Take That MDO teacher!

Otherwise known as Fynn spells his name. (the MDO is in reference to this post)

Fynn loves his folder work and frequently asks to do it. Yea, MDO teacher. Fynn can do all sorts of stuff.

We started a couple of days ago having Fynn match the letters. Fynn could already recognize his name (and the names of his siblings). So, I thought, why not? Today, I folded it in half and had him do it on his own. He did, with out a problem.

I think I am going to make one for Providence, too. Bless her heart, she has 16 letters in her first and last name. That's just a lot to remember.


On a funnier note, I have decided (again) to stop buying Fynn pull ups and just get it over with. Fynn says: "Go potty, get gum." I say: "anyone who takes Fynn potty gets gum." This means, I don't have to potty train Fynn. His brother and sister will.

Folder Work- an in depth look

Guest posted on Danica's homeschooling blog!

filefolderfun.com
- awesome site for pre-made activities

File folder games are great for all abilities and ages. The are customizable to whatever you are learning about and whatever skill level your child or student is at.

So far we have:
-3 addition file folders
-lowercase/uppercase matching game
-matching colors
-sorting hot/cold
-sorting even/odd
-matching sound to letter
-prepositions
-biggest to smallest

In the works:
-put your name in order for the 2 year old
-matching numeral and number work
-matching amount to number
-matching basic words to pictures

The possibilities are endless. It doesn't take much to whip up vocabulary and spelling folders. It would also be easy to label things like the body, insets, spiders, whatever you are working on. Any type of sorting activities (vowels/consonants, 5 senses, animal kingdom) would be simple to put together.

The only downside is that they are a little time consuming to make, but they last for a while.

Some tips:
-if you can afford it, have them laminated. I used contact paper. It takes a little more time.
-velcro dots. Cutting and peeling off the backing of strip velcro is annoying. If you peel a big piece and cut, you end up with stick scissors.
-make one set of numbers and letters. You can use them for multiple games.
-I store my pieces in an envelope taped to the folder

Here is my 2 year old matching his colors:

In this game, I would tell him various prepositions and he would put the dinosaur there. To make it, I glued a flap down using a piece of card stock. Then, I put contact paper over the folder and used an exacto knife to slice through the contact paper.


Here he is ordering smallest to biggest.

And finally sorting hot and cold.

Here is my 5 year old matching upper and lowercase letters.

All done!

Here she is matching letter to the beginning sound. Note the same letters from the previous game.

From 2011-08-29

Here is my 6 year old working on his addition facts. This is a lot more fun than calling out math facts. He was very excited that he didn't have to write all of his answers down.

He told me he was mediating to find the answers. Who knows? You can see his fingers out, counting. I told him we would keep practicing each folder until he could do them quickly.

Here he is sorting even and odd numbers. This was a new concept for him, so we kept out the 100 chart. He caught on quickly.


Folder games take a little work to get started, but you can't beat the variety. It's a great way to get worksheet practice in with out having an actual worksheet.

Folder Work

Or games. Games is better. Providence loves to play games. In fact, she picked this one up and completed it with out even being asked.

I found the butterfly folders at OfficeMax. I thought the work might easier to swallow if it came in a pretty package.

(see, she's even smiling)
She breezed through this activity, but it's still good practice. This site has some wonderful, free printable activities. Folder games are easy to make on your own. There is no point in doing the work if it's already been done for you, right?

The con to file folder games is that there a little time consuming to make. I covered mine with contact paper, because I had some on hand. It would be easier to just pay the money to have them laminated. It's not just that you cover the folder, you have to cover and cut out all the little pieces. I like them enough to do the work and they will be great for Providence to do at Jeremy's office. I have a couple I am working on for Fynn and an addition one for Jackson. It's just taking me a while to get them all done.