Archive for the ‘workboxes’ Category:
Got Candy? (Part 2)
Six more boxes full of sweet fun today!
Box #1
Elijah and I did another graph. We polled friends & family members (via Facebook) to find out their favorite kind of candy.
I printed off all the data for Elijah to compile and chart.
After Elijah finished with his bar graph, I took him to Create A Graph where we made a line graph and a pie graph.
Box #2
Psalm 34:8 copywork
Box #3
Story Problems (with a treat tucked in the box!) You might need to create your own problems to fit your students’ current math level.
Box #4
We read "Circle of Sun" from the Here’s a Little Poem poetry anthology. We discussed list poems, alliteration, repetition (the -ing words), and rhyme. I had Elijah list all the words he could think of that related to candy while I recorded them for him.
After we had a good list, we went to the computer to compose a list poem. I asked him how he wanted to start the poem. I asked him to find words that were similar (referring back to the alliteration, repetition, and rhyme). I asked him what phrases he thought sounded good together. I kept asking questions to make him think about how he wanted to construct the poem. I helped him here and there, but this is mostly his own work.
I helped him group the words together, and here is his finished poem:
Candy
Delicious
Mouth watering
Tooth rotting
Lip-smacking
Melting
Treats
Brown
Dessert
Crunchy
Cherry
Carmel
Candy
Lick-able lemon lollipops
Bubble-blowing gum
The bigger the better
More
MORE
Oh no!
Box #5
Science Experiment #3- Chromatography (color separation)
We only used the brown M&M’s for this.
It worked! The brown separated into a rainbow of colors!
Box #6
Science Experiment #4- Dissolving Hot/Cold
We used boiling water for the hot water. The Milkduds dissolved very quickly! This was a simple (but effective) experiment.
Here are the printables we used today.
Do you need more ideas for Candy School?
~play Candyland
~set up Candy Shop; we will be doing this in the days to come…I am stashing candy away just for this purpose
~Write a story — "Chocolate for Lunch"
~make M&M pancakes for breakfast or lunch
~use M&M’s or Skittles to make an artistic mosaic
~estimate how much candy you have then count it. Figure out how close you were to the actual amount.
~complete more Candy Experiments
~Hang out at Wonka Land
~compare & contrast the amount of sugar in different kinds of candy; graph or chart the information
~review the Food Pyramid and discuss why we should limit sweet treats
~use different candy shapes to make caramel apples with funny faces
~make candy jewelry - for your preschooler, start a pattern for her to finish
If you decide to do candy school at your house, I’d love to hear about it. Please leave a comment or a link!
Happy Candy-Schooling!
Got Candy? (Part 1)
Many of us probably have a stash of candy right about now. Whether it’s from trick-or-treating, a harvest party, or well intending grandparents, we have it…and we need to find something constructive to do with it.
Have you considered Candy School?
Jocelyn posted a link on the Homeschool Share Message boards that got me thinking. If you can use candy for science, why can’t you use it for the other subjects, too?
So, the wheels kept turning; I thought up a few ideas and made a few printables. When I told Elijah we would do candy school for two days, his mouth dropped and his eyes bugged. I think he was sold.
I filled up six workboxes this morning with some candy related fun. Here’s what Elijah found in his boxes.
Box #1
fairy tale book & instructions to read Hansel and Gretel
Box #2
candy graph & candy
Box #3
"If Peas Could Taste Like Candy" poem for copywork. I left one stanza out (the third) because I couldn’t fit all four on the page. Elijah couldn’t stop laughing while copying this one.
Box #4
Hershey Fraction book & a Hershey bar
Boxes #5-#6
candy science experiments
We did these two experiments:
1. Acid Test
2. Sink or Float
After school was over, I let Elijah hang out at Wonka Land– creative fun just waiting to happen.
Tomorrow, I will post Candy School Part 2 along with some additional ideas for you. Here is a little list of books you could include, if you want. I haven’t read them all, so please preview before using.
