Now Available: D’Nealian Handwriting Practice Pages

 

Click the image below to view this item on Teachers Notebook.

There are a few difference between these pages & the original handwriting pages. 

~ First of all, this set contains two practice pages for every letter.  (The traditional handwriting pages contain a total of 42 pages, and this set contains 52.)

~ Second, I was unable to find a d’nealian font with good starting dots like you’ll find in the traditional handwriting set.  With that in mind, I included the letters with directional arrows in the upper left corner of each page.  This will help you and your child(ren) as you work on the proper formation of each letter.

Coming Soon: D’Nealian Handwriting Practice

Recently, there have been quite a few requests for D’Nealian practice pages.  It has taken a while to find a D’Nealian font set that fit the bill. 

Now, if I had my way, this font would be just like the traditional font pages – with the little starting dots for each letter.  My son really does well with the starting dots, and I imagine many of you appreciate those dots as well! 

Unfortunately, the company doesn’t make that font in D’nealian.  I had to go with something different.  The colored letters at the top will be your guide in teaching your little one(s) to write the letters correctly. 

This set should be finished by this weekend.  I’m really trying to get it done, since there will be a 15% sale this weekend!  (Valid along with the sale: Purchase 3 items in one transaction, & you’ll receive a 4th item of your choice for free.  I’ll contact you by e-mail AND Teachers Notebook message after your purchase to ask which pack you’d like.)

(If you’re wondering, once this is complete, I’ll be finishing the updates on my Thanksgiving Pack freebie next week…and then will begin the Nativity Pack to be completed by December 1st.)

Agenda: Grinding America Down

This blog stays very focused on family & homeschool related posts.  I hope that you’ll allow me to veer off-topic today for just one special post.

http://vimeo.com/52009124

The video pictured above, Agenda: Grinding America Down, is currently FREE to watch online from now through November 6th.

Friends lent this video to us several months ago.  We really weren’t all that interested in watching it, so the video sat on our counter for several weeks before got around to watching it.  Even then, we stuck it in the DVD player and sat down to half-heartedly watch JUST so we could tell our friends we saw it.

Well, we are SO GLAD we took the time to see it.   While we ‘kind-of’ knew a lot of what was presented in this documentary, some of it was new to us…and very eye-opening!  We actually purchased our own copy to share with friends & family!

I’d encourage you to set aside an hour or two {when the little are sleeping or otherwise occupied} and taking a little time to watch this movie.  You may or may not agree with everything that is presented, but (in my opinion) it’s well worth your time.

We now return you to your family-friendly, non-political blog *Ü*

MFW K Unit 5 – Nn Nest

 {CLICK HERE} to view the rest of our MFW K unit posts.

{CLICK HERE} to view our post explaining WHY we chose MFW K for our family.

Alex is 4 years, 9 months/Max is 37 months

We learned that “God takes good care of me.”
Our letter is Nn (nest).

PRE-KINDERGARTEN
BOOKS

Alex & I really liked “Little Squirrel’s Nest”, as it has a cute story and shows the nests of several different animals.  I loved the rhyming in “A House is a House for Me”, but Alex was a bit bored by that book.  “The Best Nest” (Datta) is fuzzy and sparkly and has a pop-up page, which Alex loved.  “The Best Nest” and “Are You My Mother?” (Eastman) made Alex giggle a whole lot!

CALENDAR TIME

So far, I’ve been dot-writing the numbers for Alex to trace on his 100 Chart.
On Day 28, I got scolded for doing that…Alex told me he was ready to do it on his own.

I think he did a pretty nice job writing 28 independently!

You can’t tell from this picture, but Alex LOVES this ‘months of the year’ song on YouTube. 
I often catch him singing it throughout the day!

 

BIBLE

We read about Elijah and the ravens,
and we discusses how God takes care of those who love Him.

Alex did an EXCELLENT job of retelling this lesson to Daddy one night at dinner!

(There’s more to the Bible, but I feel like if I post it all here,
I’m giving away everything that is in the manual!)

TACTILE LETTER PRACTICE

dot markers

salt box

wikki stix

PHONICS & HANDWRITING

This week, we did a handwriting page made for Alex by my friend Michelle.  She was making these for her own son, and she sweetly offered to change out the name line for Alex to have his own set.   (THANK YOU, Michelle!)

He loved coloring the birds at the top of the page, and he did a pretty good job with slightly smaller lines for his letters.  (He chose not to trace the Bible words at the bottom of the page.)

coloring his picture cards and decorating the envelope where they are stored

stamping the words that begin with N, crossing out the ones that begin with other letters

 

fishing for letters (magnetic fishing pole & paper clips)

beginning letter sounds

   

uppercase/lowercase letter sort

  

drawing page
(he really can’t draw yet, but he thought of some creative words!)

Alex is sequencing the bird pictures in order and dictating to Mom
what I should write below each picture.  He did a great job!

   

MATH tracing 5s – remember to add the “hat” of the 5 last is tricky :)

stamping 5 nests at the bottom of the page

 

Writing #1 – 5 and adding eggs (hole punch circles) to each nest
tracing pennies and nickels, writing 5 cents

cuisenaire rods
(rods & Cuisenaire Rod Alphabet Book available from mfwbooks.com)

SCIENCE

Since the letter of the week is N, we are learning about NESTS, of course. 

We are also learning about other animals & their homes.  Alex did a simple cut & paste activity for matching each animal to its home. (the purple page on our magnet board)

 ART

paper plate birds nests with pompom birds
{read more HERE if you’re interested}

SNACKS homemade peanut-free birds nest snacks
{read more HERE if you’re interested}

 

 

TOT SCHOOL

(Max is 37 months)

And this is where I admit that…uh…we didn’t do school with Max this week!  Our mornings were busy, and Max was CRANKY and in need of a nap when school time rolled around each day.  He’s had a cold this week, was up on & off all night long on Wednesday night, and he really needed sleep more than “school”. 

Max DID read stories with us and do art and cooking time with us.  You can read more about our projects HERE:

He also showed me that he’s starting to recognize his numbers!  Somehow, by some random accident, his cereal took the shape of a #5 while he was eating breakfast.  He was SO excited to see it…and I was SO excited to realize that he recognized a 5! :)

 

 
We may be linking up with the following blogs: