll learn resilience and self-reliance, They feel self-respect when they learn to be bored but behave, running errands without being given a phone to stare at. They should fall and learn they can get back up, dust themselves off and ask for help if needed. 

Most important, children need to learn that they CAN. They can explore, invent, fail, fall, experiment, try again, spill, drop, fix, survive, implement, apologize, interact, get along, try and see, wait, get mad, get disappointed, problem solve and endure. These activities may not look as glamourous as they do on Paw Patrol but they are also not fake. 

I'll end with a quote from Puddleglum, the Marshwiggle to the Green Lady (Witch) in "The Chronicles of Narnia" "The Silver Chair." The Witch was gaslighting Puddleglum and the children into believing that her dark underworld was the real one and that the world they described was imagination. Puddleglum said, after being tortured (*wipes tears)

"Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things-trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that’s a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We’re just babies making up a game, if you’re right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow."

#Respect! And that's how I see TV vs. real life. Real life isn't perfect. We aren't perfect. We stumble and don't always do it right. We aren't always brave. We can't fly and we feel pain. But for all that, it beats a fake, computer-generated world "hollow"! 

Thanks for reading. I'll post more about this later. 






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!)

Book BAGS: preschool book-based activities, games and snacks for "Blueberries for Sal"


Hello friends! Teacher Omi (grama) here. As a former homeschool parent and special needs teacher, I'm excited to bring this passion for education forward to the next gen grandchildren. When he was 4, my eldest grandson Silas called me Teacher Omi (grama) so I'm calling this new phase of homeschooling our Om-school.

I've been putting together a series of Book BAGS (literature-based units with books, activities, games, snacks and crafts). Today's Book BAGS unit is based on the 1949 Caldecott winner "Blueberries for Sal" by Robert McCloskey. My mom read it to me when I was 4 and it's become a family favorite. We also live in Michigan blueberry country and it's coming on blueberry season, so a perfect story to celebrate. I've geared this to homeschooling, erm, Om-schooling families with activities for all ages. If you're using in a group setting, preschool to 2nd grade would be best. I'm dedicating these free printable bear lesson plans and activities based on "Blueberries for Sal" to our grandboy Lucian, bear aficionado and explorer extraordinaire. 

Begin your Book BAGS unit by reading "Blueberries for Sal." Enjoy the beautifully detailed block print illustrations of Robert McCloskey.  I recommend getting your own copy of this classic story and Thriftbooks is my go-to for reasonably priced used books. 

Note the similarities between the bear cub and his mother and Sal and her mom. Both moms are preparing for winter. Sal's mom is going to can the blueberries while Little Bear is exhorted to "eat all you can hold for winter." "Blueberries for Sal" is the perfect segue into life science lesson plans on bears and hibernation. Bear.org has a plethora of free printable bear lesson plans and activities based on bears. 

You might actually do a fruit canning project with children. Or if you're like me and not much of a home-canner, make freezer blueberry jam. Here's a freezer blueberry jam recipe from Farmhouse Harvest. Jam-making lesson plans are perfect for multiage classrooms or homeschools because everyone from the baby on up can participate. Toddlers like my Omschool littles Remus and Emmett could practice eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills placing canning jar rings on a spoon (as Sal does) while the prechoolers Juno and Ezra could be blueberry stem removers and squashers. The 4 and up crowd (Lu Bear, Milo, Lola) can get math skills practice measuring and counting. The big Kahunas like our Moses and Silas can be project coordinators. And everyone will enjoy the tasting! 

If you don't want to mess with making jam (and I confess I for one might not LOL), you can make a multitude of snacks from blueberries for your unit. How about rainbow sandwiches? Spread bread with cream cheese, slice strawberries, mandarin oranges, bananas, green grapes, blueberries and red grapes and arrange like a rainbow! Or make Super Berry Chicken Salad with cubed chicken, celery, green peppers, blueberries, cashews (or chow mien noodles) mayo and Dijon mustard. Lots of slicing and chopping for cooking skills practice. Or you could do blueberry muffins or pancakes. 

Grade one and up might also discuss how things have changed in Sal's 1948 family kitchen and what things have remained the same. Stoves for example look much the same but are fueled differently (discuss how). You might assemble a collection of "vintage" cooking utensils like a rotary hand beater, potato masher, metal cookie cutters, flour sifter and pastry dough cutter. Put these in the  sand and water table for exploration. 