Books to Read
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Shelia Rae’s Peppermint Stick by Kevin Henkes
Candy Factory Mystery (Boxcar Children)
Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Workbox Reading
I have a serious reader on my hands; the only problem is that he wants to read the same genre 90% of the time– mystery books. I decided that I would fill a workbox with books. Some of the books are books he wants to read; some of the books are books I want him to read. He chooses one book each day to read, and he can choose in ANY order he wants, but I’m not refilling the box until it’s empty. Completely empty.
So, this is one box I only have to fill once per week! Works for me! :)
A Little Bit of Magic
Elijah has been struggling with writing more than a few sentences each day, and I really want to boost his endurance and confidence. I posted a plea to Facebook yesterday and got some ideas & encouragement. I also remembered that I had Games for Writing by Peggy Kaye sitting on my shelf (for the past 5 years!) and had never really looked through it. So, I pulled the book down. All I have to say…Peggy Kaye is a genius!
Elijah and I tried one of the games today (in his second workbox).
You need some titles (I am sharing mine in case you need some on the fly), two pencils, a piece of paper, and a die. That’s it!
You can randomly select a title (draw one out of a bowl) if you want, but I let Elijah choose one. He chose "Chocolate for Lunch" (of course!). I started the game by rolling the die and writing the corresponding number of words on the paper. Then it was Elijah’s turn to roll and continue the story. I did not let him write more (or less) than what the die said. It took us about 45 minutes to write our story.
This was SO GREAT. I can not tell you what a good time we had. Elijah didn’t complain about writing (not ONE time). We laughed a lot. He’s funny! I also had a chance to explain when and why to add end punctuation. I didn’t correct his upper case letters. He has a bad habit of writing in ALL CAPS ALL THE TIME. It drives me crazy, but I wanted this to be fun. And it was. It is a memory I will always have. (The day my son enjoyed writing!)
Here is our story…
Chocolate for Lunch
One day I thought I should have chocolate for lunch. I started out with a fat Hershey bar. Next, I ate a chocolate bunny. I also gobbled brownies with chocolate ice cream and delicious hot fudge sauce. For dessert I had chocolate covered pretzels. The next day I was feeling icky. I went to the dentist. He was not happy with me! The End :)
Under the Sea ABCs
My friend emailed this fun idea to me, and I knew Simon would love it!
Supplies
(I put everything in one of Simon’s workboxes)
I was determined not to buy any of the super cute glitter or sequins or confetti at Hobby Lobby. Instead, I kept this craft cheap by raiding the craft closet at home.
~alphabet beads
~lots of sparklies (sequins, glitter, fun beads, confetti, etc.)
~empty water bottle (preferrably without ridges)
~corn syrup
~Aleene’s Tacky Glue
Fill the water bottle with 1/2 corn syrup and 1/2 water
Set all the beads out and have your preschooler find the letters of the alphabet as you call them out; drop them in the bottle one by one
Let your preschooler add sparkly things
Glue the lid on (tight!). Give it a few shakes (it’s so very cool…the picture doesn’t really do it justice)
Now your preschooler can play "I Spy" with the alphabet anytime! What a great thing to throw in a workbox. 
Tot School ~ June 8th
More workboxes. More fun. More memories with my tot!
Simon’s "Sprinkles" Project
I put some contact paper and leftover hole punchings in a workbox. I had to open the contact paper for Simon, but he took over from there and made this "sprinkle" rectangle. He wanted it in Jason’s Father’s Day card (act surpised, honey!), so in it went!
I did the books in a box thing again. This is a series he has loved from the time he was just months old. 
We also love Sandra Boynton. I found most of these at a second hand shop before Elijah was even born! They’ve been loved to death by both boys.
We read Who Said Red? together and then we went on a red hunt all over the house. Simon filled this workbox will all his red finds.
Another easy idea is to fill a box with fun foam scraps (cut into shapes) and let your tot take a glue stick and stick, stick, stick until everything is sticky he has a beautiful picture.
