Tuesday, February 15, 2022

Valentine's Day Resources

Printables, Preschool, Tot School
 After over a decade of early learning and blogging, I'm am starting to accumulate a lot of materials and posts. I thought it might be helpful to start creating a landing page for each holiday

Printables:


Blog Posts:



Tot School Heart Activities (2020 - 26 Months)
Valentine's Tot School (2020 - 21 months) 
Tot School Valentine's (2012 - 15 months)


Tools and Manipulative Ideas:
Shape Stamps (for ink or playdough)
Valentine's Day Scatter (sensory bins, light table play, play dough)
Heart Fondant Cutters (play dough) 

Valentine's Day Book Ideas: 
Love is My Favorite Thing
Plenty of Love to Go Around
Love Escargot




Thursday, February 10, 2022

Pre-K Valentine's Activities

While we are slowly working our way through some purchased curriculum this year, I decided to also add in some themed activities that either go with the seasons/holidays or go with Archer's interests. Here are some of our Valentine's Day Themed Activities

We started out with a heart shaped hole punch activity from Early Learning Ideas
I've been trying to encourage more craftiness, so I got this set of paper punches for him to use. I put out some blank cardstock cards and some colored paper for him to punch a glue.
We tried our first pin poke activity. I just drew a heart on a notecard and we used a foam sheet folded in half to protect the table. He was so proud of himself when he finished!
Pipe cleaner hearts and pony beads
Doing some Valentine's Math from 3 Dinosaurs
Magnetic pattern blocks with a template from Jessica's Corner of Cyberspace. I set them up on our on our magnetic easel.
Valentine's Day ELA
Play dough this year was just a bunch of cookie cutters, a heart extruder and some gems and hearts. He played with it several different days.
Using Valentine's Cuisenaire Rod templates. He still likes counting the pieces and filling out the part on the bottom the best.
Sensory bin of purple popcorn kernals, some valentine's vase scatter and some construction vehicles.
We used these little plastic linking hearts to make patterns.
We got out some felt envelopes I made, but he wasn't that interested this year.
I got out our Valentine's books for him too. Where is Love, Biscuit? was his favorite this year.
Printables, Preschool, Tot School

 

Wednesday, February 9, 2022

How To Let Your Kids Grow Up

 One day you have a brand new, scrunched up and pink newborn baby. You are given this beautiful and noisy little gift and that baby will change your life forever. There are many different milestones that every parent has to deal with, but letting your children go out into the world? That’s the scariest - and it doesn't happen when they’re 18 and go off to college.


The first moment you allow your children to leave your side is at the very beginning, when they’re in preschool. That moment your tiny little child walks into the new school room with a bag that’s too big on their back? That’s a terrifying and heartbreaking moment. You panic about how they will recognize their name, and how they will manage new children, and what if they miss you? There are questions running around your head, valid ones and you’ll have no way of answering any of those questions, too. Children need to grow up, and here’s how you let them do it.

Image Source: Pexels

  1. Treat them like you trust them. From preschool age to teenagers, children will only feel confident letting go of you if you make them feel that way. You have to get them to feel comfortable letting go and that means treating them like you trust that they can do it - whatever it is. Whether it’s trusting them to manage themselves in preschool or trusting them to go out after school with friends, you have to trust your children, and make them feel confident in that trust.

  2. Be gradual when giving them freedom. Children need to be allowed out into the world, and that means that you have to think about letting them go just a little bit - and then a little bit more. Start with allowing your child to go to the corner shop to buy the paper. Walk the route to the shop with them. Then walk them halfway to the shop. Then pick them up on their way back. All of these little things are ways that you can trust that they know their way and it allows you to gradually give them more freedom.

  3. Be open minded. It’s very easy to be rigid in your parenting and that can impact how your children feel trusted and let go in the future. Many of us tend to follow our parents' parenting, and so you have to keep an open mind and evolve with the times. You need to be okay with saying yes to their freedom, and be open minded about it happening so that you can give your children enough rope that they are still attached to you, but not too close. It’s also important to remember that kids grow up at their own rate for the most part. There’s nothing wrong with a thirteen-year-old girl who still loves the dolls she loved at eight. There’s no reason why they need to grow out of printable coloring pages. This way, you can avoid overly defining and labeling their growth.

  4. Communicate. Talk to your preschooler about how to find their coat peg, and talk to your teenager about the dangers of going to the movies alone. There are so many ways that you can help your children, but you have to communicate with them! You can feel happier letting your kids grow up when you communicate.


This is a contributed post.

Thursday, February 3, 2022

3 Year Old Pre-K Monthly Summary: January

I've posted about some of the themes we have done this winter, but I thought I'd also do a monthly summary post of some of our other school activities (mostly for me to look back on).  Since he goes to preschool two days a week for social interaction and because he is only 3, school is always short, doesn't happen daily, and isn't forced (although schoolwork is sometimes used as a precurser to getting to watch YouTube). 

Math

We're using some lessons from Kindergarten Math with Confidence, but only those that fit his current skill level. We're also adding in other activities. Mostly, I look through the book and figure out which skills we want to review or improve.

Playing with his geometry building set.
Playing with his telling time magnets

Spelling

We're working our way through All About Spelling. We definitely keep the lessons short, subdividing them into multiple days. He likes it as long as we don't try to do too much at a time.

Handwriting

Handwriting is still hit or miss. I forgot to get pictures. He finished all the capital letters this week and we will move on to the lowercase soon.


Other Activities

Coloring a map on the light table. He's still obsessed with maps.
Working on his World Map GeoPuzzle
Coloring maps and flags.
Playing with this amazing new Magic Adventure Globe a friend got him.
We found where you can make a flag banner from Little Passports. They have a color guide, but he preferred his Flag Book.
Making a "hamster maze" out of magnetic tiles.
He's been hesitant to cut at preschool, so I got him a cutting and pasting workbook to practice at home. He seems to do fine, I think he just doesn't like forced crafts.
Animal stickers
My non-crafty kid making a hamster home for his imaginary hamsters!
Wanting to explore the paper cutter.
Paper punchers to decorate his hamster home.
Painting a box to be a "hamster maze." I'm going to milk this hamster craft this for all I can!




 

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