A perfect game for "Blueberries for Sal" Book BAGS (bags is book, activity, game and snack) is clothespin drop which lets kids explore another old-time tool, clothespins. This was a favorite at birthday parties when Omi was young. All you need is a package of clothespins and a canning jar. Students practice eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills dropping pins in the jar. 

And for the activity or book-based craft, make clothespins into "puppet" characters from "Blueberries for Sal" and act out the story. Here's where that recycling bin I'm always on about is invaluable. Let kids forage for scraps from there and a fabric scraps bag, to clothe and fur the characters. No fur fabric for the bears? Just draw on brown paper bags! Then add faces and voila, your own puppets! 


Free cross-curricular real-life lesson plans and building projects

Hello and welcome to the Omschool! Teacher Omi (Grandma) here with more ways to get free lesson plans from everyday tasks. A good curriculum should be practical, hands-on, goal-oriented and feature real-life. activities. Today's free lesson plans come from building/ assembly projects for household materials. These do double duty in that students are creating real-life items they will use everyday and homeschool families get value added being able to cross one more project off the to-do list! Assembling building projects is cross-curricular, requiring STEM, math, tool use, fine motor, reading, following directions, process thinking and often problem-solving skills (plus probably others I've not thought of!) 

So what kind of building projects are we talking about? Well, most of us order a lot of things online and have them shipped. And even if you purchase in store, many items come in pieces and must be assembled. Furniture, shelves, containers, toys, decorations, you name it...most everything states some assembly required. And these assembly building projects make excellent free printable STEM lesson plans for students. Next time you buy something that comes in pieces, students to building projects. Usually, you don't have to write separate lesson plans or even provide materials! Everything comes right in the package! And if instructions aren't written as well as they could be, this is extra learning as students are required to "think outside the box" and come up with solutions.  What better problem-solving activities could there be?

Oh and even more value added if instructions are written in several languages. Students can learn to translate and compare words in different languages. You might have them make a chart of how different phrases, words, materials or processes are called in various languages. I suggest making photo copies of instructions for each student involved in the projects. 

The building projects example I'm using is this desk I built (or assembled) recently. Everything was labeled, parts by number and hardware by letter. The step-by-step instructions were wordless and showed pictures. Most steps were very clear but the keyboard tray assembly was not. I had to redo it several times till I got it right. The set came with tools so I had everything I needed. I would recommend using your own if possible. We used our power drill which made it easier. Older kids could be taught to utilize one if available. Let children discuss how to organize materials for easier construction (placing parts in numerical or alphabetical order). For building projects with many different fasteners, students might sort them into an egg carton. Be sure to save little zippered bags from fasteners for other repurposed uses. Also, save any spare parts in case something breaks. 

Here's a site with free printable paper buildings and structures for further STEM extension. Some of the free printables aren't working anymore (this is a really old site I used 15 years ago when I was writing lesson plans for Yahoo!) But there are enough to provide lots of printable activities and hours of learning. Stay tuned for more free printable lesson plans. 

Cats Mordecai and Moishe (not shown) were very helpful in the building project and Mord thought you would like to see him sitting on his handiwork!  



Make a pet baby tornado: fun, easy, free science activities and recycled crafts

 Hello teachers and homeschool friends, "Omschool" teacher Omi (grandma) here with easy, free recycle bin crafts for science lesson plans. Today we're making pet baby tornadoes. This science experiment is easy for all ages from toddler on up. It's perfect for a highchair craft. The pet baby tornado is free to make with items from the recycle bin. You just need water, a clean glass jar with lid and a tiny drop of dish soap. 

To find baby tornado, just shake round and round to create a swirling in the water, called in science talk, a vortex. This is the force that drives a whirlpool and also the force that is generated by the drain in your sink or bathtub. Water doesn't just fall down the drain, it swirls round and round as it goes down. 

I realized after I made my pet baby tornado video that it was difficult to see him clearly. So I tried adding a little food coloring to make baby tornado show up better. You can also add some glitter if you  have some, to show how things floating on the surface are pulled into the vortex. 



 
Extend your science fun with some cross-curricular connections. Make a book about baby tornado. Research tornados and the force they create. Draw your tornado and maybe make up a song about him (her!) 

Here are free printable tornado lesson plans from A to Z Teacher. And here are some more free printable tornado lesson plans from Teach Engineering. 


