The Dress Up Day

We are so blessed that our married daughter and family live near enough to come visit frequently.  This past Saturday Lauren and the grands came for the day.  They had a great time playing in the dress up box and one of the older kids had a fun time with the camera.

Grandson Eli is a combination frontiersman/cowboy.

Grandson Chase is a sad looking cowboy here!

Penquin Caedmon

Caedmon has recently watched March of the Penguins...at least once a week for the last few weeks.  Penquins are really "cool" right now!

Apparently Eli thinks the powder horn is a musical instrument.

A cheesy grin from Chase

Cowboys must wear Polo shirts and be very strong!

I think this is Jackson's eye!

How many of you were blessed to have Captain America, two handsome cowboys and a penguin in your home this weekend?  Thankful for a house full of little boys!!

Two Year Old "School"

What do you do with the little guys while you are teaching the older ones?
 I need to do some kind of learning activities with my toddler, but I have no idea what to do?

When you get busy teaching the older children it is often easy to overlook the educational needs of the little ones.  Yes, we make sure they are clean and fed, but some days it is easy to stick in a video or two for a couple of hours of peace while we teach the older children.   One way to make sure you are incorporating fun, entertaining and educational activities for your little ones is to make a plan.

Go through  your preschool toys and games and make a list of everything  you have that will make up a fun learning experience for your little one.  This is my current list of things my 27 month old son, Caedmon, can do by himself or with help.

1.  Lauri lace up animals
2.  a magnetic board with magnetic shapes of various colors
3.  Discovery Toys Giant Pegboard  for color sorting, stacking, counting or stringing....the back of it can be used as a pegboard with rubber bands
4.  bean bags tossed into a basket or bucket
5.  jumbo Cuisenaire rods
6.  Wee Sing tapes  (ok, I have cassettes--I have had preschoolers for over 20 years!!)
7.  board puzzles--Lauri, Melissa and Doug and Discovery Toys
8.  stickers and paper--I may draw a shape or a letter and have him place stickers to outline the drawing
9.  Color Wonder fingerpaint
10.  Color Wonder markers
11.  What's That Sound?--Discovery Toys listening lotto game
12.  attribute blocks- sort shapes, colors and sizes
13.  exercise CD or video
14.  make pictures with rice, dried beans, pasta or cornmeal
15.  tear construction paper and glue on other paper to make a collage
16.  Duplos
17.  Builders and Benders from Discovery Toys
18.  Little People
19.  Measure Up Cups (Discovery Toys) with a large pan of rice and a funnel
20.  play dough and cookie cutters
21.  large lace up beads from Melissa and Doug
22.  plastic nuts and bolts
23.  Trace and Place puzzles from Discovery Toys
24.  pattern blocks---match colors and shapes, make simple patterns, make designs
25.  small dry erase board and marker
26.  Melissa and Doug box shape sorter
27.  Melissa and Doug stacking blocks
28.  Melissa and Doug pegged shape sorter
29.  Mini Motors from Discovery Toys for sorting and playing
30.  file folder games from preschoolprintables.com
31.  activity bags from activitybags.com
32.  books, books and more books!!
33.  Sounds Like Fun tape from Discovery Toys
34.  toy instruments from Melissa and Doug
35.  play food

As we do many of these activities we will be talking together about various things.  Naming objects, colors and shapes.  Sorting objects also can help teach counting.  Talk about same and different as you sort.  Opposites are fun to teach.  Caedmon is really funny these days as he makes a happy face and then a sad face as requested.  We sing or count as we roll a ball back to each other on the floor.

Children at this age also love to help with various chores.  There is a good bit they can help with if you take the time  to enjoy and encourage their efforts.  Caedmon loves to help load clothes in the washer or dryer.  He can also pick up toys and help vacuum.  A cleaning rag is great fun for him as he wipes down the fronts of kitchen appliances.  With a spray bottle of plain water and a cleaning rag he can clean a spill or a sticky spot in the floor.  With a damp rag he can dust low pieces of furniture.

When we were "poor" seminary students I borrowed several early learning resources from the library.  As I came across an idea that I thought would interest my children I copied it onto an index card.  I have a file box full of fun activities for early learning in all subject areas:  science, physical activities, language, crafts, etc.  Other resources that I have used in the last few years include Slow and Steady Get Me Ready by June R. Oberlander and The Preschool Primer:  101 Ideas for Learning and Doing.

