How to Teach About Time

Transparency clock

Tellling Time Flip Book

Printable clock puzzles

Cutout match ups of clocks

Teaching time can be lots of fun.  The concept of time is complex but doable.  Hands on materials, worksheets, and actual clocks can prove useful to teach a young child how to tell time.  Because I have taught my oldest from a young age, I have a collection of useful teaching tools to use with my youngest child.  

I found the clock puzzle many years ago.  Unfortunately, I can't find the website where I found it.  The cutout match up was in a workbook.  I cut it out so that I could use it with more than one child.  The two top manipulatives I bought many years ago but found websites where they are available.

Following are some websites where you can find worksheets to teach time:

Taking the Time to Teach Time

Amazon Clock Puzzles

Edhelper.com worksheets for time

Apples4theteacher.com worksheets for time

Printable Clock Faces

SEN Teacher worksheet generator clock worksheets

SEN Teacher worksheet generator face clock worksheet

superteacherworksheets.com time worksheets

Free clock face printable

Donnayoung.org clock worksheets

Teaching about night and day

How to say what time it is

Well, thanks for viewing this entry about teaching the concept of time.  I hope I've given you some ideas for teaching about time, one of the first math concepts for the elementary grades.

On Tuesday, I will provide a list of websites that 

provide games and "time" products.  

Stay tuned!

How about you, my readers?  How have you taught your children about time?  Have you ever considered using real clocks, manipulatives, and worksheets to teach early childhood learning concepts?  Your children can benefit from using a hands on method to learn.

May God bless us all with His wisdom and peace, as we teach your children.

This has been an entry for Thorough Thursdays.  

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Hands On Materials for Kindergarten

Old MacDonald manipulatives

I love using manipulatives.  In previous posts, I have mentioned hands on materials.  Teachers are taught about using items that are to be held in hand.  Tactile learners benefit from hands on materials.  Here, I have pictures of different materials I've accumulated for the kindergarten age children.

A sampling of manipulatives

Closeup of ABC Bingo game

"Opposites" and "feelings" in flashcards

Handmade flashcards in index cards

Shapes in flash cards from different sources

Baggies hold manipulatives by type and subject

Booklets and sight words taken from a workbook

Puzzles combined with flash cards teach numbers

Die with pictured coins

Closeup of money die

Manipulatives out of baggie

Wheels that teach word families

Hands on flip book for word families

Closeup of flip book

Target words of a given book

Dr. Seuss book with target words to teach

I think you'll agree with me: there are many types of manipulatives.  Hands on materials can help teach a kindergarten child.  Even though it can be time-consuming to create hands on materials, it is worth it.  If you have more than one child to teach, it is definitely worth it to make and/or accumulate these materials.  Over the years, I have also bought some of these flashcards, workbooks, and puzzles either from a store and/or other homeschool moms.

Thanks for reading this entry and viewing these pictures.  I hope it has given you some ideas for teaching Kindergarten.

How about you, my readers?  Have you every used hands on material with your children?  Do you have children who are hands on learners?  Your children can benefit from using manipulatives to learn their subjects.  Even teenagers can learn through actual lab experiments, by dissecting and combining chemicals.  It's definitely something to think about.

I hope your children have enjoyed their learning time; Kaelyn has learned by using hands on materials.

May God bless you all with His wisdom and peace.

This has been an entry for Thorough Thursdays.  Hope you liked it.

Homeschool Organization 2: Science, Play Dough, Soldiers, & Pipes

This old entertainment center was found in someone's trash.

A week ago I discussed homeschool organization.  I want to continue on that thread.  I want to present you with some closeups of what the entertainment center holds.  Just remember that when I say manipulatives, I mean hands on materials.  Manipulatives is a term that some teachers use.

Boxes obtained from Office Depot.

Above are boxes holding hands on material for such subjects as math, science, and language arts/reading.  The subjects are in separate boxes.  It makes it easier to lug the materials around during our homeschooling.  I had the manipulatives previously in baskets but the stuff ended up with dust bunnies.  This way, I reduce the need to dust the materials before they are used. 

Closeup of science box

This box holds such things as educational toys that we have accumulated over the years.  Anything I consider science has gone in here.  I have placed similar items in one gallon-size baggies.  Things that aid the eyes like a telescope and binoculars, and 3D glasses are in one baggie.

Baggie of magnets is housed in the science box.

Here is another gallon-sized baggie.  This baggie holds gear-like magnets that can go on the refrigerator.  I have that available in case the children would like to play with them.  Sometimes the magnets annoy me because of the clutter they create.  That's why I will let the kids play with the magnets every once in a while; however, I want the kids to put them away when guests come over.

This is a shoebox that holds another set of manipulatives.

Shoe boxes are a great way to divide collections.  Sometimes, the collections are fragile.  I have some hands on materials that are hollow cubes.  They have been squashed before.  These boxes are ideal because they are stackable.

Shoe boxes are perfect for small collections.

