Hackschooling

I LOVE this video. In fact, I loved it so much I just had to share it with you guys. Even if you don't homeschool your children you could easily implement these ideas into the lives of your children.


Watch the whole video- it's only 11 minutes long- and take notes :)

Here is a list of my notes on how I can incorporate these ideas into my children's lives:

*Nature days- My children BEG for nature days- We need to do it more often.
*Focusing on maintaining childhood happiness and joy instead of focusing on "what do you want to DO when you grow up"
*Took notes on the 7 areas of happiness and how we as a family can find better balance by increasing/decreasing those specific areas.
*And of course because I homeschool my children: Using the community as a resource for classes and subjects to help them find their passions in life. Because there's only so much a home and a library can teach:)

FREE Montessori Horse Breed Cards

My oldest is currently OBSESSED with horses. So naturally I had to make her these Montessori horse breed cards :)

This first set comes with 8 horse breeds. Print on cardstock, flip over and print the horses information on the back. 4 horse breeds on each page, 4 pages total -2 pages once printed front and back. Cut and laminate.

On the back you will find:

Breed Characteristics
Colors & Patterns
Country of Origin
History
& Uses of the breed

I have another set of 8 coming hopefully by the end of the week so check back soon! 

If you want to learn more about Montessori Educational practices and theories CLICK HERE. I think everyone knows about Montessori preschool- but not as many know that the educational theory goes all the way from preschool to graduation. We subscribe to a Montessori-type learning style. I agree with nearly all of it- but also Waldorf, Reggio, Unschool, and probably a tiny bit of Classical as well. In the past I've called it MonWalRegUnCal- or something like that. I guess the proper term would be "eclectic".
I hope you enjoy these cards- regardless of whether you homeschool or not. I think any horse loving child would like them :)

And remember: If you can't get them to download correctly check your popup blocker, change browsers, or email me  *contact link is at the top of the page* and I will email them to you directly.

50 State Flags Free Printable

As I mentioned before, we are studying the 50 States for homeschool right now. The only place I could find the 50 State flags as a printable was at Noor Janan's homeschool blog, but she has only posted the Northeast and Southeast flags as of yet, and I needed all 50- so I created these.

Click Here to Print

Print on to cardstock (7 pages total) and enjoy!

Here are some creative ways to use these:

Pin-mapping. Pin/tape the flag to the state, OR attach toothpicks to the back of the flags to make a mini-flag, Attach a map to a cork board, lie it on the floor, and have them stake the flag into the “ground” of each state.

Matching- Print out 2 sets and have the child match them up

Sorting- Have them sort by color, region, or theme (those with animals on the flag, Native American Symbols, those with dates on them, those whose State name is on the flag, those with people on the flag, etc)

Flashcards- Print, laminate, and use them as flashcards. You could also punch a hole in the left corner of each flag and attach to a keyring.


For additional 50 State activities check out my other free printables:

Etch all 50 States plus the U.S. territories instead of collecting and keeping all those quarters.

click here to print

National Parks & Landmarks
Print, cut, and pin/tape to a map where each National Park & Landmark belong

Or use the suggestions that I mentioned above from the State Flags.

Click here to print

Free Montessori Emotions Cards

Want to know what I think is hands-down, bar-none, one of THE most important things you could ever teach your kids? Understanding, labeling, and coping with their emotions.

(scroll down for the FREE Download!)

Did you know that ANGER is a COVER-UP emotion? Some call it a "fake" emotion because it is used as a coping mechanism to cover-up and suppress the true emotion that is being felt.

Don't believe me? Let me give you some examples:

Jealousy- Jealous of your neighbors, jealous of something someone else has that you don't, jealous when someone you love gives too much attention for your liking to something or someone else.... what do you normally do? Get mad at that person/thing? I thought so :)

Frustration- When you are frustrated that your kids are destroying your house, that someone isn't listening to you.... what is your normal response? Anger?

(those are probably the 2 most common feelings that are covered up by anger- but I know adults who get mad when they are actually sad and could use a good cry, and I've even seen someone get mad when they were unsuspectingly surprised!)

Children are especially prone to expressing anger instead of their true emotions. Intense excitement for something can result in anger due to lack of patience or a misunderstanding of suspense. Embarrassment is often covered up by anger, and obviously frustration and jealousy.

It's not that most children WANT to feel mad... they just haven't quite figured out the more complex feelings they are experiencing besides Happy, Sad, and Mad.

So how can you help them?

