Week in Review (On Vacation)

We were on vacation for a family wedding all last week, so our usual homeschool Preschool schedule didn't happen.  However, the kids did get lots of new and fun experiences and plenty of time outside.  Here are some of the things we did..

Three Dimensional Art with Colored Paper

The kids have really been into cutting and pasting lately.  I wanted to show them that their creations don't always have to be two-dimensional, so one day when we were all working side-by-side, I started manipulating my scraps of paper to make them stand out from the page in different ways.  L and E were very interested and asked me to show them how to make these types of creations too...

Discovery Bottles for Baby H

I wanted L and E (3) to make Baby H some presents for his 1st birthday so they would feel included rather than jealous.  They made these great Discovery Bottles for him.  I didn't share this post earlier, because I was planning on making them cooler by adding some glitter (and wanted to include photos of the results), but I haven't had time to pick up the glitter.  The process of creating these gifts was a good fine-motor activity for H's older sisters...

Homemade Matching and I-Spy Game Using a Photocopier

Homemade games are even more appealing when kids are involved in the process of creating them.  When I invited my girls (3 years old) to make their own games, they were ecstatic.  They got a lot of creative freedom to choose their own objects, lay them out, and photocopy them.  I was not at all surprised that they really enjoyed playing the activities they created over and over.  Here's what we did ..

L's Magic Word Box

L (38 months) is getting better at sounding out CVC words, but she goes through periods where she resists reading so I have to be creative with reading activities and cater them to her interests.  In the girls' many creative dramatic play sessions, L often likes to pretend that she is "Magic L-" as she waves her wand and casts magic spells.  This gave me an idea for a very simple reading/writing game we've been doing -  L's Magic Word Box....

Wordless Wednesday

Nothing cuter than dancing baby feet!

Homemade Counting Game from Catalog Pictures

I'm starting to get piles and piles of catalogs in the mail ('tis the season!).  Instead of throwing these directly in the trash, I decided to cut out some of the photographs to create a seasonal counting game.  It was really easy to put this homemade math game together, and the girls (3 years old) loved it...

Going on a Bear Hunt: Making Maps

I've been doing the "Going on a Bear Hunt" chant with the girls (3 years old) since they were tiny babies, and it's still a favorite.  Even Baby H enjoys doing it with us.  If you don't know what I'm taking about, watch the dramatic reading of Going on a Bear Hunt by it's author, Michael Rosen, on YouTube.  I'm trying to reinforce what we've been learning about maps with the kids before we go on a road trip later this week, so I created a map for us to follow on our bear hunt.  Then L and E drew their own maps of our journey...

Little House on the Prairie Cooking: Making Butter and Cheese

L and E (3 years old) love the My First Little House picture books (based on the Little House on the Prairie chapter-book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder) .  For our Cooking Day last week, we made two items inspired by these books:  butter and cheese.  This was the first time making butter and cheese from scratch for me too, and I think I had as much fun as the kids did.  I'm very proud to say that the results were quite successful.  Here's how we did it:

Autumn Tree Craft

We celebrated the first day of Autumn with this fall tree craft made out of a paper towel roll and colored paper.  I actually did this activity with the girls last year, and it is so neat to see how now as three-year-olds they can complete the project almost independently.  It was really easy, and I think the results are beautiful.  Here's the process...

Homeschool Preschool: Week 5

L and E are almost 38 months old.  We seemed to get our groove back this week with our Preschool routine, and fit in lots of fun and educational activities.  I've already shared many of our Preschool activity boxes on this blog, so I'll just include the ones that were new this week...

Learning About Frogs

The latest issue of Zootles magazine was about frogs, so the girls (3 years old) and I decided to learn all about frogs and do some extra frog-related activities.  After we read through the magazine, I got on YouTube and showed the girls various videos of frogs eating insects, worms, and even birds.  We found videos of frogs jumping in slow motion, and even male bullfrogs fighting each other.  The girls were fascinated and pretended they were frogs the rest of the day.  Here are some of the other activities we did on the topic..

Baby H Turns 1

Yes, there's a baby behind that gift.  And, yes, I used Christmas wrapping paper (he didn't know the difference).  When the twins were little, I couldn't wait for them to grow up, but I'm in much less of a hurry with Baby H.  My little 5 lb 6 oz baby is now a year old, and I just don't know where the time went...

Phonics Jumping Game (with Video!)

This morning the girls (37 months) helped me use painters tape to make letters on the floor.  Then we played a phonics reading (and jumping!) game that I made up.  It was so much fun that we ended up playing for over an hour and L forgot that she was on a reading-strike!  I even caught one of the rounds on video.  Here's how to play...

Homeschool Preschool: Week 4

This Week-in-Review post is pretty late, but we had a busy weekend.  Last week was very full for us, but mostly with non-traditional learning.  Here are some of the activities we managed to fit in:

Card-Decorating Station

The girls have had some sort of extracurricular class every day this week (gymnastics, swimming, music, dance), and I don't think they've been getting enough sleep, so the combination of extra excitement and lack of sleep as made them moody lately.  They both are enthusiastic about our Homeschool Preschool activity boxes, but then either end up fighting with each other over silly little things (like who is sitting in which chair, etc..), or end up being resistant to certain things (for example, we were making letters out of pieces of plastic drinking straws and L made the letters "T", "A", and "H" all on their own, but when I rearranged them as H-A-T and asked her to read the word, she yelled "It spells HAT, and I'm not going to read any more words!").  I've also been busy with my own personal project, so if the girls seem to lose interest with a 'school' activity, I let them play on their own while I work.  Anyway, although our typical schedule has not been as consistent this week as the previous 3 weeks, I always try to fit in some form of art activity - the creative tasks seem to occupy the girls for a long amount of time with limited arguing (except the occasional fight over not sharing the crayons).  Today I set up a Card-Decorating Station with dot paints, letter stamps, tracing, cutting, and gluing.  Here's what we did....

Intro to Writing Stories

After doing some painting last week, I asked L and E (3 years old) if they wanted to write stories about their artwork. I tried not to provide too much guidance - I just wrote what they told me to write. Here's what they came up with...

Open-the-Door House Craft

My mother gave me the idea for having the girls (3 years old) make their own interactive books with flaps to open, things that pop up, etc..  We started with this simple craft featuring a house with a door that you can open and close.  Although they needed assistance, I tried to let them do as much as possible on their own.  Here's the process..

Homeschool Preschool Week 3

L and E (37 months) have just completed their 3rd week for "Homeschool Preschool".  We're still trying to stick with a daily routine, but it's become a lot more flexible.  There are days when they clearly want to play without me, so I let them play while I get some work done.  Other days, L will refuse to call me "Mommy", just "Teacher" and both girls beg for their activity boxes.  We just go with the flow..  Here's a review of the types of learning experiences we've been doing...

Cute Stuff My Kids Say

I need to start recording all the neat things my kids have been saying lately.  Here are a few examples: