Fractions Practice for Kids of all Ages- Made Fun!

What do these objects all have in common?  

• Pizza
• A dollar bill
• An apple
• Children’s building blocks

Not quite sure? They are all excellent tools for fractions practice.  

Fractions Practice Doesn’t Have to Be Hard

Parents are constantly asking us when to introduce fractions. There seems to be a lot of confusion and stress over introducing them. It’s an important concept for children to understand. However, parents find it’s difficult to help kids *get* them. Each and every day our children are eating them. They’re playing with them. They’re seeing them at the store. Fortunately, they are all around us- we just have to look in the right place!

We can begin introducing ½, ¼, ⅓, etc. to our children at a young age. When we split a sandwich, we tell each child they may have half. When we cut into that delicious pie, we can explain to our children how we’re dividing it up and why. Involving children in cooking is one of the best ways to introduce this concept. They’re in our recipes, our measuring cups, and in how we serve our food.

As our children get older, they can work with money.  Cash is an excellent tool for fractions practice. They begin to understand four quarters = 1 whole ($1). They can see how much change is needed and convert that appropriately. If we switch over to cash only at the store, our kids can help count it out. It will give them valuable experience and financial wisdom!

Children’s building blocks are also full of fraction games! If you download our FREE activity pack, you’ll learn all about how to find and use them. As you can see, even if we’re not teaching fractions, our kids see them everywhere. From our food to our signs, their toys, at the store- they are everywhere!

How to Teach Fractions in a Way Your Kids Will Get

Even though they’re everywhere, we still need to teach the fundamentals. We need to teach how to use them, and why they matter. It doesn’t have to be dull worksheets and rote memorization though! Here are some teaching tips-

• Make it hands-on! Maria Montessori said, “What the hand does, the mind remembers.” We all learn best through hands-on learning. Use fraction circles in your lessons to make it hands on. They’ll give a visual and tactile concept of what you’re teaching. Even preschoolers can start with these hands-on materials.  

• Show real-life examples. We’ve already discussed this a bit above. Anytime you’re cutting, measuring, or dividing- let the kids in on it.

• Start with a whole. It’s much easier to *get* what one whole is. You can start to break it down after that.

• Have a foundation for division. Before you can advance too much, kids need to have the basics of division.   There’s a lot that can be done before division comes onto the scene. Parents are often frustrated when they try to advance into higher-level concepts and the kids are confused. Usually, this is because they don’t understand division well yet. Around 3rd-4th grade is a good time to move into some of the more advanced skills.

• Teach to all the senses. When we incorporate multi-sensory learning, we stimulate all the areas of the brain. This helps children grasp concepts and cements them for the long term. We’ve created a beautiful activity pack to help you do this. You’ll find fraction games for kids of all ages, that engage the senses.

You Can Teach With Fractions in A Way Kids Will Get With NO Prep work, Stress, or Tears!

Yes, it’s possible! They can be taught in a way kids will love. They’ll jump at the chance to learn. You’ll love not having any prep work, pre-reading, or fights over school work. Older kids can even work independently.

If you’re ready to dive in a bit deeper than this activity pack, keep reading.

We have put together an entire Fraction Kit. It’s almost 200 pages of lessons. It comes with our beautiful, high-quality fraction circles, pre-scripted lessons, and answers. Everything you need to start. All you need to do is open and go, seriously, no prep work required. Do the first diagnostic test to see what lessons you need to cover. Then jump into the lessons. Our lessons use the 3-Period lesson from Montessori’s philosophy and all the senses to help kids learn!  

It’s the perfect companion to this fun FREE activity pack.

Teaching on a Budget?

If you’re on a budget, start with this activity pack.   There are activities for the whole family to work on together. You’ll also find independent Montessori-based works you can add to your home shelves.  

In the pack, kids will cook, play, take a field trip, enjoy fraction games, and fractions practice in the real world. It’s the perfect place to start while you save up money for the kit! All the activities have been kid-approved by the kids of the ShillerLearning team.  

We can’t wait to hear how much your kids love this pack!

Enjoy the Benefits of Yoga For Kids with a Homeschool Yoga Practice

In nearly every Montessori classroom, you’ll find children participating in yoga. The entire class may take part at once. Or, a station may be set up with pose cards for the children to follow along with. Teachers get in on the practice as well.  

