Highlights from preschool

I'm thinking that preschool happenings will be a regular weekly feature.

Three main reasons for that.

1 ~ These posts are a place for me to shamelessly brag on my darling kiddos  ~ who of course make taking random items and turning them into a learning center (I consider myself the "Mama MacGyver" of the 2000's") worth the effort.

2 ~ The most important thing I learned in my ten years of public education teaching experience is that sharing ideas is critical to finding new ones.  Hopefully any other readers doing some school readiness activities will share their ideas and we can spur one another on!

3 ~ Knowing that I'm going to share ideas will keep me coming up with new ideas instead of just doing the same, "play dough, Handwriting Without Tears, and pony beads on pipe cleaner" kind of centers.

So if it's gonna be a regular feature, it's gotta have a fun name.  I can't keep calling it "More from M Preschool."  Cause that's boring!  Help a sister out here, please?

Okay, on to the fun stuff.  All three kids still remember Matthew 5:16 "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven." and now they all know Exodus 20:15, "Thou shall not steal."  This one has sparked some great conversation and has led into discussing some of the other commandments.

Some of the biggest hits in center time over the past two weeks. 

Shape sorting/fine motor skills.  Cheater chopsticks were used to sort foam shape beads onto a worksheet with the appropriate shape outlines. (I just used google images to find shape outlines that matched my foam shapes and copied them into a word document).

Letter recognition/name recognition/fine motor skills.  Kiddos used their name sheets from the other day to help them find the letters to make their name.  Then they strung their first and last names onto a shoe lace.

Coloring green.  Again used their HWT workbooks.  Not their favorite activity, but coloring skills continue to improve.  And we discussed how there are various shades of green.  Ky had already finished and was flipping through the L and T word flashcards while she waited.  (In case you were wondering, I had two princess and one "Larry Boy" at preschool that day.  I have GOT to find a pattern for a super hero cape for him!)

Letter building.  Princess Darcy is really proud of how neatly she made "yeh-ter T!"

Pattern blocks.  Back in the "buying lots of fun stuff from Scholastic days" I purchased this neat magnetic pattern block/tangram set.  The first day with them we simply explored the new manipulatives.  Ky figured out on her own that you could make the hexagons using smaller blocks.

Green hunt.  Just cause my little guy is so cute...

Wedgits.  Sorta "spendy."  But they are my favorite educational toy I've ever purchased.  You should make them work in your budget if you have some budding civil engineers! 

Egg carton game.  Fine motor skills/number recognition/color recognition.  We go through at least one dozen eggs a week.  Had to find a way to use them educationally...  Simply wrote the numbers 1 and 2 in the bottom of each spot and provided pom poms and pickle tongs.  Two of the kiddos said it was their favorite center that day.

Hand strength/letter recognition.  Mashing play dough really does help get those little hands ready for the long days of holding pencils that will be coming in the school days ahead.  This center appears at least once a week.  I just need to get out and buy some new play dough or take the time to make my own.  Most of ours is currently slightly dried out or is really mixed up.

Puzzles.  Loved this entire series from the dollar spot at Target.  We have lots of puzzle time around this house ~ it also is a good calming activity between bath and bed times!

And, one MAJOR advantage of having preschool at home?  You don't even have to get dressed.  Which helps when you paint.  No stained clothes to wash...

Free painting.  Give 'em brushes of various types and let 'em go with the color of the week.

Counting/number recognition.  Picked up these flashcards from the dollar spot.  I like that they have the number dots at the top.  They traced the number with their finger, counted the dots, picked out the correct number of pony beads, and counted them out on the card.  (Note the green paint on Caleb's chest ~ so glad that wasn't on a shirt!)

Oh, and I almost forgot the personality test. 

Top to bottom they were:  Caleb, Kylie, Darcy.  Caleb's I could have picked in a minute, but even Ian guessed backwards on the girls.  I would have too if I didn't have pictures of them working on their own to prove whose was whose.