Starting preschool.

All of my friend's with children DD1's age seem to be sending their kids to preschool. In fact, we are often asked where she goes to preschool. She doesn't. And she won't. In fact, she already knows everything she might learn at preschool, except for maybe following directions and sitting still, which I think are overrated anyway. :)

BUT, I have thought for quite some time that I would homeschool my children, and after talking with some homeschooling families, and reading THIS book(which I recommend if you have even the slightest thought that you might want to homeschool), my husband and I are confident that homeschooling is a path we want to pursue.

With that in mind, I must admit that I worry that I'll be able to be dedicated enough to teach my kids at home. I certainly don't want any major gaps in their education. And I want them to become thinkers, and to pursue what they are passionate about. I want to have adventures and to learn through real-life experiences. I want our learning to be genuine, and not forced by some politicians who know little about children and nothing about education (don't get me started on the politics of public ed right now, it's a downward spiral).

For October, our theme is Autumn. I'm excited to see where it takes us. I do want to outline a daily rhythm that is fairly flexible, and I'm excited to see how that pans out, especially with three children. I'm trying to be organized, but not to let that take away from any spontaneity that should occur through our learning together. I am sure the only way I will survive is if I have an outline of how I'd like things to go, but I must be willing to let that go (especially due to a hungry baby, a cold, lack of sleep, or any of the things that tend to mess up "schedules" when you have three kids 3 and under.)

The books we plan to read:

Leaf Man and Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf, by Lois Ehlert
The Apple Pie Tree, by Zoe Hall
Leaves Fall Down; Learning about Autumn Leaves by Lisa Marie Bullard

Are there any other Fall-ish books that you suggest for my little ones?

The songs we plan to sing:

My Montessori Journey typed up songs that go perfectly with our theme. I'm so excited to sing these with my girls!

Other skills we plan to learn:
Sight words the, a, and, see
Counting to 100

Gospel concepts to learn:
We Believe in God, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost

Social Skills to practice:
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Any ideas for this one? :)

Things to read Thursday #5: manners

I've thought a lot lately about how to teach my children courtesy, social skills, and manners. Here are a few books I love!

1. Cookies: Bite sized life lessons by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Make some cookies with your little ones and sit down to enjoy this book. I even have a copy if you want to borrow it! :)

2. D.W.'s guide to perfect manners by Marc Brown. My gals LOVE D.W.! This is a cute book that has motivated my 3-year-old to try and be "perfect." It goes over basic manners and helping out around the house! Love it!

3. Bears on Chairs by Shirley Parenteau A cute story about how bears work together to solve a problem. Great discussions on sharing can ensue.

In my opinion, manners and courtesy are things that need to be taught explicitly. You have to PRACTICE and MODEL, MODEL, MODEL for your kids!! Discuss every situation and ask questions that can help them figure out what to do!

More ideas:

Anticipate situations where your child may not act in a polite way. Birthday parties can be difficult for small children, especially siblings of the birthday kid. Some kids have a hard time when other kids are getting attention. Act it out beforehand. Play "Birthday Party" and have kids give each other "presents" (we wrap ours in blankets) and practice being glad for each other when another child gets a present. Do the same thing and have the present opener practice gratitude for the gift. We do this in a scripted way. The present opener must look the giver in the eye, say their name, and say "thank you for the gift." Practice makes perfect!

I've started giving my preschooler "do-overs." When she speaks in a tone of voice that is not polite, I say "Why don't you try that again?" Because we've talked about it, she knows that whining or yelling is not appropriate. We don't even yell "Please get me a drink." Tone is important.

A great article on teaching generosity.

Discuss actions of the characters in books you read and movies you watch. For example, Woody in Toy Story does not use kind words or a kind tone. Get your child thinking about it. Don't worry that bringing it up will make them copy the behavior. Set firm limits. "Shut-up you idiot" is not something we say to people.

Praise! Praise! PRAISE! Try and notice every time your child uses good manners, is polite, is generous, and praise them!

Write thank-you notes for everything! Gifts, play-dates, or other special things need to be acknowledged and is a great way to teach your child gratitude.

