Milky Way Magnets

We're doing a theme unit from the outside in of the universe down to the earth and moon, then we will transition to geography and habitats. This week we made a galaxy with a swirl wooden piece I found at the craft store.

We used:
1 wood piece each
white paint
glue
glitter
glitter stars

First the children painted their wooden swirl. My two year old was able to do it with help and really enjoyed it. My five year old was able to do it on her own without help. We let them dry while we did other projects and schoolwork.

When the pieces were dry I applied glue to my 2 year old's shape and showed him how to pinch the glitter and sprinkle it on. My 5 year old was able to do the project unassisted. Once the glue dried I glued the magnets on the back so we could put them on our refrigerator.

Tiger (2yo) was so proud of his galaxy. He was bringing it to us and talking about it for days. It was so awesome to experience his sense of accomplishment. He would also bring me the glue again for days and the galaxy showing me he wanted to do it again. We found other ways to use the glue!

Blueberry's (5yo) favorite part was the glitter!

Preschool Worksheet Hacks

You can go through a lot of paper and printer ink, whether you're homeschooling or just keeping your kids busy during the summer. Save time, money and paper with the tips below!

Step 1: Get dollar "store" or dollar "bin" activity books.

Step 2: Cut off the binding.

Pro tip: Tear off the front and back covers and only cut through the papers, about 1/4 inch from the binding. It really helps if you have a heavy-duty paper cutter.

Step 3: Sort the worksheets into useful categories, or according to your preschool themes.

These will be fun to reinforce number concepts.

F is for Frog
B is for Butterfly
L is for Ladybug

Pro Tip: Some worksheets like word puzzles, mazes and dot-to-dot can be reused if you do them in these plastic sleeves with an erasable marker. My daughter enjoys the repetition of doing these types of activities multiple times. Many worksheets can be saved and reused with younger siblings when they're ready.

You can find a set of these that we use HERE.
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Valentine's Party

We have been so blessed by our friendships at Westside Indoor Playground.

Materials Exchange

Blueberry and I visited our local non-profit materials exchange place. They had a dollar-per-bag sale and we came away with some fun things for craft projects.

I took my 4 year old and I loved to see how random objects sparked her imagination (and mine). Repurposing and reusing items is a great way to stay on budget while homeschooling. Some cities have materials exchange opportunities, but you can always look at your local thrift stores.

I can't wait to see what we come up with.

This is a bracelet Blueberry made with a cardboard spool, some paint and some rhinestone stickers we have been saving for a project such as this. She gave the bracelet to her Nonna.

Starting School in August

We were kind of done with summer, at least the "not having to do anything" part of it. We kept busy, don't get me wrong, but not having a plan was getting old around here. We still have playdates and pool times but Blueberry needed a little more structure so we decided to start school in August. She is ready for Kindergarten, but we are still reinforcing some preschool concepts. She seemed reluctant until we actually started and now she asks to do her schoolwork!! I have been praying for an attitude change in her so that was awesome!

We are happy to be sharing this experience with a family we are friends and neighbors with. We are trading off teaching once a week, following the Letter of the Week idea from Confessions of a Homeschooler Blog. I'm excited to share this experience with a good friend, the mutual support is a great blessing.

Blueberry is sounding out words and learning how to write. She enjoys adding and subtracting so we will be reinforcing those concepts. We are doing some art and music this year, as well as some science and art that will be based around her interests.

Tiger is doing tot school activities while big sister is doing her school. We involve him as much as possible!

Read Build Write
with Sight Words Color-by-Number from 1+1+1=1 Blog
We do the sight words one day and reinforce with the RBW activity on another day.

We are still having some summer fun with a boat we made out of a box.

Summer Playdate with WIPG Friends

Tiger often just plays with the pencils or crayons. As long as he doesn't eat them, I'm OK.

When Nonna comes, she participates in school too.

Tiger checking out our new Preschool Circle Time board.

Pattern Block Fun

"More" Stickers, Mommy!

Foam Blocks Tot Tray

Foam Block Fun because she likes them too!

Summer Fun Recap

 

Park and Picnic with friends at our neighborhood park.

Found an Insect

Nana was visiting from Alaska and we found a bug on our walk. We also found ripe blackberries.

 We found a fun place to play by the river. The kids enjoyed throwing rocks. The water was cold but pleasant in the August heat.

Yogurt at Sweeties with the Family

Frozen Yogurt, Yum!

Wading Pool fun with our WIPG Friends

Sand Park Play Date with WIPG Friends

We were invited to a birthday party at the Mollala Train Park. It was super fun family time! We got to ride the trains around the park and celebrated our friend's birthday.

Blueberry at Pisgah Arboredum

Running across the bridge, back and forth was the best!!

We met our friends at Alton Baker Park for the Bug Hunting activity. The girls mostly played. Tiger loves his little friend. We started preschool and next week we are doing "I is for insect" so it fit in with our theme.

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More Xylophone Music for Awesome Xylophone App

This is very basic music for little ones to play on the xylophone. This music was written for the xylophone in the Awesome Xylophone App for iPad or iPhone*. There is a free version with ads and a paid version.

When starting music with little ones, make sure it is fun. Practice one line a few times before moving on to the next. You can even cut the lines apart so your child can focus on just that one part of the music. Sing along with them and only spend 10-20 minutes maximum. The frequency of practice is more important than the amount of time you spend at one time.

The following music does not have note values. These are familiar tunes that you can guess the values based on how you sing the song. Enjoy!

(the highlighted notes are the higher note, ex: highlighted red is high C)

You can find more music like this here: http://raynorshinefamily.blogspot.com/2014/07/basic-xylophone-music-for-awesome.html

* I am not affiliated with Awesome Xylophone and I get no compensation from Awesome Xylophone for this. I just made this music for my kids and we use the app because it is a valuable learning tool. 

Basic Xylophone Music for Awesome Xylophone App

This is very basic music for little ones to play on the xylophone. This music was written for the xylophone in the Awesome Xylophone App for iPad or iPhone*. There is a free version with ads and a paid version.

When starting music with little ones, make sure it is fun. Practice one line a few times before moving on to the next. You can even cut the lines apart so your child can focus on just that one part of the music. Sing along with them and only spend 10-20 minutes maximum. The frequency of practice is more important than the amount of time you spend at one time.

The following music does not have note values. These are familiar tunes that you can guess the values based on how you sing the song. Enjoy!

This one is a little more complicated 

with some simplified musical notation. 

(The highlighted red is the high C.)

* I am not affiliated with Awesome Xylophone and I get no compensation from Awesome Xylophone for this. I just made this music for my kids and we use the app because it is a valuable learning tool.