Discover Learning Fun on YouTube

Who knew YouTube could be so educational? Not me. I've been having fun discovering all the great kids' learning channels and clips and today I used them in Sam's lessons. Sam is very visual and while he may have difficulty focusing on people's faces or written material, he really connects with technology. Videos and apps are perfect for Sam and while I still use traditional materials and activities, incorporating fun learning videos and iPad apps into my lessons plans make a huge difference. 

I really love 'The Best Count to 20' song from Mini Monsters Music. It's a beautifully shot video. Check it out here.

I've been busy adding new pages to 'The Bumpy Road Way' blog today. On these new pages I share some of the cool apps, websites and YouTube channels I've found and use. Enjoy.

• What's On My iPad
• My Favourite Websites
• My YouTube Favourites

We started our Math session today by watching 'The Best Count to 20' song on YouTube.

It's a beautiful and unique counting video.



Yesterday I tried to assess Sam's number recognition. The letter recognition activity had worked well, but this one failed. Sam was tired, but I realised it was too much information and he struggled to focus.

So I reworked the activity for today and came up with this.

I split the numbers: 1 to 10 and 11 to 20. On one sheet I had the numbers printed (mixed up, not in order.) On another sheet I had pictures of doors. I used a knife to cut the door pictures so they would open. Then I glued the picture sheet on top of the number sheet.

I asked Sam to find the numbers by opening the doors.

When he found the number, we used the 'magic' pen to check it off.

 

Next we had a shape matching activity.

Cut out the shapes...

...then match them up and glue them on the sheet.

I also asked him to name the shapes and glue the shape name below the picture.

After we finished, Sam got to play the 'Dragon Shapes' app. It's a really beautifully produced app with a lovely story connecting the shape games. Highly recommend. Sam loves it.

Sam and I are both coming down with a bug, so after lunch we took it easy and checked out some of the new apps I had downloaded onto my iPad. Sam liked this one. It's an app called 'Rocket Science 101'. You build rockets, which are based on real rockets made by NASA and then launch them. Once the animated rocket launches, you have the option of watching the actual NASA footage of the rocket being launched and heading up into space. It is very cool.