Meditation Mandalas for Peace and Tranquility

Okay, so I am not one of those incense burning hippie types.  I do like a good broomstick skirt on occasion but I am certainly not the Birkenstock wearing psychedelic type.  If anything I am conservative and careful not to get too New Age with my beliefs.  I can appreciate the beliefs of all cultures, but am just not really into too much of that tranquility and peace, zen stuff.

As evidenced by my last few posts maybe I need a little more feng shui going on in our house.  I was gifted a set of virtue magnets (more about those in another post) and when the order came they had included a mandala coloring page.  The description said for peace and tranquility.  Stress Relief was in big letters.  I could use a little stress relief, I thought.  So I pulled out some markers and got to work.  I worked on that picture for 3 days and I am still not done.  Was it a magic tranquility pill, no.  But it does give one a chance to step back and just focus on something else for a few minutes.

I was also very surprised when my son asked to also color one, so we printed a few out and he happily colored them for over an hour.   That afternoon when he started getting a little hyper I handed him another one, he eagerly started coloring and calmed down.  Will it work every time, probably not.  But I am gonna ride this ship as far as it will take me.  He even started drawing his own mandalas.

So I highly suggest checking out some free mandala coloring pages or getting some books, they have lots available on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=mandala+coloring+books

Free: http://www.art-is-fun.com/free-mandala-designs-to-print.html

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DIY Montessori Sandpaper Letters

Guess What?  You can make your own Sandpaper letters from poster board and sandpaper.  It is very simple and cost saving.  Sandpaper letters for both upper and lower case and the double letters can cost you upwards of $100.  Making your own can really save money especially when you only have a few children who will be using them.

What you need:

Sandpaper (fine)

Posterboard (we are using black and red to coordinate with the Dwyer Reading Folders, you can use pink, blue, green, system as well)

craft glue

old scissors (the sandpaper will destroy your scissors so don’t use good ones)

Directions: either print a template and lay it facedown on back of sandpaper and cut it out, or free hand the letters on rough side of sandpaper and cut out.  Cut your poster board in rectangles to fit letters, glue down done!

Here are some links on using the Dwyer System for language integration:

http://whatdidwedoallday.blogspot.com/p/muriel-dwyer.html

Introducing Sounds with Sandpaper Letters

Links to buy Sandpaper letters:

http://www.alisonsmontessori.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=sandpaper

http://www.montessorioutlet.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi

http://www.kidadvance.com/advanced_search_result.php?keyword=sandpaper&cid=&x=0&y=0

Homeschooling is for Everyone!

Homeschooling is for Everyone!!

What does that mean?  Well it doesn’t matter if your kids go to public school, private school, unschool or homeschool, it is still your responsibility to homeschool your child.  Think about it…a teacher at any school does not have time in the day to give your child along with 15-30 others individual attention and education.  It just isn’t possible.  So teachers send home worksheets of homework (not helping) but these do nothing for a child’s education.  Why?  Because what they need most is guidance and love from the people they depend on most…their family.

My son has been blessed with excellent teachers at his school.  I couldn’t ask for better.  But a teacher can’t take your child on a field trip every week or set up gardening and sensory activities.  They can teach your child what they need to know, but they can’t teach your child what you know.  they can’t follow their interests and teach them what they want to know, but you can.

It is my belief that homeschooling is not exclusive to those who do not attend a traditional or nontraditional institution.  Homeschooling is for everyone, everywhere!

My son attends public school, my children will all likely attend public school, and I will teach at a public school once my youngest enters kindergarten.  But that does not negate the fact that we still homeschool.  Everyone in our family participates and it is a beautiful thing to watch your child learn something new and know that you played a part in it.

So turn off that TV and open a book, or do a science experiment.  Find some cool lesson plans, and give your child the education they want and deserve 🙂

We are a homeschooling family 🙂 We use Waldorf Essentials and Montessori and supplement with life!  You will find little tips and tricks and just how we do things day to day.

http://www.waldorfessentials.com

http://www.montessorifortheearth.com