Homemade sand and water table fillers for preschool learning centers


Hello Omschool blog friends! Teacher Omi here with another post in my series on the venerable preschool sand and water table. What's a sand and water table (also called sand table)? It's a low child-sized table with tubs that can be filled with materials for children to explore. The sand table is the backbone of preschool science activities in learning centers. Early childhood special education classrooms use a sand table for hands-on, sensory, tactile stim and interactive lesson plans to build cognitive and perceptual development. 

In my previous post, we looked at sand table alternatives to the expensive models in many preschool learning centers. These homemade sand tables feature repurposed, recycled and reused materials. Select the best sand and water table alternative to fit your classroom or homeschool needs, Then use these sand table fillers in science activities for early childhood lesson plans.

Water: Fill tubs with water to make a water table. Add floating toys and bath tub toys. Here are free printable lesson plans to make homemade water and sand toys from your recycle bin. Provide different sized containers that encourage children to practice pouring and measuring. Place revolving water wheels in the water table. Add some items that sink and some that float. Use water table for hands-on exploration with the scientific concepts of flotation, water displacement, density and specific gravity. Create a "Does it sink or float?" chart. Here's a free printable chart

Bubbles: Make a simple bubble solution with water, lemon Joy dish soap and glycerin for sturdy bubbles. Add bubble making toys and every day household gadgets: apple corer, egg beater, whisk, egg slicer, slotted spoon, fork, cone shaped applesauce mill and any other safe gadgets for water science activities in learning centers.

Rocks and seashells: Fill your sand table with water and sand. Add rocks, seashells and old (sanitized) recycled toothbrushes. Children can scrub shells and rocks with toothbrushes. Shells and rocks are best seen in water, which brings out their hidden depths. Children will love exploring the intricate beauty of shells and rocks.

Shaving Cream: Allow children to squirt shaving cream into water table tub. Concentrated gel shaving cream is lots of fun because it foams up as it sprays. Teach safety so kids don't get soap in their eyes. Exercise caution with aerosol cans. It may be advisable to have an adult add the shaving cream. Encourage finger painting and drawing in shaving cream. Make sure children wash their hands after doing science activities in learning centers.

Snow: Fill the sand table with snow and add plastic sand shovels, trowel, ice cream scoop, melon baller, recycled plastic cups and containers for molding and shaping snow. Have children to wear gloves and keep several pairs near the water table.

Recycle bin paper scraps: Place scrap paper in sand table tubs and add scissor with patterned edges and paper punches. Children love to snip, trim, cut and punch paper. Exploring with paper in the sand table keeps scraps in one place. This exercise provides good practice in cutting skills, scissors skills, eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills.

Dried beans or rice: Add plastic measuring cups, spoons and cups with pour spouts. Teach children about measurement math. Preschool children can practice counting, sorting while getting good tactile stimulation in learning centers.

Aquarium Fish tank rocks: Buy bags of multicolored aquarium fish tank rocks (the small kind that line the bottom of the tank). Fish tank rocks make excellent media for pouring, scooping and measuring. Aquarium rocks also don't draw insects like beans and rice. Beads work well in the sand table, too, but can be expensive. Explore other materials for your sand table science activities.

Picture is a very special grandson, mucking about with his homemade silly putty! 

 

DIY Sand and Water Table alternatives for homeschool and classroom


 Hello fans of my Omschool blog. I've been a licensed general and special education teacher for 37 years and part of my career work was spent homeschooling our four children. Now, I'm Omi--grandma--to 9 going on 11 and am continuing the homeschool traditions I began, with the second generation as Omschool (Omi's school). Lesson plans are designed with cheap to free materials, many of which are reused, repurposed and recycled. 

For today's lesson plans, we'll create a DIY sand and water table for preschool, special education and lower elementary learning centers. This sand table alternative was developed in our homeschool and works well for small spaces. As budgets are usually tight, whether in public, parochial or homeschool, this is a low cost alternative as well. 

Instead of the expensive sand and water table purchased from school supply companies, I've used a repurposed child's sandbox such as the enclosed Little Tikes turtle sandbox or Step 2 brand sandboxes. The turtle sandbox is washable, portable and covered. It moves easily indoors or out. For an even more budget friendly alternative, get a small plastic wading pool. I've found these as cheap as $7 from Dollar General. Inflatable kiddie pools will work too however they aren't as durable. 

