Setting Up... Preschool Format #1 - "Our Preschool Corner"

Meet Rachel who is guest blogging for Mommy Lessons 101... I am a happy mom of two boys and one baby girl. My oldest is nearly four years old, and I do a home preschool with him and his brother who is just 17 months younger than him. Each unit we do takes 1-2 weeks and we focus on a different letter and associated theme. Keep in mind, these boys have short attention spans, so while it seems like we did a lot, it really was a series of 5-10 minute activities spread out of the course of a week or two. Some activities I just did with my older son while the others napped. Other activities we did all together. We really cherish these fun times together. I try to keep it low stress so if my sons are not in the mood or don't seem interested, I don't push them to do something they don't want to do. At this age, my priority is to help them know that learning is fun!

 

We don't do "circle time" every day at exactly the same time, but most days we like to have a little preschool circle time when I put the baby down for her morning nap. We don't have a lot of space in our house, but I dedicated a corner of our Family Room to the office/preschool area. Here our layout:

1. We love the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, and so we created an ABC tree. As we learn letters, I add them to this tree so we can always have a visual review of what we have learned. I got this idea from here.

2. Map of the United States. My 3-year-old is very interested in places. He loves to point out the states in which all of his different cousins live. He has cousins living in 8 different states! And since he is obsessed with trains, we often read books that refer to different places in the United States, so it is fun to have this map to refer to. We also have a blown-up world globe we use when we are talking about things outside the United States.

3. Word wall. We spell the vocabulary words that fit our theme each week on this wall.

Learning Resources Standard Pocket Chart (Editor note: I've seen these sold at the dollar store and dollar aisles on occassion!)

4. Forward facing bookshelf. I love having this forward-facing bookshelf to give my kids easy access to our books. My primary goal for them at this age is to help foster a love of learning and love of books! I got this at a garage sale, but there similar bookshelves online.

5. Calendar. I picked this up at a garage sale, and my boys love finding the date each day and putting cards on the calendar to mark the special activities we have going on. I even made up cards for park days and soccer classes. You can find similar calendars online.


6. Rule chart. The rules of our house are posted here. I typed them up and included pictures to represent each rule. When the kids forget the rules, I bring them back to this rule chart and read it with them.

7. Sticker charts. Each boy has a chart on which he earns stickers for following the house rules. They each picked out prizes that they would like to work towards earning when they have received enough stickers, and we put pictures of those prizes at the bottom of the chart so they can remember what they are working towards. We have good days and bad days, but this positive reinforcement does seem to help them.

8. Computer. When we have "preschool time," we love to have lots of music that I play through the computer, and I often include snippets of informational videos from YouTube, so it is nice to have our preschool area next to our computer.

Home Preschool Tips...

I have actually never sent my kids to formal preschool for various reasons. But I also have always wanted to them to have the benefits I feel preschool gives children. I think children learn valuable social skills there. They learn to sit still and listen to a teacher respectfully. They learn material to send them into school with more confidence. And they have fun doing cute projects and crafts that quickly get pushed to the side in formal school.

So, instead I began with my oldest 3 by doing a "home preschool" and doing many activities to enrich their world. We did lesson plans, crafts, academics and field trips. My younger sister is actually doing this same thing with her 3 young children, so she is going to graciously share some of her amazing lessons with us as well in upcoming posts.

Once my oldest went to school and I moved into a neighborhood that had more kids, I set up a preschool co-op group. There were anywhere from 4-6 children in the group. The moms would rotate who taught the lesson and at the start of the year, we came up with the lesson topics and objectives of our group. Then after each rotation, we would go on a field trip together.  I love this because my kids got the preschool experience, but selfishly I still got to be a part of it!

