Tuesday, October 1, 2013

October Observances... Spice Up Your Homeschool Lessons

FYI...

October offers some great opportunities for teaching...

  • Positive Attitude Month
  • Black History UK Month
  • Bullying Prevention
  • Dinosaur Month
  • Learning Disabilities Month
  • Diversity Awareness Month
  • World Space Week 4-10
  • Fire Prevention Week 6-12
  • Get Organized Week 6-12 
  • Great Books Week 6-12
  • Financial Planning Week 7-13
  • World Vegetarian Day 1st
  • Fall Astronomy Day 2nd
  • Techies Day (not just computer technicians) 3rd
  • World Teachers Day 5th
  • National Noodle Day 6th
  • World Day of Bullying Prevention 7th
  • National Face Your Fears Day 8th
  • World Mental Health Day 10th
  • National Stop Bullying 9th
  • National Chess Day 9th
  • National Poetry Day 15th
  • Black Poetry Day 17th
  • National Pasta Day 17th
  • Louisiana Purchase 20th
  • National Pumpkin Day 26th
  • Navy Day 27th
  • Day Light Savings Time Ends 28th


http://www.barneyandbarney.com/assets/Wellness/2013-Full-Calendar.pdf

Physical Education Homeschool Style (For Toddlers)

Physical Education is a most... helping our kids grow healthy is always a plus.  Well, when I looked at our routine... I found it needed some revamping.  Outside of the park and outdoor play, there was nothing.  So I searched and searched and searched... finally, after running across a few sites and suggestions... I decided to add YOGA to our daily routine. 

Of course, I was novice at best.  So I pulled together some great resources and we began our journey to laughing, wobbling, and posing...

My son really enjoys this and so do I... it is not at all complicated to implement and you need not pick complicated poses... for us it's the tree, airplane, pretzel, dog, and fish.  In addition, I created a set of movement cards which simply read jump, hop, skip, jiggle, shake, twist, wiggle, swim, jog in place, etc... I allow my son to pick two card before and after... we use as warm up and cool down.

Routine Schedule

2 Mins:  Movement Card activity (about a min per action card picked)
 
1 Min:  Breathing
 
10 Mins: Yoga Poses
 
1 Min:  Breathing
 
2 Mins:  Movement Card activity (about a min per action card picked)
 
Timer (Optional)

Below, I list the resources I used to help me create our routine which lasts about 15 minutes.  Please be sure to choose which poses work best for you and your child(ren) and dedicate the amount of time that they will remain engaged and the activity is fun. You may want to consider 2-3 days a week for older kids to keep them interested.

Would love to hear other ideas or yoga routines... thanks.