Category Archives: Preschool Pursuits

What Is Homeschooling … With a Three-Year-Old in the Mix!

I had such a great response to my What Is Homeschooling? post the other day, I decided to write another installment!

I do get asked frequently what our three-year-old does “all day” while we do school. Let’s see …

  • She changes her outfit 50 times. (Well, not quite, but maybe 10. And not because of a need to do that. She just wants to.)
  • She finds her scissors and cuts her hair. (Well that was a long time ago. I don’t think she has done this in at least six weeks.)
  • She tries to get herself a snack … and maybe makes a little mess in the process.
  • She whines and cries.
  • She colors on the table … instead of her paper.

OK, seriously, this has all happened, BUT she also does a whole lot more! She learns right alongside all of us, and she also keeps us all laughing along the way. She is three years old after all. Continue reading

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What Is Homeschooling?

I get asked a lot or rather people will just say (rather than ask): “I don’t see how you do it. Teach all of them at different levels and ages. I couldn’t do it.”

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{Deep breath.}

I don’t teach them all.

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GASP. (Did any of you just gasp?) Continue reading

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Magnetic Letters: Oh the Possibilities!

Only other teachers can appreciate my LOVE of magnetic letters! 🙂 Seriously, they are so versatile! In this post, I thought I would list some ways we have used them this past semester (yes I might be slightly behind in posting photos from our school days) along with photos of those uses in progress.

Since I have multiple learners at different levels, you will find uses for multiple level learners in this post too! Grab your favorite cup of coffee, tea, soda, water … and be inspired. Oh, and please share in the comments any ways you use magnetic letters.

1). Vowel Pairs

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We use our large magnetic board all the time, and one way I’ll use it is just to show my 2nd grade peeps how different vowel blends or pairs can sound the same. They find this frustrating at times and so do I quite frankly (from the teaching side), but there is nothing like being called to come up to the board and try your hand at it (hands-on!) to help their little minds to grasp this concept.

Different letter combinations can say multiple sounds AND different letter combinations can say the SAME sound.

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Let It Snow!

It has been cold outside, but no snow here … yet!

Weather predictions are ZERO degrees this weekend. Our pond is frozen already and I told the kids I’d be buying everyone a pair of ice skates if it got cold enough to skate on it. The Prez says I might have opportunity to make good on the promise.

We are enjoying some snowy-themed learning here.

We’re reading these books, which we found at our local library or we own in our library …

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Learning in All Shapes, Sizes … and Colors

In case anyone reading thinks I have lesson plans … ahem, well, let me set the record straight. I really don’t. I have year-long “maps” of what I hope to accomplish with each child, particularly concerning ELA, math and independent reading book assignments. I also have assignment books that serve as a record of what they actually do, which by and large follows those assignment books and maps closely.

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Last week, I wanted to add in some interactiveness to our middle school boys’ math lessons, and I wanted to have more of a theme for our younger three. I didn’t think long and hard. I just went with what came to me and came together. It turned out to be a colorful week with rainbow-themed learning at the forefront. Some of it was review, and some of it was new concepts. All of it was good for our learners! Continue reading

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Activity-Based Alphabet Assessment

I was catching up on laundry and trying to organize our language materials in the library today.

A certain little someone was nearby as usual and was saying, “P-UH-lease play with me Mommy!” I decided a break from laundry was needed.

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She wanted to play with the packing materials again. If you’ve ever purchased the squishy styrofoam peanuts that can be moistened and shaped into objects … these are just like those except all white and repurposed from a package Grammy received.

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Well Li’l Bit loves playing with a tub of them. Today I decided to hide magnet letters in them and ask her to name them as she placed them on a dollar*tree cookie sheet.

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She loved doing this and had no clue it was “work”! I was able to assess which uppercase letters she can identify and which she can’t. I put most of them in there at least two times, so I feel like my informal assessment is accurate.

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She had so much fun that she wanted to hide some for me to find too. I always give her “tools” as well like old measuring cups and spoons as well as various containers.

