I am so excited to celebrate Chinese New Year in our classroom this year.  It's been a while.  But with the new Montessori-inspired Chinese New Year Printable Pack I have all I need to create the most amazing unit ever!

This resource is 92 pages of incredible printables for Montessori preschool and elementary classrooms.

Today, I want to give you a preview of the math printables included and how we are using them.  Be sure to also check out all of the other Chinese New Year activities and printables we have available.

I hope you enjoy our Montessori-inspired Chinese New Year Math Activities!

Before moving forward with our activities I wanted to mention that we have chosen to use the term Chinese New Year because these activities specifically focus on how the holiday is celebrated in Chinese culture.

The activities do not include a focus on other Lunar New Year celebrations around the world, especially those that do not take place on the same day.

Montessori-inspired Chinese New Year Math Activities

Odd and Even Numbers

A couple of our younger students don't know the difference between odd and even numbers yet.  What fun it will be to teach them using Chinese Ingots.

Source:  This printable is part of the Montessori-inspired Chinese New Year Printable Pack.

Addition with Chinese New Year Lanterns

The kiddos are huge fans of clip cards and are super eager to practice math skills right now.  These addition clip cards are perfect.  The glass beads are used as markers and Chinese lanterns used as counters.

Source: This printable is part of the Montessori-inspired Chinese New Year Printable Pack.

Subtraction with Pistachios

Pistachios are often part of the Chinese New Year cuisine and given in candy boxes.  In our classroom we'll be using them to practice subtraction.  

Source: This printable is part of the Montessori-inspired Chinese New Year Printable Pack.

Multiplication with Good Luck Coins

Good luck coins are often a part of Chinese New Year celebrations.  In our classroom they're going to be used to teach multiplication with these beautiful clip cards.  We're multiplying by eight, as eight is a lucky number associated with Chinese New Year.

Source: This printable is part of the Montessori-inspired Chinese New Year Printable Pack.

Division with Red Envelopes

Red envelopes are given to children, relatives and friends during Chinese New Year. They contain gifts of money.  For this activity, the kiddos will divide money between the eight envelopes.

Source: This printable is part of the Montessori-inspired Chinese New Year Printable Pack.

Sequencing the Days of Chinese New Year

Are you familiar with the events prior to and during Chinese New Year?  This activity is the perfect introduction.  Kiddos will match up pictures with descriptions and sequence the days of the holiday.

Source: This printable is part of the Montessori-inspired Chinese New Year Printable Pack.

The math printables in the Montessori-inspired Chinese New Year Printable Pack are absolutely beautiful.  They are culturally sensitive and researched.  When combined with hands on manipulatives they are unbelievable.

Get your own copy of the Montessori-inspired Chinese New Year Printable Pack today!

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Montessori Telling Time Bundle

I am so excited to share the new Montessori Telling Time Bundle with you!  My husband and I worked so hard to make this exactly what we needed for our children and for everyone else.

One wouldn't think finding Montessori telling time resources would be difficult, but it really is.  

Yes, there are clock nomenclature cards out there, but there are never enough to master telling time in it's entirety.

And to be completely honest, I haven't seen anything else!

There are so many steps to learning how to tell time.  The Montessori Telling Time Bundle includes everything you need to work through them all.

Why Do We Need to Know?

Now some may be thinking, why do I need to worry about teaching time concepts when we live in a digital world where cell phones and asking Alexa are the norm?  

To me the answer is simple.  Learning to read clocks is just as important as learning how to add, subtract, multiply or divide.  It's a skill you're going to need for the rest of your life.  

Technology is not always reliable.  

There are times when a battery goes dead or the power goes out.  

Traditional clocks are always available for those who need them.

The coolest thing about clocks is that they're universally understood.  

Once you know and understand where each number is, no matter what type of clock, what print numbers are written in, or where you are in the world, you can still figure out the time of day.

Our Story with Time

Telling time on a traditional clock is so very important.

However...

Dinomite and Bulldozer really struggle with telling time. It's something they have avoided for way too long.  

Yes, I have introduced the concepts before.

Yes, we have practiced.

But it's too complicated to retain and apply to real world circumstances, especially with so many steps.

This is the reason we've created over 500 pages in the Montessori Telling Time Bundle!

