Homeschool Preschool Curriculum - 2012 / 2013 School Year

I realize that Preschoolers don't really need a "homeschool curriculum" - they just need to play and explore the world!  That's exactly what we're going to do this year.  The curriculum is really just for me to organize fun activities and games in a well-rounded fashion.  I figure that if my twins (just turned three) are receptive to activities that teach Kindergarten-level skills, why not go for it?  I always follow their lead and never force them to complete anything.  Here's our 'curriculum':

Creating Designs with Toys and Household Objects

One of L and E's favorite activities is to use various toys and household objects to create large-scale artwork on our floor.  I have to admit that this is a fun activity for me, as well.  The above photo uses pieces from a letter construction game, but we've used everything from building blocks to markers to plastic animals to create our masterpieces.  Here are some more examples I just have to share..

Paper Cup Stacking

Sometimes the best toys are the least expensive ones.  The other day, E (3 years old) spent the entire morning (yes, multiple hours) stacking paper cups...

Twins Turn Three

The twins (L and E) turned 3 years old last month.  My family came out for the celebration, and then we headed out to visit my husband's family for a week, so things have been busy (thus no blogging for a while).  I can't believe the little preemies I brought home from the hospital 3 years ago are now preschoolers! 

Settling Sibling Arguments with a Calendar

Although I'm blessed with three amazingly well-behaved kids (really!), our house still has its share of sibling arguments.  There is always fighting over which book to read, which show to watch, what color cup each girl gets, who brushes her teeth first, etc., etc., etc...  I've found a (hopefully long-lasting) solution to some of these arguments by letting each of the girls (L and E are 3 years old) get a 'special day' on the calendar.  When it's a girl's 'special day', she gets to go first whenever we take turns and gets the first choice of books/videos/toys/food.  For those random sibling arguments over toys, unless it's clear who took the toy away from whom, the 'special day' will settle the dispute.  Even my husband will ask the girls whose day it is when they fight over something.  We've been doing this system for a week and a half now, and it's working really well.  I've actually observed the girls saying "let's look at the calendar" to each other so they can see whose day it is.  They know the turns alternate so they acknowledge that if it isn't their special day today, they'll have their day tomorrow.  I can't take credit for this idea because I'm sure I heard about it somewhere, but I'm very excited about how well this is working, and wanted to share!

Preschool Learning Activities

Here's a quick summary of some of the learning activities I've been doing with L and E (3 years old).  I've been toying with the idea of trying some more structured 'homeschool preschool' time for the girls, but I realized that we fill most of our day with early learning activities, anyway.  I'd rather keep the structure really flexible for now.  I think the key is to plan enough ideas for things to do each day that when the girls ask for an 'activity', I don't have to scramble to pull something together.  For example, for our daily art activities, if I pull out all the materials I need the night before, I don't have to keep the kids waiting while I look for everything we need for the craft.  So here are some of the recent activities I've put together...

Masking Tape Resist Painting

I mixed up our usual painting routine by giving L and E (3 years old) some painters tape and creating tape-resist artwork.  It's really easy to do and produces neat results.  The tape (both sticking it on and peeling it off) added some new fine motor-skills practice, and the girls had a great time..

Cooking with Kids: Face and Hair Masks

Instead of our usual Cooking Day last week, I enlisted the help of the girls (3 years old) to make an Oatmeal Yogurt Face Mask and an Avocado Hair Mask.  What's more fun than 'cooking up' mushy stuff to slather all over your face and hair?  Here's what we did...

Sticky Mosaics

I usually don't review many products on this blog because, well, I haven't been approached by any companies to do reviews, so if I mention a specific product it's because I really really like it.  I do want to mention something fun that engaged both my girls (almost 3 years old) for well over an hour this week.  It's the My First Sticky Mosaics activity from The Orb Factory.  It is basically little foam stickers in various shapes and colors which are placed on color-coded spots on sturdy cardboard to make a mosaic.  We've had this product since the girls were 2 years old, but at the time, only L had the fine motor skills (and patience) to complete a picture (with a lot of assistance from me).  Earlier this week, I took this activity out and was amazed at how carefully and patiently the girls finished their mosaics...

Preschool Science: Baking Soda and Vinegar

I don't know anyone who hasn't heard of the classic experiment where you add vinegar to baking soda and watch the chemical reaction (which produced carbon dioxide bubbles).  For L and E (3 years old this month), the scientific details of this chemical reaction is beyond their level of comprehension.  However, this fun experiment is a great way to reinforce the concepts of the scientific process and observation...