If you think about it, these two go excellently together. Both approaches flow with a certain, never forced, order. Both are known for their ability to bring calm, focus, and joy. Yoga for kids (and adults) can bring about remarkable benefits. When combined with Montessori education, you’ve got a winning combination! Beginning a homeschool yoga practice is easy, even if you’re not using a Montessori-based homeschool.

How to Get Started With Homeschool Yoga

How Yoga and Montessori Go Hand-in-Hand

A Montessori education is unlike anything else. Yoga is a form of movement unlike anything else. While Maria Montessori did not teach it, she did encourage purposeful movement. We find movement with care, grace, mindfulness, and awareness incorporated into everything she taught. Children in a Montessori setting move unlike children in any other education approach. This integrates perfectly with yoga!

Personal space and order are valued in both as well. In yoga, we have our mat. In Montessori, we have our work mat. These don’t exist because we’re trying to separate ourselves. They exist for order, visual-spatial balance, space to focus, and more. Sometimes we may do “partner poses” or work on lessons together. This only happens when both individuals are ready and willing.

“An education capable of saving humanity is no small undertaking: it involves the spiritual development of man, the enhancement of his value as an individual, and the preparation of young people to times in which they live.”

Maria Montessori

Both are focused on developing the whole person. With our education, we develop the whole person in mind, body, and soul. Yoga for kids does the same. It isn’t about hitting the perfect pose and movement. It’s about moving with ease, with grace, and with awareness. Sounds a lot like Montessori speak, doesn’t it? While these are components of yoga, it’s about so much more. It has been proven to have profound effects on the nervous system, stress levels, brain development, critical thinking, organ health, and more. Montessori education has shown to benefit many of these aspects as well. In both, we find a calming and centering effect for children. When used together, you bring an entirely new dimension to your homeschool.

Regular practice is often described as bringing peace. This was a key desire for Dr. Montessori. To help children find peace. Not only in the world, but in themselves. Peace with who they are. Peace in managing stress. Handling conflict with peace. You’ll even find a “peace object” in most classrooms. (These are excellent to have at home too!)

Getting started

A decade ago, yoga resources for children were few and far between. Today you can find books, videos, cards, and classes. There’s a wealth of resources! It can be hard to decide what to start with. Here are a few things to consider. You may choose to find a class to attend on a regular basis, Mommy and Me classes are common at a lot of libraries and rec centers. Or learn yourself with an at-home practice to teach to your children. Pre-made lesson plans are a great option to learn together. Children can lead themselves with videos, making it easy to ensure they’re moving through the poses properly. Cards or a book can be nice to leave out on the shelf for children to get to whenever they want.

When beginning homeschool yoga, begin with basic poses. If you decide to get a children’s program, they’ll all begin with more basic postures. If you decide to work through poses on your own, begin with the foundation. Throughout the practice, it’s beneficial to make sure kids are working through the poses properly. It can be possible to hurt yourself if hitting a more advanced pose improperly. By starting with a foundation we allow our children the chance to get a feel for the flow and the calm before starting more difficult poses.

Don’t forget about trying some of the breathing exercises as well. Children of all ages love lions breath. Alternative nostril breathing is usually a favorite for teens. While a mat is not 100% necessary, it can be helpful. If you don’t have a mat, try a towel on top of the carpet.  

Great poses to start with include:

• Cobblers pose

• Downward facing dog

• Butterfly

• Shoulder rolls

• Child’s pose

• Bridge

• Runner’s lunge

• Hero pose

• Neck circles

• Forward bend (seated and standing)

• Standing spin

• Mountain

• Leg’s up to the wall

• Cobra

• Warrior I and II

• Sun salutations are a nice beginner sequence

• Shavasana (aka “resting pose”) - this is typically how practice is ended
  
  Whatever you do, remember to do it with ease, joy, and a spirit of learning. It is also a good idea to check with your child’s doctor before beginning practice.

Fun Holiday-themed Activities to Engage Your Children with Math and Language Arts

If you haven’t seen our free winter printables pack yet you are in for a treat. This pack is the perfect addition for your Montessori based at home schooling. But I don’t want to spoil the surprise or bore you to tears by describing every detail of all 32 activities. So I wrote a little poem that I’d like to read to you instead. Or you can just watch Jonathan read it to you in the video below...

PART II of Our FREE Winter Printables

Playdough Trees Penguin Waddles and Sugar Cookies, Oh My!

Part 2 of our Winter Literature Inspired Activity Pack is here! This pack is full of free activities your kids are sure to enjoy. Perfect for homeschooling, winter break activities, and Montessori preschools. We're excited to share it with you.