Keep a family gratitude journal. Brainstorm things as a family once a week, or more!

Things to read Thursday #4

Im typing this from my iPod, so I won't be including links.

I've been thinking about some books that have changed my life and motivated me. So, starting with the most influential, I provide you with a list of 5 non-fiction books that every person should read.

1. The Book of Mormon

2. Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover (wish I'd read it 5 years earlier!)

3. Hence Goer's The Thinking Woman's Guide to a better birth. Even if you aren't a woman, or arent pregnant, this book has startling implications for health care in America! What's that? Doctors actually perform procedures for mOney or convenience and not because it is best for the patient?! No!

4. Taking charge of your fertility. How many people actually understand the dynamics of a Woman's cycle. Men should read this too!

5. The China Study by Colin Campbell. Re-think everything you think you know about nutrition!

Things to read Thursday #3

Theme: Rhyme Time

We love nursery rhymes over here, and Dr. Suess is, of course, a big hit (although I made the mistake of checking out Hunches in Bunches once. Oh, how I despised that book, and of course DD1 loved it!)

Anyway, here are my top pics for fun picture books for the kiddies:

1. One fish, Two fish, red fish, blue fish, by Dr. Suess.

2. There was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Boot by Linda Smith, illustrated by Jane Manning

3. Tomie DePaola's Baa Baa Black Sheep. Both of my girls love this one, and I enjoy his illustrations. He has a great book about popcorn, but I'll save that for another post.

4. Anything by Jack Prelutsky or X.J.Kennedy. Great kid's poets!

Personally, I am a huge fan of Emily Dickinson, so I reccommend any of her poetry!

And here's a great Sci-Fi for young adults and older:
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer. I LOVE this book. That's all I will say because you should just read it!

Things to read Thursday #2

It's been a long long time!

Here are my book picks for this week, along with activities:
Theme: Butterflies

Picture Book: Fancy Nancy: Bonjour, Butterfly by Jane O'connor, illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser
Maybe not the best pick if you haven't got a little girl.
Ideas:
1. Create your own butterfly ballet
2. Butterfly art
3. Visit a butterfly garden
4. Have abutterfly party and have your little one write or illustrate the invites.
5. If you're into printables.

My three-year-old got really into reading about butterflies after Bonjour Butterfly, so we checked out a bunch of non-fiction butterfly books from the library. This one was our favorite, due to the rhyming, simple concepts, and fun pictures.
Non-fiction My, Oh My--A Butterfly!: All About Butterflies (Cat in the Hat's Learning Library)
1. Go on a butterfly scavenger hunt.
2. Go on a nature walk and use a stick as a probicus to "sip" nectar from flower.
3. Leave a comment with an idea you did!

If you have older kids who like to experiment try this book: Pets in a Jar by Seymour Simon


Check out this list of butterfly picture books!

5-6 weeks until my baby comes, still limited computer access. Hopefully I can post more regularly!

Things to read Thursday

Teaching elementary school introduced me to a huge variety of children's books. Today I would like to feature a favorite picture book, a non-fiction book, and a favorite chapter book, with ideas to incorporate these books into activities with your children.

Falling for Rapunzel

What a delightful book this was, and a great twist on the traditional fairy tale. If you are going to watch "Tangled" with your kids, I suggest finding a variety of Rapunzel books for some fun compare/contrast activities. Here is a great site to give you some ideas.
Activities to do before/during/after reading Falling for Rapunzel:
1. Talk about communication. Do you ever hear each other incorrectly? What kinds of situations can arise because of miscommunications? Great time for listening practice.
2. Rhyming words games are great activities, and the fun rhyming in this books is a great way to point out word families and words that sound the same.
3. Act out the book. Dress up and be sure to have a part for everyone!
4. A puppet show is always fun!

