Martin Luther King Jr Day

I am extremely belated in posting what we did for this day. It is sad, truly. Well, next year I will be faster.
I told the children about what MLK stood for. They leaned about how it used to be that people of different races were not let into certain schools, allowed to drink from certain drinking fountains or had to ride at the back of the bus. I taught them that God created everyone equal and that Mr King believed that everyone had a right to enjoy the freedom of America.
I talked with them about how this was his dream.
So, we made our hand prints and talked about a dream that we had.
Bella's was kindness.

Then we enjoyed this little movie

We talked about how to treat others with kindness and to think before we speak.
We ended with reading from the Miller's Devotional book on using Discretion when we speak.
It was fairly short but, I think it got the points of the day across well.

Hard Or Soft Sorting

A fun fast activity that asks your child to place hard items in the hard basket or soft items in the soft basket.
You can ask them why they think an item is hard or define what they think feels soft.
You could even put an item in there like I did, that is not hard nor fully soft.
Get the little wheels turning.

Baking Soda And Vinegar Fun

I had read the pinterest posts several times.
Finally, I got down to business and did it with Miss B.
We really enjoyed the fun sizzle of the interaction between the two.
I didn't get too heavy with explanations.
I told her that the two have a reaction together that causes the fizz and different chemicals do different things when combined.
Mostly we just giggled!

Our Sense Of Touch

Right now both at preschool and home school Miss B is learning about the 5 senses.
Today at Home school we focused on the sense of touch.

Touching Tray Table

I created a tray of touch friendly items and had her feel each one.

I asked questions like 

Is it warm or cold?

Is it rough or smooth?

Is it wet or dry?

Here is a little snapshot of our tray

I put in 

Cotton

Beans

Leaves

Smooth heart stone

Puff balls

wet paper towel 

Think of all the possible items you could try with your little learners. 

This one was perfect for my gal, she LOVED talking and touching. 

Addition And Subtraction Preschool Style

A while back we printed off 10 cars and laminated them.
When using them,
I  count out the ten cars and Miss B counts with me.
After this, I give her 5 cars and ask questions as follows
"How many cars do you have in your hand?"
Then, I remove a number i.e. two.
Then, I ask "If I take two cars into my hand, how many do you have now"
We do the same, but reverse for addition.

To further embed the idea of numbers, we also practice writing the letters while saying this little rhyme

1 A straight line down is lots of fun, that's because it's number one

2 Around and back on a railroad track. TWO! TWO!

3 Around a tree and around a tree, that's the way to make a three

4 Down and over and down some more, that's the way we make a four

5 Over and down and then go around, A fat old five is what you've found

6 Six is found by going down and around

7 Across the sky and down from heaven that's the way to make a seven

8 We make a snake but do not wait to climb back up and make an eight

9 A loop and a line and that is nine

10 A straight line down, its fun, its one, but with a zero beside it makes ten more fun

Pumpkin Pleasure

Here are two fun little projects we did this week in celebration of fall.
There is still plenty of time to enjoy this, the golden brown, leaf crunchy, cinnamon time of the year.

Mosaic Pumpkins 

To practice our scissor skills and gluing we made these fun little guys.
Print off a pumpkin template, for example, this one here- pumpkin template
Cut long narrow strips of orange paper for child to use their scissors to slice into squares.
Use one piece of green for the stem.
Once you have enough, glue them inside the pumpkin filling it up.
After it is dry, cut it out.
Simple yet satisfying. 

Nail Pounding 

Daddy brought us a Miss B sized hammer and some large nails (that had been dulled to prevent cuts)
With my extreme supervision, she placed the nails on the pumpkin and gently tapped them in with the hammer
She did this for about 30 minutes and loved it.
At the beginning she had difficulty holding the hammer but, by the end was a champ.
Great coordination building.

Playdough Fun

I love making home-made play-dough for, and with my children.
Miss B helps out in the kitchen with the cooking
and Mr C. gets all the benefits plus, I don't worry about him eating it.

Play-Dough is so simple but, if you think about it, this really is an amazing educational tool.
Children develop fine moter while working with it and it brings out creativity for them.
Sometimes in those simple moments much is learned.

Here is my recipe (Which I love)

Ingredients:
2 cups of plain flour
1 Tbsp. of cooking oil
1 tsp. cream of tartar
2 cups of colored water
1 cup of salt
Directions:
Place all of the ingredients in a medium size or large pan. 

Cook slowly on medium-high and stir it until the playdough thickens and starts to pull away from sides. 

