Superheroes!!

     When I was teaching in the kindergarten, the only reward that I normally give my students would be stamps on their hand. Sweeties or stickers are seldom and saved for very special occasions.

     
     It was so cute that at the end of the day, they would line up and wait what kind of stamp will be given to them. Not all days would be a good one for some. So what I do is, if one of my students have done something not so good during the day, I explain to him or her why he or she won’t be getting a stamp. When they go home and their parents ask why they didn’t get any, they would be able to explain to them why. So every day, they make it a point to do a good job to be able to get that coveted stamp.

    
     When I started homeschooling our Sam, I made an alternative reward system, Superheroes! I bought superhero clipart from Teachers Pay Teachers and made a badge. Oh the happiness on her face and how proud she is to get a superhero badge! She was looking at it in front of the mirror and just doing a badge parade inside the house! So that was the first week.

    
      Second week came and I made Superhero Bracelets. Then the third week was Superhero crown. For the fourth week I didn’t have much time and Sam requested for a Superhero mask. She has a collection of Disney Princesses, Frozen and Doc Mcstuffins masks so I wasn’t surprised she would request one. I was lucky that Teachers Pay Teachers had freebies so that was such a relief!

    
      And now for our fifth week is the Superhero watch. It was fun doing it so I decided to share some samples as a freebie. It includes two line art (black and white watches for girls) and two colored watches for boys. Kindly click the link below for the FREEBIE.

    https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Superhero-Reward-Watch-2844817

    Here is a sample of what the watches look like in black and white. I have added a pop art effect to make it a bit more interesting in this post. :D 

Superhero Reward Watches

    If you need to have a custom watch made, kindly let me know I will try to edit it for FREE!   

Filipino-English Picture Dictionary

           
             Teaching Filipino to our dear Sam, who is half British and half Filipino is quite an easy task. Her reading level is for a 9-10 year old,  based on the reading program Eye Level, which we once visited to see an ex colleague. Sam was asked to read the booklet of a student and my friend was quite surprised that she was so advanced! 

          So what I did for her worksheets in Filipino was to make alphabet cut out books and started with the patinig or vowels. I made the first set only in Filipino but as I was teaching her, I was or she was translating it to English! So what I did was to put the English in Italics below the Filiipino words to make it easier for her to remember.

          Here are the snapshots of the interactive alphabet cut out books. 

Filipino-English Picture Dictionary

                               
          I have included two worksheets per patinig or vowel for further practice. Here are some samples:

  Two patinig Aa sample worksheets

                                
          On our first week she was able to spell all the Filipino patinig Aa! She even answered a question I asked in English in Filipino! We were studying salty foods and I asked her give me an example of a salty food. She answered, "Asin!" (salt) I gave a huge laugh!

           Here is a link to my new product:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Picture-Dictionary-Filipino-English-2840381  

          More fun stuff to make..be back soon!

Calendar Journal/Morning Work

   
      I have been out of the teaching mode for quite sometime due to a big move to a newly built house. It has been a tiring, stressful yet rewarding experience. My daughter and I moved from the big city to the province as decided by my hubby and I because everything is CHEAPER. We have a big plot, with a view of the sea, so what more would you want?

      When everything was settled in the house, I was able to sit and do wonders with my laptop again, doing what I love the most as a teacher mama...making fun teaching materials.

      This year is different for me and the little one as she won't be going to a regular school. The academic school year has started and it would be quite a challenge for me and her to change routines and Sam adjusting to a new environment. Moreover, from the Special Education point of view, I wanted to address her delays in fine motor. So this year I've started homeschooling.

      It was quite a daunting task thinking of ways to make her write, do the calendar and a review of the days lesson rolled into one. I did a few searching online and found something quite interesting. In the US, they do a morning work paper with the kids and I said to myself, that might just work. Sam is a very good reader but a very stubborn writer. This worksheet might just be the answer to encourage her to write more and have the correct pencil grip and follow the lines. 

       So this was the product of my editing skills:

       It actually worked! We are now in day 12 and it was a miracle! Not only was she encouraged to write, she has developed her calendar skills and was looking forward to answering it after our circle time! I even added a graph the weather worksheet! 

      Now on to my next worksheets....