Nursing Strike

We got back from a wonderful camping trip on Tuesday when Baby H (9 months old)  suddenly decided to go on a nursing strike.  He doesn't appear to be teething, so I'm not sure what prompted it.  I've been pumping, but he doesn't know how to use bottles or sippy cups, so for the first two days the only way he'd take my milk was with a spoon.  Between pumping, spoon-feeding milk to my baby, loading him up on solid food, and taking care of two three-year-olds, it seems that all the time has been sucked out of my day - thus I haven't had the energy to blog all week.  Baby H finally figured out how to use a straw, so I think things will get easier.  I'm also getting over the emotional shock of a baby who happily nursed 8 or more times a day suddenly refusing to even be held in a nursing position (although I'm still holding on to the hope that he'll go back to breastfeeding).

15 Activities with an Alphabet Puzzle Mat

When the girls were 5 months old, they received a Foam Letter & Number Floor Mat Puzzle.  It was useful to keep them from getting hurt as they learned to crawl, stand, and walk, but they soon discovered that they could take the pieces out (and throw them / put them in their mouth), so it was retired shortly after their 1st birthday.  Recently we re-discovered this puzzle mat when cleaning out a storage closet.  I was debating whether to even keep it, but L and E (35 months) have been asking for their Alphabet Mat every single day this week.  Accordingly, I've been making up tons of new activities with this toy, and wanted to share some of these ideas...

Misc Preschool Activities

When I was going through my photos I realized I've taken a few pictures of activities that we've been doing this week that either I've already blogged about, or are not really worthy of their own blog post.  Here's a glimpse of some of these miscellaneous preschool-level learning activities that L and E (35 months) have been doing ...

Yogurt Dots and Banana Ice Cream

Last week I tried out two snacks that I found on Pinterest: Frozen Yogurt Dots, and One Ingredient Banana Ice-Cream.  Initially I was planning on having the girls help me make these for our weekly Cooking Day, but I was low on time, so I made them myself while the kids played with play-dough (making their our meals for their 'babies').  Both treats were fairly easy to make...

Fine Motor Skills Practice with Playdough and Whole Cloves

I love activities that involve multiple senses.  This one combines fine motor skills work with the lovely aroma of cloves.  We've been going through the Story of the World, and just finished the chapter about the start of farming in the Nile Delta.  I decided that it would be fun to invite L and E (almost 3) to plant some 'crops' next to a playdough river using whole cloves...

Caps for Sale Activity: Dramatic Play with Hats

Dramatic play with hats is an activity we've done many times before (nothing's easier than taking a bunch of hats out of the closet and letting the kids have fun with them), but I haven't blogged about it yet, so I thought I'd share.. Today we read Caps for Sale by Ephyr Slobodkina.  We have an audio version that has sound effects and songs in it, and L and E (almost 3) love to sing along.  After the story, we did a number of activities.  I contemplated printing out some of the free printables for this book, but playing with hats sounded like a lot more fun than doing worksheets!  So here's what we did...

Baby H Update (9 months old)

I'm really excited about Baby H's current age (9 months) because it is so much fun watching him explore his world. I'm so lucky to be blessed with a quiet, content, smiley baby.  I love how he can transform things like measuring cups, plastic spoons, and large lids into hours of entertainment (yes, you heard me right, this boy can play for over an hour by himself with just a handful of toys!).  I'm constantly on the lookout for miscellaneous containers and other objects for him to play with, and I'm starting to think up more ideas for homemade games.  Here are some photos of Baby H in action..

Preschool Science: Experiments in Buoyancy

This morning, the girls enjoyed doing some basic science experiments to explore buoyancy: Dancing Raisings, and Egg Floating.  The experiments did not go quite as planned, which gave them an even more important lesson in the scientific process...

Art Inspired by the Book Swimmy

This morning we read the picture book Swimmy by Leo Lionni and made our own artwork inspired by the beautiful illustrations in the book.  Here's what we did..

Cooking with Kids: Process not Perfection

The girls and I made banana bread the other night as an early Fathers Day present for their dad.  Now that I've left my job, I feel a lot less stressed in general, and I had a really good time just observing how much the kids enjoy the process of creating something new..