We want to make sure that Dinomite, Bulldozer and everyone else have enough resources to master telling time concepts and succeed in any time telling situation they're put in.

For that reason we've created a bundle with a TON of resources!

The Montessori Telling Time Bundle includes:

• Montessori Telling Time: Parts of a Clock Printable Pack
• Montessori  Telling Time: On the Hour Printable Pack
• Montessori Telling Time: The Half Hour Printable Pack
• Montessori Telling Time: 15 Minute Intervals Printable Pack
• Montessori Telling Time: 5 Minute Intervals Printable Pack
• Montessori Telling Time: To the Minute Printable Pack
• Montessori Telling Time: To the Second Printable Pack
• Montessori Telling Time: Roman Numerals Printable Pack
• Montessori Telling Time: Addition and Subtraction Printable Pack
• Montessori Telling Time: Multiplication and Division Printable Pack

Let's take a closer look at each part of this bundle!

The Montessori Telling Time: Parts of a Clock Printable Pack provides you with so many different clock templates and hand options.  Some are in color. Others are in black and white for coloring purposes.  There are clocks without numbers as well to encourage writing and number identification.

We have used this printable pack in our classroom this week and I'm here to tell you the kids absolutely love it.  Each of them has thoroughly enjoyed making their own clock to use when completing future work.

The Montessori Telling Time: On the Hour Printable Pack is the perfect resource for introducing telling time concepts for the very first time.  It focuses only on the hours with cards in digital and written out times.

Besides clocks in classroom template format and true to life images, this bundle includes "fill in the hand" clocks.  When laminated these can be used over and over and over again.

Also included are clock clip cards and clock word strip cards.  For those who love writing, the word strip cards are the perfect way to practice spelling out numbers and time concepts.

All hour times on a traditional clock are included in this printable pack in template and true to life form.

The Montessori Telling Time: The Half Hour Printable Pack is designed very much like the On the Hour Pack, except it only focuses on half past the hour clocks. 

There are two written out time options.  One focuses on the phrase "half past" while the other focuses on written times like "three thirty."  No matter which way it is presented, your child will understand after working with these materials.

All half past the hour times are included in this printable pack in template and true to life form.

The Montessori Telling Time: 15 Minute Intervals Printable Pack is like the "One the Hour" and "The Half Hour" except that it focuses on fifteen minute intervals: quarter past the hour and quarter to the hour.

This printable pack is much longer because it includes all of the same printables offered in the other packs, but for two sets of times.

All quarter past the hour and quarter to the hour times are included in template and true to life image form in this printable pack.

The Montessori Telling Time: 5 Minute Intervals Printable Pack includes everything you've seen in the other bundles but it's a little bit different in that different hours are used in each activity to vary up times.

All five minute intervals are covered in template and true to life image forms.

The Montessori Telling Time: To the Minute Printable Pack may be my favorite printable pack in the bundle!  It includes true to life images for every minute on the clock, along with fill in the hand templates. 

If you've ever want to think about how much work went into creating this bundle, just think about looking at photos of clocks for hours on end making sure every single time makes it in.  Lol.

Nowhere else will you find a resource like this!

The Montessori Telling Time: Down to the Second Printable Pack is similar to other packs in the bundle but focuses on seconds on a stop watch as well as clocks with second hands.

Not every second is covered in the pack, but there are enough to introduce and practice the concept with the stop watch and clocks.

You also receive a stop watch template for kids and fill in the hand templates!

As my husband and I were creating this bundle we found an abundance of clocks with Roman Numerals.  There were so many that we knew we just had to include Roman Numeral Clocks in this bundle.

The Montessori Telling Time: Roman Numerals Printable Pack focuses on reading, writing, and understanding Roman Numerals on a clock.  There are clock templates, fill in the hand clocks, Roman Numeral match up cards, and so much more.

And of course you receive an abundance of true to life Roman Numeral clock nomenclature and clip cards for practice.

It's one thing to tell time and then another to add and subtract time.  The Montessori Telling Time: Addition and Subtraction Printable Pack is an introduction to that process.  It includes word problems related to time with matching equation cards for most problems.

Whether you use the matching equation cards or decide to have students write out the process in their notebook is up to you.  Either way, they're learning to apply time to mathematical problems.

The Montessori Telling Time: Multiplication and Division Printable Pack is very similar to the addition and subtraction printable pack.  It consists of word problems with matching equation cards for the majority of problems.

