Exploration with the Number Balance

I am obsessed with math manipulatives because they provide such a good way to really understand math concept and are so much fun for kids (and..um..Mommy) to play with.  I purchased this Number Balance a while ago, and decided that now that the girls are starting to understand addition, I could take it out...

Baking Day - Pies and Cinnamon Rolls

The girls and I had so much fun baking yesterday.  It ended up being an all-day affair with related books, crafts, and other activities in between the actual baking.  We read the book, How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman..

Homeschool Preschool Week in Review

L and E are 33 months old.  My workload has slowed down and we were able to get a good week in full of learning and playing.  Here are some highlights of the activities we did this week...

Review: Time4Learning Online Kindergarten Math Program

My kids adore online learning activities.  They see Mommy and Daddy work all day on their computers (we both work from home), so naturally they enjoy doing their own 'work' on the computer.  For phonics/reading skills, I've been very happy with a combination of Starfall (free), PBSKidsPlay, and Reading Eggs, but I'm struggling to find an online kindergarten-level homeschool math curriculum that is going to work for us.  I was very excited to have the opportunity to review Time4Learning for 30 days in exchange for my honest opinion. Time4Learning is an online program that includes both reading and math, but I focused on the math side, since that is where our current needs are.  Unfortunately, we discovered that this tool just wasn't for us.  I'd still like to include a full review to give other parents more information about how I made my decision...

Fairy Rocks

It's always fun painting on something other than paper.  Paint some rocks, add a layer of glitter glue and you've got beautiful sparkly.... Fairy Rocks!

Going on Safari

Today I put the girls' stuffed animals all around the house and invited them to take pictures of 'wild animals' with their kid-friendly digital cameras...

Yoga Fun for Preschoolers

I'd like to do yoga, but I don't.  I can't even touch my toes.  My kids, however, are apparently made of rubber.  To keep my little contortionists occupied, I bought them some yoga cards....

Using Buttons to Make Decorative Bowls

Last week we took out our Sensory Button Tray and made decorative plates and bowls using buttons and Model Magic (this would work with Salt Dough or any air-dry clay as well).   Here's what we did ...

What We've Been Up to

I can't believe I haven't blogged all week, but work has been really busy lately.  On one hand I would love to go back to being a stay-at-home Mom without the stresses of a full-time job at the same time, but I think right now the (financial) benefits of being able to earn a paycheck while staying home with my kids are pushing me to keep at it.  Although I haven't been blogging, the kids have still been having a lot of fun this week.  Here is what we've been up to...

Big Green Pocketbook - Dramatic Play Activity

One of my kids' favorite books is The Big Green Pocketbook by Candice Random and Felicia Bond, which I found when researching Before Five in a Row (BFIAR) literature-based curriculum.  It's a story about a girl who goes out to run errands with her mother and fills up her purse with little tokens from each place they visit.  Around Christmas, I found tiny green mini-purses, and we've been acting out the story since then...

Interviewing 2 Year Olds

A while ago, I read another blog where a mother interviews her children every year and records their responses (sorry, I can't find the link now).  I thought that was a really cute idea, and wanted to give it a try with the twins (32 months old):

Five Minute Teddy Bear Cape

Today we read Corduroy, the classic story of a bear who goes in search of his missing button.  In less than 5 minutes, I put together some capes for their stuffed animals, so they can practice their buttoning skills...

Sensory Play with Buttons

One of the stories in the book Frog and Toad are Friends is about Toad's missing button.  He looks everywhere for it and keeps finding buttons, but they are not his button (one is the wrong color, another the wrong shape, a third has the wrong number of holes, etc..).  This story inspired me to do a sensory play activity with buttons today for my twins...

An Attempt at Writing Letters - T

The twins (32 months) meet almost all of the Kindergarten readiness skills, except being able to write their names, so last week I started teaching L and E to write letters.  The plan was to work on writing at least one letter a week, starting with the ones that are easier (straight lines), and then going through until they can write the entire alphabet.  We started with letter 'T'.  First I asked them to form the letter (both uppercase and lowercase) from craft sticks, then we went on to some worksheets:

Egg-tivities

We celebrated Spring this week with a couple egg-themed activities (because nothing says Spring like plastic eggs, right?).  I didn't have a lot of time to spend planning the egg-tivities, so they were basically things which were put together in the spur of the moment.  The kids still had a lot of fun.  Here's what we did...

A Day in My Life

When I was recently searching through files on my old computer I found where I recorded one full day's activities when the twins were only babies.  Life was a bit simpler back then with two babies who were not yet mobile and no job, but it was so much fun to read.  Yesterday I tried to record a typical day in my life, so I'd have something to look back on to see what things were like at this stage of motherhood for me (L and E are 32 months old, Baby H is 6 months).  Here goes...

Jesse Bear Dramatic Play Activity

One of my kids' favorite books is Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? by Nancy White Carlstrom.  I stumbled on this book when researching the Before Five in a Row (BFIAR) literature-based curriculum.  The twins (32 months) ask for "Jesse Bear" repeatedly, and Baby H (6 months) smiles and kicks his legs when I read it out loud.  One of the go-along activities we do for Jesse Bear is to act out the book using dollhouse furniture and Calico Critters Bear Family.  The book goes through a typical day for Jesse Bear in which he does everyday kid things like putting on clothes, playing outside, eating lunch, taking a bath, and going to bed.  The girls love stories where they can relate to the characters.  Check out these pictures of some of the scenes from the book we recreate:

Ten More Early Learning Math Games - Number Line and More

If you enjoyed my post on Math Games and Activities for Preschoolers, you'll love these ten new early learning math activities.   The other day I made a number line for the kids using cards taped to the floor using painter's tape.  Seeing (and interacting with) the numbers in sequential order helps kids understand many math concepts in a new way.  Everyone from toddlers to elementary-age children can enjoy learning math this one.  Here are some of the activities we did...

Cooking with Kids: Deviled Eggs

For our weekly Cooking Day this week, we made deviled eggs.  The process is a lot of fun and uses some wonderful Montessori practical life skills...

Draw Along with Harold and the Purple Crayon

Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson is a very cute story about a boy who literally draws various adventures for himself.  The girls like drawing along with the story as I read it to them.  The amounts of paper this activity took up used to be a lot, so we've switched to using a free drawing program on my Kindle Fire (you could use an iPad instead), where we can easily erase the picture and start again on every page...