Weather by Seymour Simon
Haven't heard of Seymour Simon? Well, all of his books are highly recommended, especially for ages 8+. I've read this book with my 3 year old, but we mostly just look at pictures. However, this is a great book to start introducing weather concepts to younger children.
1. Observe the different kinds of clouds. Are they fluffy or wispy, dark or light? Give your child the name for those kinds of clouds! I'm a huge fan of teaching vocabulary early. And if you wonder at whether the clouds are cumulous or numbus or stratus clouds every time you go outside, both you and your child will quickly remember the different types. And you'll teach them to be careful observers of their surroundings! You can also point out whether it is "mostly sunny," "mostly cloudy," ect.
2. Science is SO MUCH FUN!!! Here is a great site with some fun weather experiments: Science activities
3. Brainpop.com is an amazing website I used all the time in the classroom! You can get a free trial to view some fun weather cartoon educational videos. Or, it's $80 a year to subscribe to unlimited videos. I'm considering doing this once we officially start "home pre-school" in the fall. I'm not in any way affiliated with Brainpop, I just love their videos on every subject imaginable!
4. Have your child keep a journal recording the different types of clouds they see, complete with illustrations! You can even have them find and print pictures online to have them practice cutting and gluing if they need to work on that!

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

My mom read the first few Little House books to me as a small child, and to this day I still love me a good frontier/pioneer/homesteading story! Some ideas for this book:
1. Play "what would it be like" and imagine different scenarios from the book and how you would have reacted.
2. There are lots of imaginative play opportunities from this book!
3. Some ideas other people came up with, because, hey, why re-invent the wheel? Here, here, and here.

Montessori Monday #2

I can't find my camera. Which means I can't find the pictures I took last week. But I'll explain a couple of the things we did:

1. We played with a button snake. Great. Idea. I pretty much have bookmarked in my crafts folder every thing that Counting Coconuts has made for her son! She's my Montessori craft mom hero. You can also use the colored felt for patterns, sorting, counting, you name it! I love felt!

2. Speaking of love, and felt, I made some felt hearts for Valentine's day and painted numbers on them with fabric puff paint. I didn't add embellishments, because I wanted her to count out for herself. DD1 wasn't as interested in the hearts as I hoped. I had her use some of the googly eyes we had (that I purchased a while ago for a project I haven't started yet) to count. She played with those for an hour, and has since practiced sorting them by size. It made a cute picture. Wish I could find my camera...

3. We also played play-doh. A mini-rolling pin and a variety of cookie cutters are on my wish list. :)

4. DD1 started showing interest in writing her letters. I can't get her to hold her pencil even remotely correctly, but she'll draw a few letters, and they aren't too bad. To help with her fine motor, I made some stencils out of old cottage cheese lids. I'll have to post a tutorial after I find my camera. Hmmm. Where is that?

I'm linking to:

Montessori Monday #1

I thought I'd keep track of every time I actually post something about Montessori, on a Monday. If you'd like to know more, there are tons of great blogs, or you can just google "Montessori." I've started reading a couple of books, and hope to compile some information myself, but hey, I'll be proud if I can actually keep up with posting about what we're doing.

First of all, I want to mention how cheap (or even FREE) utilizing Montessori concepts with your children can be. I was overwhelmed when I first began looking at blogs and all the cool gadgets people had. But all the things I use are free. Or at least, they were left over from other projects or things I had around the house. You'll see what I mean. You don't need to spend hundreds of dollars to have Montessori play time each day. You don't need to buy an expensive calendar to do circle time, or fancy beads for any activities. It's amazing how, the more you look at what people are doing, the more you see the potential for a Montessori activity in almost an object! (For example: buttons, beads, ice cube trays, rocks, leaves, pillows, straws, empty jars, cups, the list goes on and on!)

So, without further ado, here is our general morning rhythm, and what we did today during play time. *Rhythm is not the same as schedule. I like how flexible we are, and if something doesn't work out one day, I don't beat myself up. I'm working on consistency right now so my kids can know what to expect, but I like having a general outline, at least for our morning!