Word problems focus on time scenarios both in minutes and hours.

As you can see the Montessori Telling Time Bundle includes A LOT of resources for the home or classroom.

If you have this bundle you do not need any other telling time resources.  It has EVERYTHING!

Lucky for you, now through Tuesday, January 15th at 11:59 PM EST, the Montessori Telling Time Bundle is on sale for an incredible 75% OFF!

Don't wait though!  This bundle will disappear after that date and you will have to buy each printable pack separately at full price.

Buy your Montessori Telling Time Bundle today!

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Children's Books About Antarctica

 As we prepare our Antarctica activities for the classroom each winter, we continue to notice that there is no list of recommended children's books about the continent. 

(This is not to be confused with books about penguins, which are plentiful in libraries and on the Internet.) 

We'd like to remedy that problem today and introduce our favorite Children's Books about Antarctica! 

Check out the list of ten fabulous books below!

10 Children's Books About Antarctica

A Trip to the Bottom of the World is a good introduction for beginning readers to the continent of Antarctica. The artwork is done in a comic-book style by Frank Viva. 

The story follows Mouse and his human companion on a cruise to Antarctica. Mouse complains for almost the whole trip, but the reader gets to enjoy the beautiful scenery while giggling at the characters' dialogue.  

Antarctic Journal by Meredith Hooper and Lucas deLeiris is a great example of detailed, in-depth nonfiction writing combined with lifelike artwork that sets the scene perfectly.

Hooper is on assignment for National Geographic.  This book is a child-friendly account of her experiences in Antarctica.

The author brings a scientists' eye for detail and an animal lover's heart to the text. This is the best kind of nonfiction writing.

Antarctica by Helen Cowcher is another good title for beginning readers who love wildlife. The text is simple, but the focus is on the beautiful artwork. Antarctica looks alive with color and energy on every page of the book.

Antarctica by Mel Friedman provides a brief overview of all aspects of the continent for more capable readers.  Scholastic produces the True Book series, so the emphasis is on vocabulary building and covering several subject areas, including history, geography and biology.

Antarctica by Wendy Vierow is another good book for more confident readers, but this one is aimed at the student who enjoys geography. Detailed maps and charts are the main focus. The author provides simple explanations for how to read maps.

The photographs inside are also very helpful, and fit this book better than paintings would. This book is part of a seven book series on the continents.

Here is Antarctica By Madeleine Dunphy with art by Tom Leonard is more poetic than any of the previous books we have reviewed so far.

The text is in the style of the song about the old woman who swallowed a fly. It builds one line per page, accompanied by the beautiful artwork of animal life and majestic scenery.

This book is fun to read aloud with a young child.

Introducing Antarctica by Anita Ganeri does exactly what the title suggests: provides young readers with a brief overview of the icy continent.

Another unique feature here is the focus on the scientists and the research that takes place on the continent. This is a good choice for any aspiring young explorers out there.

One Day On Our Blue Planet in Antarctica by Ella Bailey wins the prize for cutest book about Antarctica. Readers join a young Adelie penguin as she journeys from the nest to the open ocean, and back home again, exploring the terrain and wildlife as she goes.

The illustrations are less life-like than most of the books we've seen, but more animals are named and represented here, too. Great choice for young readers who love animals.

Sophie Scott Goes South is a favorite among the kiddos this week.  This book is unique because it is a first-person account of a voyage to Antarctica on an Icebreaker ship, written by a nine-year old girl.

She joins her ship captain father and his crew on a 30 day round trip voyage, filling readers in on every detail of the trip.

 Another great feature is the artwork, all of which was created by Sophie's classmates, who were asked to create art inspired by this adventurous young lady's experience.

When the Sun Shines on Antarctica by Irene Latham is a great addition to our list because it is the only poetry book about Antarctica that I am aware of. Even if there were others, it would be hard to top this one.  The simple, fun-spirited poems are matched perfectly with illustrations by Anna Wadham.

It's nice to break up all the hard science reading sometimes with some poetry. This book would be a great addition to your bookshelf for any study of the amazing, inspiring continent of Antarctica.

Whether you're borrowing books from your local library system or purchasing these books for enjoyment for years to come, we hope you enjoy them as much as we have!

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