Well now that you know that anger is a cover-up emotion, next time your child is upset about something instead of sending them straight to time-out, (click here for time-out alternatives)
TALK WITH THEM and get to the bottom of their true feelings.
Identify and label the feeling with them.
and Teach them proper coping mechanisms

FYI- There are a TON of healthy ways to cope!
It's perfectly OK to cry!
It's perfectly OK to feel the need to scream (but please scream in your room into a pillow because that's the respectful thing to do for those around you)
and it's perfectly OK to get upset. I'm not telling you that they (or you) should never be upset.

Anger is just usually the first emotion to show up! The trick is to break through it so you can process your feelings and find the appropriate coping mechanism!

Because people (and children) who get angry and don't know how to cope usually break things or harm others. Unprocessed anger is bad for the soul. It leads to hate, resentment, and sometimes violence.

Sometimes you don't need a coping mechanism at all! Once you realize that you weren't really mad, you were actually just really disappointed, or frustrated, or overwhelmed- you can just solve the problem causing the emotional distress to begin with!
For example, if your child is overwhelmed, teach him to take it one step at a time, help him with whatever it is that's overwhelming him, (in our house it's usually about picking up toys) Label the feeling for him so he can become aware of the difference between feeling angry and feeling overwhelmed.

This is a fantastic parenting tool by-the-way. Imagine the breakthroughs you can have with your children! Especially anger-prone children.

I created these Monster Emotion Cards as a Montessori-type aid in teaching my son more complex emotions. When I gave them too him we had a fun child-led discussion about each one. He had so many questions!
"What is this one feeling?"
me: "He's feeling frustrated"
"Why is he feeling frustrated?"
me: I don't know... when do you feel frustrated?"
"uuummm... I don't know."
me: "How about when Mommy is on the computer and doesn't listen to you?" (GUILTY!)
"Yes. That makes me feel VEEEERRY frustrated!"

I now have them taped on our fridge for easy referencing. 

These would be fun to frame and decorate with as well

Click HERE to print

FREE National Park & Landmark Cards

This blog is all about teaching kids. And it just so happens that I literally teach my kids. That's right, we are a home school family!

We are currently learning about the 50 States and I could not for the life of me find "landmark" & "National Parks" cards for us to pin on our giant U.S. map.
{we have a Montessori-Unschool-Waldorf-Progressive-Classic way of doing home school. I know several of those classifications contradict each other but it makes perfect sense to me!}
And due to our MonUnWalProClass type homeschooling, I wanted, no NEEDED these cards! So naturally, I made my own.

Because there is nothing like that anywhere online as of yet {or at least not FREE ones} I figured what better place to post them then here.

CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW TO PRINT

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FREE 50 STATE PRINTABLES

50 States Quarters Activity

Here is a fun activity!

We cannot collect all the 50 State and Territory quarters for the life of us!
Quarters burn holes in their pockets faster than you can say "quarter machines".
But we are studying the 50 States for homeschool right now so I wanted to incorporate them somehow...... so I came up with this:

(sorry for the poor picture quality- Camera is temporarily MIA {thanks kiddos!} So my phone camera had to do)

Each kid has their own packet and as we learn about the State we etch the quarter in the appropriate box.

Click HERE or on the picture to download the packet for FREE (5 pages total)

TIPS:
-New quarters work better than older quarters. 
-Tape the back of the quarter to the counter to keep it stable and tape the top and bottom of the page to the counter to keep the page from moving around. 
- Keep your pencil as parallel to the page as possible while shading over the quarter. Do not etch with the tip of your pencil. It won't work:)

We use the cover page as a reference. When we've etched the coin we cross it off on the list.

If you like these, check out my other free homeschool printables! You might find something you like:)

SIDENOTE:

As part of our 50 States unit study I want to give a public shout out to Noor Janan Homeschool. Her geography printables have been invaluable to us! She has worksheets, state birds and flags cards, a giant map printable, 50 States mini-books, and all for free! If you are doing a similiar unit study or are looking for center ideas, I urge you to take a peek at what's she's got.

Postcard Exchange

Guess what still exists?! SNAIL MAIL POSTCARD EXCHANGES!

I seriously can't think of a more entertaining way to instill a love and appreciation for Geography in your children than this!

This particular one is even GLOBAL!

*It's FREE to sign up
*Your information remains as confidential as you like (but let's face it- you're going to need to give out your address in order to receive some postcards)
*AND you can request up to 6 different addresses to send at a time! So if your anxious to get started that's a good way to go!

Our first one went to RUSSIA!

And to all you fellow Homeschool families out there... this is a GREAT thing to incorporate into your Geography studies! (that's what we are doing!)

HAPPY EXCHANGING!

P.S. Good luck finding postcards! In this digital day and age that might be a bit of a challenge!
{we got ours at a local hotel FYI}