7-8 am: wake up and eat
8-9: shower, get dressed, etc (You can use Montessori Practical life here, your child can pick out their own clothes, practice buttoning and zipping, etc)
9-10: Clean a little (dishes, make beds and pray, etc)
10-10:30: Circle time (Calendar, numbers, shapes, songs, and stories, I'm trying to incorporate scripture stories here, but we're still working on getting through the days of the week and the weather, to be honest!) Here is a picture of my homemade calendar, my preschooler helped paint a cut up cardboard box and glue things on. Really easy, totally free! I also added a space for weather, and number, letter, and shape of the day. I'd like to start doing a scripture verse every day too!


10:30-11:00 Activity time. Many people do boxes or trays or other ideas where they have the activities all ready, and have trained their kids to know how to get them out, play, put them away, choose between multiple activities, etc. I'm not there yet. I'm just getting started, and I don't have a "space" for trays or boxes. Work In Progress! But here are some things the kiddos enjoyed today (DD1 just turned 3 and DD2 is 17 months. Yes, our 3rd is due in August. We're crazy. But we sure love them!)

We did play number memory, but DD2 kept trying to grab the cards, so I got the parmesan cheese jar and some straws for her to develop her fine motor skills. DD1 got jealous, ditched the memory game, and tried to take over DD2's activity. So I got out spaghetti noodles and an old garlic powder jar for her (a little small, a little more difficult.) Montessori moms with multiple kids: how do you get them to play together nicely!? ARGH!!




In the afternoon, we got out the pom-poms and some different colored plates to sort colors. That was a hit with DD1, and DD2 enjoyed the parmesan jar with straws again!



I'm linking to:

Counting Coconuts

I'm a teacher at heart, and sometimes I miss being in a classroom. Thank goodness for church, where I get to teach the 12-13 year old youth! When I think about it, I realize I can apply my training as an educator to my job as a mom. In fact, I'm pretty much obligated to do so! I follow quite a few homeschooling blogs, and while I'm not set on homeschooling my kids, one of my biggest goals as a parent is to provide a quality education for them. By this, I don't necessarily mean memorizing data, but actually inspiring them and giving them the tools for learning and creativity.

Many of the homeschooling blogs I follow focus on specific curriculum. I'm not saying that's bad: kids need to learn the three "R's", but why should education get in the way of learning? Recently I came across Counting Coconuts, which is an amazing blog of a preschool mommy who shares all her amazing ideas! I can't wait to make this month's sensory tub, or make our own calendar. I'm also intrigued by the Montessori system, and want to learn more. I had a student my first year teaching who spent his first few years of school at a Montessori school. His reasoning, critical thinking, divergent thinking, and problem solving skills were off the charts (though he was kind of socially inept and drove me crazy!)

Anyway, stop by and check her out, you just might be inspired!

D week Learning Activities

D week!

DD1 Has a hard time with D, she always calls it B. We're just working on capital letters right now, but I'm excited! I'm going to try this on a Daily Schedule:

Monday:
Introduce Letter D with big foam letter. (If you don't have foam letters, you can just print off a big Letter D). Have her use beans to put all around the outside of the letter D.
Scripture Verse: 2 Ne 4:15 My soul delighteth in the scriptures
Number 4: draw, sort beans used in above activity into groups of 4

Tuesday:
Use play dough to make letter D. (She loved this, so we're doing it again.) Also, we'll try and sculpt a dinosaur!
Practice scripture verse & 2nd Article of Faith
Play connect 4

Wednesday:
Story time at the Library

Thursday:
Dinosaur day. Read: How do Dinosaurs clean their rooms, and How do Dinosaurs play with their friends. Also read a non-fiction picture book about Dinosaurs.

Friday: Fun-filled Friday! Dance DAY! Stay tuned on Thursday for Details! It's going to be a blog hop!

This Week's preschool ideas.

I decided to do a 30 minute preschool with DD1 as soon as DD2 goes down for her morning nap. Well, it only works out if I've already showered. So we'll probably do preschool after lunch today, since my hair is still wet and DD1 is very absorbed in Dragon Tales at the moment!

Here are a few ideas that I am doing to teach the letter C & number 3:

*Make snakes out of play dough and shape them into the letter C & #3.

*Make a C page with pictures of things that start with C. Say the words together and write the words for your little one to see.

*Use a magnifying glass to find the letter C on your cereal box.