The last sand table alternative is a low sided plastic box or tub with lid. This works very well when space is limited. When learning center activities are done, simply close the box with media and manipulatives inside and stack in the storage area. Here's my blog post on homemade sand toys for the sand table. 

These preschool learning center activities worked very well for our homeschool. I could allow the  youngest children to explore independently while instructing the older children. The DIY sand and water table wasn't just for preschool learning center activities either. The older kids could use it to practice and explore mathematical concepts such as measurement, geometry (volume) and science (sing various media). Sand tables provide excellent sensory experiences. More on sand table filler alternatives later! 

I'm sorry I don't have an image of how this sand and water table fit in our homeschool. But let me assure you the even in our tiny 10x10 room, it fit well! I've linked the picture to Amazon. This small reasonably priced Step 2 sandbox would work perfectly. 

Free lesson plans: how to homeschool for nothing (zip, zero, no cost)


 Hello my friends! Om-school Omi here with some good...nay great...news for homeschool families. You can literally homeschool your children for nothing, as in zip, nada, zero cost with these free lesson plans and a little know-how. I'm going to share easy, free ways to educate kids, gleaned from 43 years of teaching. 

I've been doing this education thing in one way or another since I was 15, at summer camps, VBS, Sunday school and then as a certified teacher in K-8, Montessori, adult, preschool, special needs, tutoring, homeschool and substitute teaching. And I can assure you that it's not really that difficult if you plan and prepare accordingly. 

If the Covid 19 pandemic taught us anything about homeschooling our children it's that we prefer to pay for things (or feel more comfortable with purchased curriculum, cyberschooling, apps, etc.) than we do trusting our own teaching skills and common sense. But happily, as quarantine wore on, I saw many parents begin to have aha moments as they realized, hey, this isn't so difficult. We can teach our kids! To quote my beloved Barack Obama, yes we can! Parents began to wean from purchased packaged and digital lesson plans and experiment with ideas of their own. 

So now that Covid 19 is winding down, you can also keep up that momentum with homeschooling if you want. You don't have to homeschool every day or keep them out of group education. The key is to remember that every moment we are with our children we are teaching, modeling, and communicating in every act we perform or word we say. Daunting? A little. But also exciting. So how do we teach, model and communicate positive healthy, proactive ideas to our kids? Here are some ideas, my "free lesson plans" if you will. 

1) Be authentic. Just because we are educating constantly, doesn't mean we have to adopt a fake "teacher voice." Educating doesn't mean pontificating, preaching or proselytizing. Speak to children respectfully, positively and gently. 

2) Build for natural learning. Teaching is more about doing and showing than talking. St. Francis of Assisi said of preaching (which in its truest form is teaching) "preach always. Occasionally, use words." Genuine learning takes place when teachers share, foster and facilitate experiences. 

3) Facilitate. Montessori identifies this as the teacher's main duty. Make natural learning experiences accessible to students. Create activities--a craft project, for example--and then step back and let children interact with materials. Or just point out learning experiences (a bird's nest on a nature walk). Don't hover, orchestrate or  manufacture results. Let kids take from experiences what they will. See my post on grandchildren Lucian and Ezra and their experiences with a sand mold project we did with them. 

4) Observe. I can't emphasize enough the importance of quiet observation and reflection in the classroom. In an upcoming post I'm going to cover observation journals. There's so much going on around us in our world. Children know this and are constantly making us adults aware of this, if we listen. Sometimes, we learn more from them than they learn from us and what a blessing that is. I guess that's why Montessori says to "follow  the child" and the Bible that "a child will lead them." 

5) Empower. Sadly some children have had their experiences, observations and ideas diminished and need an infusion of confidence. They have come to believe that they aren't good enough and require constant validation from someone they think is superior. This is where we educators can interrupt and redirect that cycle and validate them. When subbing in an alternative high school for troubled teens, students were reading "The Crucible" aloud as a play. I complimented one young man who was generally very angry and withdrawn, on his delivery as Judge Hawthorne. I said he should consider community theater. He literally blossomed and I heard him after class telling students that he was thinking of trying out for a play. 

Stay tuned for more ideas on how to educate children without spending a cent! Photo is eldest grandson Silas mucking about with his homemade slime, making a mess, having a blast, oh and btw, learning about polymers.