If you have children than most likely you have a hands-on learner! What child doesn't like something tangible in their hands to be feeling, touching, playing with, manipulating, creating, or building. Hands on learning is also a great method for the child with a short attention span!
I wanted to highlight a few great products that we use and love perfect for my hands-on learner!
All About Spelling
I can't remember how I stumbled across All About Spelling but I am so thankful I did!! It's been a lifesaver. All About Spelling is multi sensory, logical, No gaps, mastery-based, continual review, clear, and scripted lesson plans!
A friend who I had referred to AAS wrote this to me recently, "
They also started an All About Reading program! Here is the Story behind the start of the spelling program!
Another favorite in our home is the XTB Devotionals. These Bible devotionals are beautifully presented with full-color illustrations and are intended for children ages 7-11. Each lesson is short, but jam packed full of solid Biblical truth! Each day the child looks up a specific chapter and verse in their own Bible (which I love). The lessons offer fun, hands on activities such as: fill in the blank, crossword puzzles, decoding a message, matching, circling correct answers, and much more. Everyday ends with a prayer/application as well! Highly recommend these! For a preview click here.
GEOPUZZLES
You can't go wrong with ordering products from Timberdoodle. They offer tons of hands-on products!! One of my favorite purchases was a set of 5 Geopuzzles! What a FUN way to learn geography! Children ages 4-12 will learn with amazing accuracy the countries of Europe, Africa, Latin America, and Asia and the USA.
I love how the puzzles are shaped like the states/countries and have the capital printed on it as well as the name of the state/country. You also learn how the entire continent fits together!
LAPBOOKING
"A lapbook is a project book or file folder, laid out in a creative manner, that fits in the child’s lap"
Lapbooks can be used for preschool age all the way up to high school. Mine are obviously for younger learners but I have seen some amazing lapbooks created by older students!
This is a free lapbook based on the story "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and you can see the outside cover here. And when you open up the flaps you can see different pockets that emphasize shapes, ABC's, numbers and colors. This lapbook, along with many other great ones, can be found at 1+1+1=1 Blog
Some other lapbook websites are: Homeschool Creations, Lapbook Lessons, Homeschool Share, and A Journey through Learning!
GRAMMAR PUNK
Grammar Punk is an entirely new way to teach grammar! They have curriculum for grades K-12 and you can view all your options here. Here are a few highlights of the program:
- Grammar punk uses dice and cards to make it feel more like a game!
- The dice introduce the grammar & punctuation concepts one at a time.
- Helps spark creativity and strengthen vocabulary.
- It is FUN and Hands-On!
The lessons start out with introducing words, then words into sentences, and finally sentences into paragraphs. Subjects covered are too many to list but here are a few: consonant blends, vowels, vowel pairs, words ending in -er, er, ing, syllables, antonyms, synonyms, homonyms, capitalization, periods, commas, subjects, question marks, quotation marks, exclamation points, and much more!
If there is anything I have learned since beginning the homeschool journey, it is that learning can and SHOULD be fun!!!
Andrea, I love these ideas for schooling materials! I will look into the Grammar Punk-- we have used Winston Grammar and like it, but the dice idea sounds like fun, and this includes punctuation, too.
ReplyDeleteThe Geopuzzles are something I've been wanting to have; we have a different brand puzzle for the USA, but would like puzzles for Africa, Europe, Asia, S America. They are offering a special at Timberdoodle on these puzzles right now-- don't know how long it lasts.
I would like to look at the All About Spelling program, if I get a chance-- maybe at the CCHE Used Curriculum Sale . . .
The XTB Devotionals look great! I went to look at some of the sample pages on their website-- this is exactly the type of thing that we've been looking for, for James to begin using for a daily devotion time.
Thanks for the info about all these things!