*Use play dough to make 3 balls. Count them together.

This week's social skill: Using kind words. Any ideas or hints for helping me with that other than talking about it and practicing? Maybe we can cut out hearts and write nice things to say on them. Or maybe every time she says something nice like "Baby so cute" or "Thank you" we can draw a heart on a poster? Hmmm, I'll have to stew over this one a little longer!

Agency and...puppets?

I wanted to write about two things that are completely unrelated.

First, I was thinking about Agency. We discussed this in Relief Society today, and one question that was brought up is how to teach our children about agency and choices/consequences. I mentioned that one thing I do is to allow chances to make simple choices often (which is encouraged by pretty much every parenting book I've ever read, from Love & Logic, to Positive Discipline, to Raising Optimistic Children.) But it got me thinking. Surely there is more we can do to directly teach our children about the Plan of Salvation and how agency plays a part in that.

We can read scriptures to them. Noah made a choice to follow Heavenly Father, whereas the wicked people of the Earth chose not to, and therefore drown in the flood. Nephi choose to obey God's commandments, instead of murmuring like his brothers, and he was blessed because of it.

I think our little children are easy to teach. They are sponges, and it isn't hard to teach even difficult Gospel topics by using stories from the scriptures. I'll probably think of more ways to teach this as I ponder more.
HOW do YOU teach your kids about agency?

PUPPETS! I recently hit the JACKPOT at Michael's. They have a dollar aisle, and I found some great hand puppets for $2 each. I also remembered my Elementary Ed theater class, where we learned, among many many other things, how to use puppets to help with classroom management. I LOVE when school helps in real life.

Tonight the lion puppet helped DD1 brush her teeth, dance, clean up toys, and get her jammies on. If you have a toddler/young child who has a hard time getting ready for bed/going somewhere/dinner/etc, get out a hand puppet, use a silly voice, and have fun doing it!!
What ideas do YOU have to use puppets in your daily routines?

This week's learning activities.

Interested in what I'm planning to teach the toddler this week?

*2nd Article of faith.
We will use the song and recite it together at each meal, and at bedtime.

*Letter B
~Coloring sheets here.
~Letter B sorting game: Have a variety of objects, and sort them in to piles of "B" beginning sounds and "not B" beginning sounds
~Letter B treasure hunt around the house.
~Practice writing

*Number 2
~#2 coloring sheet.
~Sorting beans into groups of 2
~Finding things that come in pairs (shoes, parents, gloves, etc)
~Practice writing.

*Sharing:
~Talk about sharing, give examples in Family Home Evening.
~Use a timer to practice taking turns when Molly & Michael come to play on Tuesday. (If there is a toy dispute, each child can play with the coveted toy for, say, 5 minutes).
~ Read "DW go to your room" and discuss why it's important to share.
Do you have any other books that you think are good sharing books? Any other ideas to teach these concepts? Let me know! Leave a comment!

Pre-preschool

Although my tiny child is too small for "preschool", I don't think she is too small to learn. And that includes learning things like letters. I'm not set on my children reading by the time they're 3, but I think young children have a knack for learning. And since my wee one likes to color (she colored our TV green around the screen, and our walls blue...) I thought I would try to focus on one alphabet letter and 1 number every week. Here are a few things I am doing to try and introduce.

Letter A
*Letter A coloring book, found here.
*Letter A treasure hunt (pretty much anywhere we go and any book we read we look for the letter A)
*A shaped cookies (actually, we're going to do brownies...yum!)
*Scripture verse Matt 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
*Practice writing the letter A
*Collage with pictures from a magazine that start with the letter A

Number 1:
*Play "How many do you have?" Basically a simple game where we ask "May I have one ____?" and respond "I have one ____, you may have it." Incorporates turn taking and is great for a two year old!
* Number 1 coloring sheet that I found here.
*Go on a #1 treasure hunt while we shop at the store.
*Make up a song together about number 1 (We'll probably just use a song we know and change the words.

I'm pretty excited. Any time we get bored or need something to do together, I just pull out one of these activities! How fun! I'll let you know how they go!