I had the original box of these 3D shapes for a long time.  The box finally gave out.  I moved the shapes into this much sturdier box.  I'm not afraid to adapt to change.  Things break; containers break.

A dishpan is a perfect container for some collections.

I love it when the kids play with their pipes and marbles.  I bought a few dishpans to use around the house.  I grabbed a dishpan for the pipes and marbles.  Then, I used an index card to label the container.  This dishpan is placed up at the top of the entertainment center because marbles are a choking hazard for young children.

I utilize white baskets as containers.

That is one basketful of soldiers, little workers, animals, and terrain pieces.  This collection has gotten larger over the years, and I weed out what I can.  The kids role play with these toys so I decided to place them together in the basket.  I used to split the pieces by type into separate baggies, but I see that it is not worth it.  The kids would mix up the items so I quite sweating this small detail.

Closeup of basket reveals soldiers, Indians, and bushes.

 This is a deep basket, but it fits perfectly in the entertainment center.

2.5 Gallon-size baggie--yes, they make them this big!

Jumbo size baggies are wonderful for larger collections.  The one above is holding farm buildings, animals, and road signals--very bulky items.  This baggie actually fits inside the big basket above.

Tin container and a smaller basket hold other collections.

The Play-Doh tin can originally held some molds and small containers of play dough.  I removed the molds and threw them together with plastic cookie cutters in the basket.  Now, the tin can only holds the small containers of play dough. 

Well, I hope that I have given some ideas of how to organize collections of manipulatives.  There are more pictures and themes I want to cover.  Stay tuned to see how I organize such things as Legos, Megabloks, and art supplies.  These are such things I deem worthy of keeping in my homeschool.  That's why I take the time to organize them.

Thanks for reading this blog entry.

How about you, my readers?  Are your hands on materials organized in some way?  Is your home optimized for learning?  I encourage you to see if you have the right containers to hold your teaching tools.

I pray that God bless you all, my dear readers, with His wisdom and peace.

This has been an entry for Thorough Thursdays. 

Homeschool Organization 1: Manipulatives, Books, Teaching Material, & Environment

Kaelyn, now 6 yrs. old, is happily using her learning space.

It is one thing to consider homeschooling.  It is another to realize that clutter can develop.  How does one handle it?  Decluttering is one solution.  Organizing is another option.

It is challenging to organize the homeschool.  A homeschool has the blending of a traditional house and the learning materials.  I have been homeschooling for over 10 years.  I have accumulated a lot of books, workbooks, and hands on materials.  It is easy to think of just chucking it all; that would be the end of the clutter.

The reality is that I have children ranging from Kindergarten all the way to high school.  Any good homeschooling parent will tell you that they keep some of that stuff for the younger children.  Fortunately, I have been slowly getting rid of material as Kaelyn, the youngest, outgrows it.  I've given away countless books, workbooks, and puzzles that all my children no longer need.  No, I'm not planning to have any more children, either; that's why I've been sharing Kaelyn's stuff.

Old entertainment center holds learning material like board games and 3D shapes.

Having a background in teaching has given me an edge at homeschooling.  I learned how to teach children.  I learned how to discipline students.  I learned about teaching styles and learning styles.  I also learned how to organize teaching material.

Organize books according to theme or type.  Line up spine to edge of shelf.

I learned about the need for books, which are rich sources of information.  I worked several times in libraries before having my children.  I learned a few tricks to organize books.  I organize books by subject.  I organize books by type, whether hard back or softback.

Hardback books are separate from softback books.

Manipulatives--hands on materials I've collected.

I learned about the need for manipulatives.  They are hands on learning materials, like the ones above.  It has been fun to use colorful rhyming wheels to teach phonics.  I also had to learn how to store them properly.  That's why I decided to use Kaelyn's panda bear box to store those for her grade in her room.

Panda Bear box holds Kaelyn's kindergarten manipulatives.

White bookcase holds material by grade level.

I've learned that it is necessary to have our learning materials in an organized manner.  That helps the educator, me, pull out the necessary tools for teaching a particular lesson.  It also helps my children reach the material if they desire to learn more about a particular subject.  When the homeschooling materials are organized, learning is more efficient.  Everyone is happier in our homeschool.

I hope this blog entry has served to help with ideas on how to organize learning materials.  Whether you are a homeschooling parent or not, you can still glean some ideas on how to organize your books and other learning aids.  I hope to blog on how to organize the posters, arts and crafts, audio/visual aids, and other manipulatives in the future.

My living room houses organized bookcases and cleared sofas, as part of an inviting learning space.

I keep dining table clear where my oldest does his schoolwork.

How about you, my readers?  Are your books organized in some way?  Is your home an inviting environment, conducive to learning?  I highly suggest assessing your home to see if the children in your life have opportunities (learning tools) to find books and other materials to use.

I pray that God bless you all, my dear readers, with His wisdom and peace.

This has been an entry for Thorough Thursdays.