Elijah had a great clay experience this week and Simon wanted to tag along. Here are the eight snakes he made. I think he did great! 
The tadpoles he has been caring for~
Simon never tires of painting
Here he is with his collection of "ships" (spaceships) that he made one day while I was working with big brother.
Elijah’s Goodies
Not everything is fair in life especially when you are 4 years older than your little brother. I notice Elijah eyeing Simon’s workboxes everyday. They are bright, colorful, and scream FUN! Then he looks over at his boxes. Not as bright…not as colorful…not as fun. He’s never complained, but I wanted to spice his day up with a really fun box.
So, I did the unthinkable (for all you healthy mommas out there) and filled a box with the following:
little candybars
small packs of cheese crackers
ring pops
price stickers
small poster board
markers
money
I told Elijah to make a poster for his sweet shop, assign prices to the items, and then Simon and I would visit his store. He was SO excited. He actually got all his other boxes done in record time (and done well); I strategically placed the sweet shop box as the final one for the day.
As we visited the store, I made Elijah do all the math (adding the items, counting back change, etc.). This was fantastic! We even talked about how to greet and treat customers. Elijah eventually swapped me places and I manned the shop while he made his purchase (I still made him do the math!). We have plenty of junk leftover for many more sweet shop adventures in the future. Jason is also planning on making a stop at "Elijah’s Goodies" tonight.
Some Workbox Fun for Elijah
Silly Sentences Game
Pattern Blocks
Scrabble Sticker Crosswords
Simon’s Second Day with Workboxes
I love taking pictures of Simon’s busy little hands!
Today’s workboxes included:
1. Brown Bear book
2. Brown Bear puppets made from a printable pages from Kizclub
We pulled these out two at a time and had fun asking the animals what they saw; we also used them to have fun with animal sounds
3. Animal Puzzles
4. Paper & Muffin Tin Crayons
(Elijah and I made these crayons when he was a preschooler!)
5. To the Zoo File Folder Game (he’s been loving this for almost a year now)
6. Window Writing
I found the Wax-O-Glas Crayons at Let’s Explore
7. Bonus Box- Creative Fun
I just gave him a box with a glue stick, some pipe cleaners, google eyes, and alphabet stickers.
He couldn’t figure out how to get the pipe cleaners to stick together, so I twisted two for him.
Meet "Eyeball"
A Little Workboxer
We took a one month break to enjoy the weather, but now we are back to school. I started Simon on his very own workboxes today; he LOVED them. He loved them too much and had a complete meltdown when he finished the final box. I need to think about adding more boxes as I only gave him six today.
His line-up
Box 1 ~ Books
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?
Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See?
Box 2 ~ Puzzles
Heads and Tails Matching Puzzles (all the animals from the Brown Bear book)
These were from Carisa. It’s always lovely to find quality (FREE) things to use with my children…one less thing for me to make!
Box 3 ~ Sorting
I put the Schleich animals in a box and had Simon sort them into two piles- BIG and little. He loved this! Once in awhile he would put an animal in the wrong spot and the other animals would "talk" the out of place animal to the right spot. So cute.
Box 4~ Coloring
Simon and I made a mini-book of the animals in the Brown Bear book. This free printable was also from Carisa. This was great for reviewing colors, practicing fine motor skills, and for sequencing the story. I love the way this kid colors! He has some serious zeal for crayons!
Box 5 ~ Painting
Simon had a fun time creating with his new Paint Bellows. He made a red bird and a white dog. The tools for this project came from Let’s Explore (a super fun shop…the kind of place I would own if I had a shop!).
Box 6 ~ Play-doh
He spent quite a bit of his morning with some yellow play-doh, tin pie pans, and rolling pins. This is one of his favorite things to do.
My main goals for the week are to
~keep Simon’s boxes stocked with new things each day
~teach Simon to put things away when he is finished
~avoid meltdowns
I will keep you posted!