If you want to try something like this at home... First, get a group of moms who you trust and who will have the same objectives as  you.  Next meet together and plan the themes. Some of the themes, I have done over the years are {When my kids were in the year before kindergarten, we separated out the long and short vowels as 2 different lessons}:

A is for Airplanes, Ambulance, Autumn, Apple

A  is for Acorn {Long A}

B is for Body, Baker, Butterfly, Bee, Bunnies/Baskets {Easter}

C is for Cars, Construction, Castle, Clover

C is for Cirucs {Soft C}

D is for Dinosaur

E is for Electricity, Earth, Ettiquette, Exercise

E is for Emotions {Long E}

F is for Fall, Firefighter/Fire Safety, Farm, Feast

G is for Go, Ghost, Groundhog Day, Gumballs, Graduation {Graduation Party}

G is for Gingerbread {Soft G}

H is for Home, Healthy, History, Halloween, Hats {different jobs in the community}

I is for Instrument, Insect

I is for Ice cream, Ice {Long I}

J is for Jungle, Jack-O-Lantern

K is for King, Kindness, Kitten {and baby animals}

L is for Light, Letters, Love

M is for Music & Movement, Maps, Mothers

N is for Nature, Nutrition, Neighborhood

O is for Opposites, Occupations, Octopus

O is for Ocean {Long O}

P is for Pirates, Planets, Pets, Pumpkins, Present {Christmas}

Q is for Queen, Quarter ($)

R is for Rainbow, Rocks, Rudolph

S is for Senses, Sports, Safety, Symbols {Christmas}

T is for Teeth, Teepee, Transportation

U is for USA, Up & Under

U is for Universe {Long U}

V is for V.I.P, Volcano

W is for Water, Winter

X is for X Marks the Spot, Xray

Y is for Yawn, YOU

Z is for Zoo, Zoom

 

In the next post, I'll share our outline of what we did at preschool and our "rules" we set up to keep it running smoothly... and then my sister and I will share some of our favorite past preschools with you..

The power of refrigerator art

I love refrigerator art. My kids gave me this adorable present for mother's day one year and I proudly posted it along with one daughter's preschool work, the other daughter's latest poem, and my son's scribbles. Sometimes I clean off the fridge for large groups of company coming over and I miss it - so within a day or two, art finds its way right back under the magnets. I think it represents the stage of life my kids are at and I will miss being able to hang things when they get a little older. I don't suppose they'll let me post their high school essays or reports. But who knows?

Why is refrigerator art so important?
Besides me being selfish and trying to freeze this stage of life I'm in, it is also so valuable to kids!  When kids see you hang up their work, they feel important and it increases their self worth.  They feel that their artwork is just as important as the Picassos and Van Goghs you have hanging in the house {okay, I don't have those, but you get the point...}

I loved this article from Parents about other creative ideas of what to do with kid's art... ideas like making it into a stamp, a tote bag or jewelry. It made me think of the cute shrinkydinks I LOVED to make growing up. 

You can get them here for the original brand...

Creativity for Kids Shrinky Dink Deluxe

or a mock brand, Ezee Shrinks here for a lot less {I've never used this brand, but for the price difference, might give it a try}...

Make Your Own Shrinky Dinks



Either way, your kids would have a LOT of fun with this and it would make a great gift idea for hours of fun with a present that doesn't add clutter or space.

Most Creative Halloween Costume Ideas

I know I'm in costume mode... but I suddenly realized I need to figure out Halloween costumes for my kiddos and thought I'd post some of our more creative costumes:

I loved the year we did dynamic duos in our family.  It was a hard year to match everyone as a family, so I split into pairs instead...

Pippi Longstocking and her monkey, Mr. Nelson (Pippi is just a hodgepodge of mismatched clothes.  I cut out square patches and sewed them on her dress to make it look worn.  We bought a wig for $7.00 and it was a dang cute and cheap costume!)

Ginny Weasley and Harry Potter

Simply Gorgeous: Earth Fairy, borrowed from a sister-in-law, but one of my favorite fairy looks ever!

Most Loved was our Madeline costume.  We found very expensive ones online and I didn't want to pay those prices.  So I found a simple yellow dress pattern, $2.00 material at walmart and made the under dress.  Then we bought fleece for the jacket and followed a coat pattern, adding the extra flap on top.  Fleece was nice because I didn't have to line the coat or hem it.  I pinned a red ribbon on top.  Then we took an old straw hat and painted it yellow.  I added a black ribbon to the hat around the brim.  And voila!  Madeline was created!

 Family Theme: Star Wars

Most commented on costume we've ever had was the Bubblegum Machine.  

