Things To Do With Your Preschooler #11

This is at my parents yard (previously my yard), full of scapes

Did you ever make a grasshopper house when you were little? We had a yard full of these scapes (tall weeds with a seed head on top). Well, I got a chance to show my preschooler.

Pull about 10-15 scapes, about the same length. Bend them in thirds

Bend them until they meet in the middle and secure them by knotting one of the scapes around the top.

This is your Grasshopper House. Fan out the bottom and place it back in the field and hope a little grasshopper and his family will move in. :)

1/2 Price Shakes All Day At Sonic

Sonic is celebrating the Summer Solstice ( the longest day of the year) by giving you 1/2 price Shakes. Go and beat the heat at Sonic. Check ahead and make sure your Sonic is participating.

He is FAST!

That moment when you don't know whether to laugh or fuss. Let me back up. My JJ loves to roast marshmallows. We were making smores and let's just say there are more marshmallows being set on fire than eaten. Then, I see this duck swimming toward us and he looks like he's injured. It looks like he may have a fungus on him or maybe he was attacked by a territorial goose. As he swims closer, I start thinking of ways that I can help him. When all of a sudden, I realize he isn't hurt at all but the victim of an air assault by my 5 yr. old. Yep, he was hit by a roasted marshmallow. We decided not to fuss, but laugh as we watched the duck pick the marshmallow out of his wing. ; ) He is fine and JJ says he'll be more careful.

"Beachy" Crafts Coming Soon

Well, school is out and Summer has begun. We have started our vacation with walking, swimming, fishing and playing games. Tomorrow is crabbing and shopping. I am so excited to share with you some ways we have come up with to keep my preschooler and other kids happy and busy. I have planned some great "beachy" crafts. Have a great Summer!

Happy Father's Day

101 Things To Do With Your Preschooler

Wondering what you are going to do with your Little Ones or your Big Ones when school is out? Here is a CheckList to help you get started. Follow us as we go through this list for our "Incredible, Summer School!"

If you don't need a checklist, you can print Pg.1  Pg.2  Pg.3  Pg.4  

Preschool/Kindergarten Curriculum Review

Are you overwhelmed by the homeschool curriculum you can choose from for your preschooler? Here is a short, breakdown of some I've used or looked at:
 Abeka, love their phonics with blend ladders. This curriculum is very thorough and uses reward pictures for getting the answer right (feed a bone to a dog for each right answer)
 Sonlight, if you want to bond with your children through read aloud books. Again, very thorough and laid out with a daily plan for you to follow. Great Books!
 Five in a Row, for a literature based unit study. You read award winning books and learn about history geography and other subjects while reading.
 Saxon Phonics, they use different manipulatives to make learning to read hands on.
 My Fathers World, I haven't used this curriculum but have heard great things. It's a Charlotte Mason influenced curriculum. It has an all-in-one, classical unit study approach. Strong Biblical base, uses real books and its hands on.
 Sing, Spell, Read and Write for my 4yr. old. He started by learning his colors and shapes, then on to his numbers and ABC's. 
 Alphabet Island each letter has been created into a character and they live on alphabet island. There are stories and songs that clearly enforce the phonic rules. 
 The Phonics Road teaches you the letters and letter teams and after a few weeks are already introducing beginning readers.  
 Dollar Store Workbooks, Winnie the Pooh will help with numbers, Cookie Monster will help with shapes. I love this affordable route to introduce your preschooler to fun learning.
ABCMouse.com that goes through K. It costs $80 for the year or $7.95 a month. My son has had a lot of fun. There is a learning path and he follows it and has learned a lot. Every time you play a game or finish a path lesson, a mouse gives you tickets. My son would go to the "mall" with his tickets and buy things or pets for his virtual room.
 Starfall.com Free or pay for a wider variety of activities. You pick a letter, then follow the "stars" to go through the reader and hear the sound that letter makes and words that begin with that letter sound. 


I hope you find this helpful. Picking a curriculum can be so overwhelming. Even going to convention or talking to your homeschooling friends can still leave you feeling unsure. Every child is different with their own strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes. I have found that just by spending this time with your little ones, they are developing confidence and security in who they are and the education will come.

10 Chores Your Preschooler Can Help With

I need all the help I can get, so I start giving my little ones things to help with pretty early. They love to feel like they are big and helping. I may have to redo what they did, but it's a training process. Some jobs I like to give them are:

1. Spraying the windows *
2. Emptying the little trashcans
3. Putting silverware away
4. Holding the dust pan while I sweep
5. Vacuuming (we have a shorter, light-weight vac)
6. Hand Vac on the stairs
7. Dusting with duster or spray *
8. Picking up shoes or toys and putting them away
9. Scrubbing toilet with toilet wand
10. Folding Laundry (washcloths, dish towels or his own clothes)

     My little guy is 5 now, but I started getting him to help when he was 2 or 3. He wanted to help. I started him on gathering shoes.
     It's a funny story. My older children were never putting their shoes where they were supposed to go, so one day we were about to leave and my older son is looking for his shoes. JJ (about 2 at the time) walked to the table, picked up his brothers shoes and brought them to him. We were amazed! He paid attention to their shoes. He knew which shoes everyone wore and knew where they took them off. He had a shoe gift and I knew just the job to give him. :)

*Please remember to supervise your little ones, especially with spraying jobs.