Now that I have resources and a list of activities I am ready for the planning session.  I have a small plastic set of six drawers.  Each drawer is labeled for each of the five school days.  The extra drawer will contain quiet activities for family worship time.  I keep 4-5 activities in each drawer.   Many items on my list will not fit in the drawers, so I will tape the list to the wall next to my desk.  As I make out my lesson plans for the older children I can easily write down 2-3 activities from the list on my plans for Caedmon. I am hoping that being a little more organized with his activities will keep us all a little less frazzled and Caedmon a little more content.

If you have any questions or suggestions, I would love to hear from you.  Do you have a terrific resource for the early preschool years?  How do  you incorporate your littles into  your school day?

This post has been submitted to Helpful Homeschool Hints.






 

I Am Back....

Satellite internet connections can be so frustrating!   For the last couple of weeks our internet has been so slow that my blog wouldn't fully open up.  We would love to have DSL, but it is not available to us right now.  We are so far out in the boonies!!

Everyone is doing much better healthwise right now and we are making great strides in our school work.  The temperatures have been so nice lately that  we have been spending some time on the porch doing our reading and the younger children have spent hours outside playing.  This is why we generally do school during the hot summer months!  It's just too hot to play outside in much of July and August (and even this month has seen highs here in the 100's).  We take more time for outdoor activities in the fall and spring.  This weekend we will be having a much needed yard sale---lots of clothing, some furniture, framed prints and miscellaneous items that I hope will find a new home.  The boys' bathroom is almost complete.   Just needs a few paint touch-ups here and there.  Jeff had a trip to DC that interrupted his work.  Hopefully he can get that finished this weekend and get the next project completed before he and Jordan go back to DC later in October.


Next week we will be buying apples from our local orchard.  I hope to can lots of applesauce for applesauce muffins, pie filling and yes, apple jelly.  I am also gathering up supplies to start making our own soaps.  I am very excited about this and should have all my supplies in by next week.  I am so very thankful that God gave me these years at home to spend with my children and to learn together.  So many skills that we are learning are now lost arts, but we are having fun planning them, have fun working on them together and enjoy the fruits of our hands.

I have several topics coming in future posts-- a great giveaway, product reviews, recipes, homemade cleaners, fall decorations and finally the bathroom reveal.  But a busy household comes first!  Today it will be cleaning house, cooking, schooling, music practice,  a doctor's appointment, errand running and gathering and pricing more items for the yard sale.  So, what have you been up to?

Brotherly Blessings

We have four boys of varying ages in our family: a seventeen year old, a thirteen year old, a five year old and the baby at seventeen months. If my boys were in school in an institutionalized setting they would be in three different schools and the "least 'un" might even be in childcare. Instead, God gave us a vision for our family over 24 years ago....way before there were any boys in our lives and only one daughter. Because of this vision that God gave us to homeschool and disciple our family these boys spend lots of time together. Three of them share a bedroom and MUST learn to be patient with each other as the "teens" still have 5 year old boy toys and books to share space with their knife and sword collections and with their ever growing stacks of books as their personal libraries grow. It's a challenge, but I think as adults they will benefit from learning patience in their early years.

With the exception of the "least 'un" (yes, Sherry, we have the Christy videos, too) their Dad gets them out to work together as well. Cutting trees, tearing down decks, spreading slag for our driveway, digging a garden or painting fences are all jobs that Jeff gives them to do...not only because the work is necessary, but because real work gives these young men some purpose and a sense of accomplishment when a job is completed and completed well.

One of the sweetest blessings I am seeing lately, though, is the times that the older ones spend in playing with the younger two. Times I catch them on the couch snuggled up in a pack of three or four reading a classic children's picture book out loud and all actually seeming to enjoy the reading to times of building with giant Duplos, Tinkertoys or Magnetix. The 17 year old has even taught the 5 year old how to play chess and he loves to "play" Stratego with the big boys as well.

Lord, I thank you for the privilege of being at home with my children. The privilege of homeschooling them and of watching them grow. Thank you, too, that they are best friends and best brothers, living, playing and working together as they learn and grow daily under the influence of their godly father.