How we did it?  On the bottom is a pair of red sweats and sweatshirt.  We cut the 5 cents out of black material and hot glued it on.  Next we took a red beret we had and hot glued a milk cap on the top that I spray painted silver.  Finally, we blew up a ton of colorful balloons and stuffed them in a clear garbage sack.  I cut a hole at the top and of the garbage sack for her head and tied he bottom of the garbage sack tightly to keep it around her waist.  (Note: not for younger kids due to suffocation risks!)  This was the most popular costume at her school last year!

I LOVE my daughter's friends Laundry Machine... SO CREATIVE!

 Wrap yourself up as a present!  All it took was an oversized gift bag, tissue, a bow and helium balloons.  She cut the bottom of the bag out to make it a costume.  Easy, cheap and cute!
See another fun idea here!

And Check out our Halloween Party Ideas - 13 Spooky and Fun Crafts, Activities, Games and Treats for your Halloween Party!

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Halloween Spooky Popcorn Gloves

Another fun Halloween treat idea I've done... spooky hands.  I like that this has semi-healthy popcorn and a few treats.  Plus they get to have a spider ring to keep.  Supplies needed:
Plastic Gloves (I've found these in the paint section and one year the deli department at my store gave me enough for the whole class for free)
Yarn (any Halloween color)
Popped Popcorn
Hot Tamales or Mike & Ikes (5 per glove)
Spider Ring (You can get 100 packs at Halloween for one or two dollars)

Fill the glove with the candies in each finger.  Then pour popcorn to fill the rest of the glove.  Tie it off with a piece of yarn and add a spider ring to the finger for the final touch.

Don't miss 13 Spooky Halloween Crafts and Activity Ideas for your Halloween Parties AND Some Fun Halloween Treat Ideas!

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Halloween Class Party Idea - MONSTER LAB!

If you're like me, class parties have been divided up and parents are trying to hurry and find a creative idea for the Halloween party. A few years ago, I was in charge of a station at a class Halloween party that involved food.  I wanted something that had healthy and not so healthy, but also had a fun activity to go along with it.  So I came up with the following idea and it was a HIT!

I did a MONSTER LAB. When they rotated to me, I told them we were creating a monster stew with abnormal ingredients. Then I let them feel them in boxes they could reach their hands in, but not see in. The ingredients we put in were:

Monkey Brains

Goblin Eyeballs

Mummy Intestines

Skeleton Bones

Witches Warts

Bat Ears

Vampire Blood

I got plenty of "ew"s and squeals to make my efforts worth it. After they felt each item, they guessed what they really were. Then I gave them each a bag with the ingredients to taste for themselves. I am surprised how much second graders like mummy intestines and goblin eyeballs! (In order they were: jigglers, peeled grapes, pull & peel licorice, kit kats, raisins, dried apples, red punch in a balloon)

At the end, I had a bag for each of them with the goodies for themselves to eat (that hadn't been touched by anyone!) and a little label to say what they were supposed to represent.

Check out our 13 Spooky and Fun Halloween Games, Treats, Crafts and Activities!

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Halloween Costume Idea + Pregnancy Announcement - "There's a Bun in the Oven!"

I love Halloween time - it is right up there with my very favorite holidays. I enjoy letting the kids pick out their favorite costumes. I love the crisp fall air and crunchy leaves that bring in the season. And I love being able to make homemade soup!  Who doesn't enjoy pumpkin carving, hay mazes, cookie decorating, parties, Boo at the Zoo and Mom's homemade donuts? I have to admit, I could do entirely without the candy - but I don't think that will ever happen! It is just a great time of year.

With it right around the corner, I wanted to post one of my more creative costumes for myself...

A while back, I was on the newer side of being pregnant for Halloween,
The day before Halloween a few years back, my 1st grader indirectly accused me of being boring when she said, "You're always a witch mom!" So I decided to get creative. I dug around the house and found all the resources necessary to make a creative costume that was very fitting for my pregnant status. I was happily pleased to find a cardboard box, black spray paint, oven handle, old knobs, silver pipe cleaner, and bun clipart.

And there you had it - I was an oven with a "bun in the oven" - a very fun way to make an announcement.  Add to it by having your husband dress up as a baker and it would be even more perfect :)
Check out other Halloween Costume Ideas AND
13 Spooky and Fun Halloween Party Ideas...

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