How did you like part one? Did you enjoy working through it together? We’d love to see photos on our Facebook page of your family enjoying last month’s pack.  

We’re continuing the theme of activities inspired by popular wintertime children’s books. The books these works are inspired by are:

• Without You by Sarah Weeks

• The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

• Sneezy the Snowman by Maureen Wright

To give you a little preview, we’ve written our own rendition of “In the Bleak Midwinter”...

Free "Listening Skills For Kids" Activity Book

Working on listening skills with kids can feel like playing a broken record. We want our children to be attentive and aware. Yet we’re not quite sure how to *get* our children to listen and comprehend. These important skills can be difficult to teach. I can’t tell you how many frustrated parents I’ve talked to who say “My kids don’t listen to me!”

If we’re honest, we work on listening skills our whole lives. To this day I am still working on how to better hear and pay attention to the auditory input I have coming my way. Teaching our kids ways to listen, equipping them with comprehension skills, and helping them appreciate silence helps set them up for success.

Tips For Teaching Listening Skills to Children

Appreciate Silence- Recent studies have shown immense benefits of silence for the human brain. In a society that is constantly receiving auditory stimulation, silence is more golden than ever before. By allowing times of silence in our homes, we can help build listening skills. Our brains benefit from a break from all the sensory input, especially children’s brains! Plus when we embrace silence, we open our ears up to hear things we might otherwise not notice.

Repeat back- This one might seem silly. However, it’s a key tenant of communication skills. It is a highly valued listening skill. Teaching our children to “tell back” what they’ve heard helps them listen more carefully. It also helps the speaker ensure everything has been heard appropriately. Asking children to tell back what they’ve heard during story time can be a great way to build this skill. For young children, you may need to have the child tell back every few sentences. As children get older- you can move up to every few paragraphs, every few pages, and every chapter. This skill can be added to conversations as well. It’s especially helpful in conversations with details you don’t want to be missed. Have your child tell back details in their own words so you’re sure they are interpreting information as well.

Give them your full attention- I get it, hearing about Minecraft for the bazzillionth time today is not exactly what you are interested in hearing about. However, our kids are watching. When we display positive listening skills, our kids learn from our example. Taking our eyes off whatever else we might be doing to fully engage in conversation is the first step. This demonstrates we’re not distracted and can be fully present. How often have we asked our children a question while they were engrossed in a show only to realize later on they totally didn’t hear us at all? One of the top reasons kids don’t “hear” is because they’re distracted and not actually listening. We may respond while watching TV or browsing Facebook. The truth is our minds are not fully aware and we’re responded by rote habit, not true attentive listening. If we model attentiveness, eye contact, and active listening it helps our children become better listeners. It will also benefit communication in your home too.

Read-a-loud and audiobooks- Nothing can capture a child’s attention better than a story! Sometimes one simply needs to sit in the middle of the room with children playing around them and begin to read. Soon a quiet fills the room and the children are lost in the story. By incorporating the other tips above, stories can build listening skills immensely.

Practice at home- Home is the best place to practice and build skills. Work on engaging your child in conversations they’re interested in. Download our FREE Listening Activity Pack below for over a dozen activities to help build listening skills in the comfort of your own home! You’ll find the classic Montessori Sitting in Silence activity, crafts, games, and more. Your children preschool all the way through high school can build listening skills. There are even activities that you may find a benefit from as well. Plus, a few activities can be incorporated on a regular basis in your homeschool.

Refer to the ShillerLearning Parent Guide from your Math kit or at the beginning of each Language Arts books for more tips on engaging your child.

Like this?

Check out all our FREE activity packs here, we add a new one every month!

Did You Get Your Recipe for A Winter Literature Pack?

Winter has arrived and we are thrilled to bring you these fun activities for kids to complete this winter. Inspired by the Montessori method, we've cooked up a lovely blend of literature based works for you. Enjoy!
 

Servings: 17 Montessori Works (Make sure to share the results and fun with your friends!)

Time: Varies by age and ability of child.

Combine all of the above with a lot of love, fun, patience, excitement and joy. Blend in shelf works and sensory bins from home, if desired. Season with a dash of warm & cozy to ensure you get the full wintery effect. Upon completion, you’ll find you’ve completed counting, graphing, games, measuring, writing activities, a bucket list, stitching and more.  

This is best served alongside a desire to learn together (and a cup of hot cocoa or tea).