Keeps best in the fridge in plastic containers.
Takes less than 10 minutes.

Fall Fun

We enjoyed a few fall crafts this week. These two were my favorites.
It all started on a lovely nature walk. Leaves, sticks and rocks were gathered.
Then when the three of us got back home we made the Leaf Creatures on paper. Then, we crunched up all our other leaves and made the leaf mosaic. Miss B enjoyed both projects quite a bit.
We also made a nature museum in the playroom.
It contains: bark, sticks, leaves, rocks and the little puff-balls that grow on trees.
This was also a neat project to see Miss B do. She enjoyed placing all the items in their respective spot.

Leaf People

Leaf Mosaic

6 Gross Motor And Fine Motor Activities

Hoop Games -Gross Motor Skills
Set out a few different Hula Hoops and have child or children jump into them.
You can give commands like skip around the blue hoop, jump backwards into the yellow hoop

Obstacle Course-Gross Motor Skills
Set up a very basic obstacle course. It could be run around a chair, throw a ball and skip to the finish.
Anything could be a challenge to them

Shake The Body Part-Gross Motor Skills
Tell your child a body part and have them shake it

Scissor Cutting Practice-Fine Motor Skills  Scissor Skills Printables

Name Tracing-Fine Fine Motor Skills
Write their name in large letters on a card. Laminate it and have them trace with their fingers

Bean Or Pasta Sorting -Fine Motor Skills
Have the child sort beans or pasta into like groups.

Phonics

I am firmly rooted in the Phonics camp. I think showing children the sounds that the letters make and really driving home that letters are sounds will provide children with an excellent foundation for reading enjoyment. Written language is kind of like a code. When you start your children down this road from an early time you give them tools to crack that code.
I love the Alphafriends
Each letter has a friendly little animal with it. As you teach your kids you say (For example)
Mimi Mouse-MMMM the letter M.  So they are learning the sound of the letter and hearing it in a full word.

Here are a few youtube videos that I enjoy showing Bella

Ten Fun Activities For The Pre-Schooler

These activities are perfect for the Pre-School and slightly younger child.

They will build, coordination, muscle strength,

self expression, teach colors, promote good thinking, teach focus and control. 

These are some from the library of my head. 



1. Masks
Items you need
Paper Plates, Popsicle sticks, crayons or marker and scissors for the adult.
Cut eye holes out of the middle of the plate and trim sides or bottom to your liking.
Allow child to color and place Popsicle stick at the bottom for them to hold on to.

2. Shakers
Items you need
Toilet paper rolls, small old plastic containers, beans, crayons, markers or paint,
rubber bands, plastic wrap,
Take two sheets of plastic wrap and rubber band one end of TP container,
fill with beans and top the other side with two sheets of wrap.
Help/let child color the roll.
Presto, a fun shaker for music time.

3. Rice or Bean pictures.
Items you need
Elmer's glue, rice, different colored beans and paper
Dribble glue on paper as you and child desire. Apply beans and rice. Let Dry

4. Water play
Items you need
Jar lids, pieces of wood, plastic containers ( You name it)
Fill up a large tub of water and go play! You can also add bubbles for fun.
As child grows, you can experiment with different items (Rocks, food, leaves, keys etc) ask if they float or do not float and why they think that is.

5. Sun paper designs
Items you need
Construction paper, fun items such as letters, puzzle pieces, toys etc
Lay items on paper in the morning in a sunny spot outdoors.
At the end of the day check, and you will have sun pictures. Where the sun has caused fading around objects.

6. Paint fun
Items you need
Go to the Dollar tree and pick out items, such as Pom Poms, hair rollers, combs, kitchen utensils.
Anything that looks like fun. Roll of paper, and washable paint.
Roll out  large sheet of paper and using washable paints
allow your child to create with these every day objects.

7. Place-mats
Items you need
Paper the correct size for mat, contact paper, glitter, crayons, markers or paint.
Allow child to create designs for their very own place-mat.

8. Balance Beam
Items you need
tape for the floor
Have child follow you on the make believe balance beam
Help them learn to follow it on their own.

9. Do What I do Game
Items you need:
You and the kids
Sing this little sing song line
"Everybody do this, do this do this, everybody do this just like me."
Pick out motions for child to follow (claps hands, hands on head, snap etc)

10. Crowns
Items you need

Crowns from Burger King, foil, glittery decor for crowns, glue and jewels
Cover the crown in foil in prep. Let child decorate crown as they desire.
Pretend play with them after the craft.