Please share ways you extend fun activities for purposeful learning and/or assessment of your preschooler or early elementary students! I love hearing other ideas for purposeful play!

Today’s Time-tested Tip: When reading a picture book aloud to a non-reader who is eager to turn pages, tell them to wait for you to tap the bottom corner of the right page twice before turning it to the next page.

(This really works and quells any desire to pull your hair out as you read to a non-reader who seems more interested in the turning of the page than the story itself. I’ve used this trick since our oldest was a toddler and he is now 14!)

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Pinterest Inspired Repurposing: Preschool Style

I can’t remember how I was inspired with how to turn things I might have thrown away or given away into worthwhile learning pursuits … before Pinterest. I don’t always copy the ideas I see exactly, but more often that not I see an idea and my brain takes over.

Here are a few ideas I had pinned and have now made a reality in our learning pursuits:

1. Counting Beads

I saw this idea on Pinterest awhile back and knew I could do this with what I had on hand *almost*. I had the beads, and I had some rings.

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I just needed a few more large rings, and it would be a fun project to work on together. I found those rings at the Dollar Mart Plus (kind of like the Dollar*Tree but not quite) today. It will also hopefully be something Li’l Bit can use as she continues working on counting to 10.

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She loves to count, and she loves beads. This one is a win-win if her initial interest today is any indication. This was SUPER EASY and I can see many uses, and I can say it will travel well too when I need to grab something for occupying her little mind on the go!

IMG_6226I do love Pinterest.

All you do for this is find 10 of the same size rings, and add beads on each one for numbers 1 through 10. I didn’t do a ring for “zero” but I may add that later. I then put them all together on a smaller ring. She was already counting the beads up to five today.

2. Tub of Ribbons

I found a bunch of old ribbons in our attic at our previous home while packing. I almost threw them in the get rid of pile. I just couldn’t though. They were the thick and brightly-colored wide ribbons that many of us wore as BELTS (yes, belts!) in college circa early 90s. Along with duck*head shorts. And they were still like-new. 😀

They were in a little holder my Dad made. I have different plans for that now in our nature area, but back to the ribbons and the aforementioned tub (which used to house baby wipes by the way).

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I had seen an idea to sew ribbons together before putting them into a container to be pulled out of, but I decided to just do something simpler. Besides, I didn’t want to sew the ribbons together, because I knew our little dancer would prefer to twirl about with multiple ribbons about her.

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Sometimes I just know how it will go, and watching her twirl and explore each new ribbon as she pulled it out of the container was priceless!

This one was simple. As I said, I had the ribbons already, but you could find these on a clearance table and/or grab some at a local craft store. Or you might find these hidden gems in your attic like I did!

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First, I just put them all together in one hand by one end. Then I unfurled them all to make sure they weren’t tangling together.

Second, I placed them in the empty wet wipes container. I used the kind with the pop-top dispenser.

Third, I pulled out just a couple of inches of one end of one ribbon.

Fourth, I watched our three-year-old squeal with delight as she pulled out ribbon after ribbon.

I have about 20 ribbons in our tub, and it took her a good 15 minutes to pull them all out because she explored each one and “made matches” as she went. She also broke into spontaneous ballet twirls and spins as she pulled out the ribbons.

You may wonder what is the point? Well, I used to wonder too, but she was seeing cause and effect in action, using her fingers to pull those ribbons out (it wasn’t easy and did require some finger muscle action especially for those ribbons which end was not poking out of the container and she had to really hunt for). Also she was exploring through movement and spontaneously matched the ribbons with similar colors and/or patterns.

3. Pasta Strainer and Pipe Cleaners

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Who knew? So fun, engaging, and yet so simple to do!

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A dollar store pasta strainer and well-loved pipe cleaners already on hand provided 20 minutes of open-ended play that required great fine motor strength and diligent thought.

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And at the end of it all, the pasta strainer made a fun hat too! Try it and let me know if your preschooler liked it as much as mine!

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