Made it Monday

I'm proud to tell I have kept my blog going for one year! 56 post in my first year is a good accomplishment. That's more than one a week.

Today I'm linking up with Made it Monday with Tara. Thanks for stopping by....here's what I got:


FIRST  At home we have been practicing multiplication last week. I made a number line on the wall for my daughter, then I made these ice cream groups and quickly wrote up the multiplication facts in Word. Basically I wanted her to get a better idea of counting by three, instead of being just told to memorize the facts. Memorizing has not been a successful strategy for her at all. We will be working on 4's this week, and review the 3's as well.

Everyday she had to randomly pick a multiplication card out of a shoe box, and then figure out where it goes on the line. She also had to find the correct ice cream group picture that went with it. Instead of her counting the amount in the picture, I had her use the number line. I felt that she didn't understand that 3's time tables meant you count by three. When she would easily give up and say I don't know, I would give her some pointers. (My daughter has low self esteem when it comes to math, so she easily gives up. That's a whole other blog post!)

Going on, for the card 8 x 3, I asked her what fact did she know that was closest to it. She said 10 x 3=30. So then I told her she needed to count back. A few times of giving her these pointers, and she started to think on her own. Then when she was done, I told her to just tell me the answers (3, 6, 9, etc). She had to practice 3 times each day.

Here is the link if these would be helpful to you Multiplication 3s.

SECOND On the not so teacher professional side, I crocheted slippers for my self last week. They turned out super cute!! Also, they were really easy to make! If I had two hours of alone time during the day, I could easily make them in that time. But it's summer and I have two lovely girls that keep me busy, so I don't find that alone time. I'm sure some of you know what I mean!

I found the pattern at DROPS Design. If you haven't ever heard of it, there are free patterns for tons of projects, as well as translated into many different languages. You just pick your country of choice, and off you go to find yourself a new pattern. 

Have a happy week!

Art Projects - So much fun!

Art is a great subject to teach. I love trying new projects and I love the freedom to choose projects that I too enjoy making and teaching. Have you found the blog Art Projects for Kids? If you haven't, you should start following immediately. Add it to your Bloglovin list, and you won't regret it!

Kathy Barbro not only gives you great ideas on what types of projects to make, but she even gives step by step instructions. How awesome is she? Also she sells some sets of instructions too, if your interested in purchasing those as well.

Here is a sample of her most recent post: How to Draw a Cruise Ship. Brilliant!

Saturday Snapshots

I'm linking up with Run! Miss Nelson's Got the Camera for Saturday Snapshots. I was reading her post from this week, and whoa, she wrote about a few things that I have no scheme for: Instagram, Project Life (for scrapbooking) and her DSLR camera. These are all things I will investigate in good time.

Here at home we were busy this past week, and I am pooped. Being a stay at home mom is tough work. I totally forgot what it's like.

1) We tried out some bean counting with my girls. The plates each have a number (1-10). I had my youngest put them in order and then add the correct amount of beans. She is good at counting to 6, and then numbers 7-9 are a bit haz. But this was perfect practice for it. Then to make it more fun, we invited Barbie and friends to a Bean Party! She decided that Woody would be the one to want the most beans, so he got the number 10 plate.

2) We had 2 beach days this week. The sky looked so pretty with the cumulus clouds and the wispy cirrus clouds.

Here I am, covered pretty well to keep from burning. And yet, I didn't protect my shins and guess what? They got burnt!! Guess who has been wearing pants for a few days in the heat of summer??

 My girls enjoying some most needed beach fun! Imagine that, big sister enjoying burying little sister. Yes they have on SPF, and they tan like their daddy. Lucky girls!

3) Last some 4th of July celebrations at home. I made a red, white and blue dessert. I found some frozen cream puffs at the store, whipped up some cream and added fresh berries. It was really tasty and it was gone in a flash. 

The girls helped make a banner in celebration of America's independence day. My oldest right away asked if we could do the same on Finland's independence day. I said "Of course!" 

Have a good weekend all!

Freebies on the 4th by Kinderland

Well surprise, surprise!! When I woke up this morning and the first thing in my Bloglovin was a post from Lanier's Lions. A group of kindergarten teachers have organized 42 freebies for today, all through Facebook. How awesome are they?? Your thinking that "Oh, but they are most likely all kindergarten related". Maybe true, but I'm sure there are some good surprises in there that everyone can use. Happy 4th of July America! Wish I could be over there to BBQ and set off some fireworks!!!! I'll make sure to do some flag crafts with the kids this morning and make a patriotic dessert for this evening.

Follow me on Bloglovin!

Turns out Bloglovin is where it's at! I am linking up with a Corkboard Connections this morning and we are going on a blog hunt! If you haven't yet signed up at Bloglovin, it's fairly simple. Just a few steps and your one you way! Make sure to claim your own blog after you sign up.

CLICK HERE to the find my blog on Bloglovin or click the button on the right hand side of the page --->

To get the same button for your blog, check out this GREAT tutorial at CommonCoreandMuchMore.