Binder Activities ....

People always ask me IF I teach all my kids together or not, and my answer is yes... and no....

I do some things at the same time- Like Math- but they are all in different work books. Our unit Animal studies, science and art we do together, but Language arts, and reading I do with each boy. So then comes the question "what do you do with the others while you are working with one kid?" I say.... they do a Binder Activity (see page My Home School Style) I will do another post later about the Binder in more details) In short it is a binder with all different activities for them that they can do under different subjects while I work with others. They can be done by themselves or with another child that I am not working with.

Here is Ethan working on a puzzle and reading THIS book- we love this book- it comes with a puzzle and also a place for them to collect quarters for each state
Here is Aaron and Ryan working with the Draw right Now books - I got this set on ebay used for about $5 a book. I worked with Ryan while the other boys did there own. These are a fun way for kids to practice writing skills. They have step by step for drawing then they write the fun facts about the animal or things in the picture. I do not have all the kids write everything. Ryan does some letters, Aaron one line Ethan does 2-3 lines.

Boys playing with THESE wooden shapes They boys got these as gift a couple years ago
I have shared this idea before... these are Bendaroos - I got these on ebay- but you can also get them on amazon. I got a ebook that I printed off as well with letters, numbers, shapes, dot to dots and more templates. They also like to build all kinds of things with them.
Math Building- This is where Ethan builds things with coins and then adds up the sum of what he built. He has made a pizza, a robot, among others.
just a few of the ideas that I put into the binders. I put new ideas every month or so, to keep things fun, and yes I do use the same ideas over and over again-

Squishy Bags

We made these it was fun, we use them to practice letters and numbers Ethan does spelling words. They are supper easy and all you need is gel, and a zip lock bag, we also added glitter because I had some on hand. I also duck tapes mine closed. The important thing is to get out all the air!! I did not go a good job on Ryan's, but it still works great. If you need more instructions just google or search pintrest for squishy bags.

Writing Activity

I really love reading books and then doing activities that go along with them, to me it really makes the books come to life.

These are some of our FAVORITE books if you have not read any of them you have to, they are great for parents and kids too, so funny.

Both of these books have a the theam of writing notes, so after reading these the boys were able to go on the computer and write notes to their friends. Then they colored a picture and send them to them.

They really thought this was fun, as I do not let them on the computer much (mostly because I do not want them to break it. We have a kid friendly one but just have not found a good place to set it up yet.

Anyway - they loved this, and the books are just great!