After this post, I’ll be all caught up. We’ve just finished week 9 of preschool!
Field Trips
Visit to Dunham Massey (Cheshire) to see autumn color!
Alphabet Time
Ideas for the above Letter Creations come from Homeschool Creations and Totally Tots. F is for Fox, G is for Goat, H is for House, I is for Iguana.
This is my alphabet box. It’s not as spacious as a craft box with little drawers, and I can’t pull out one letter drawer at a time; however this bead box was cheaper, easier to pack back to the UK, and light to carry. This was a project I never finished, but I decided I’d better let Gabriela play with it while she’s still young enough. I am still trying to find objects for some of the letters. If and when I complete it, I’ll write another post about it.
Gabriela adores my tablet. We have a few apps she likes to play with. I feel very annoyed because I couldn’t afford an iPad and felt I would be fine with a cheaper tablet (Samsung Galaxy), but now I find some of the best apps I read about on other blogs (like the Montessori apps) are available for iPad only. I feel cheated. Those of you who own a tablet like mine (not an iPad), what are your favorite educational apps?
How to Build an A book and letter parts—I saw this book on a blog once, found it on ebay (book with letter pieces), got my dad to order it for me, and then discovered it didn’t have the letter pieces after all! This was a few years ago. Recently, I finally got around to cutting my own letter pieces out of craft foam. It was tricky, but it worked. Gabriela really liked this activity, so it was worth it.
I recently found an amazing resource for my alphabet time with Gabriela. In fact, it’s a good resource for anyone who wants to homeschool but can’t afford curriculum. It’s called Easy Peasy—All in One Homeschool (and it is a Christian-based program). It’s all online, and it’s completely free. How great is that?!! The lady who put it together must have spent hours and hours writing this and finding links for all the activities. I’m using her Getting Ready 1 program, which is geared toward preschoolers. Each week focuses on one letter of the alphabet and has links to activities and videos, so it goes right along with what I’ve already been doing with Gabriela.
Thanksgiving Activities
Finger painting a pumpkin. I made my own finger paint from a recipe I found on Pinterest, but I don’t have proper containers—I think some of it has gone moldy. It was a huge batch, though, so maybe I can send a facebook plea for baby food jars and try to salvage what I have left. (Recipe is from Easie Peasie.)
We’re Going on a Turkey Hunt—I made this game up, and Isaac added to it by giving Gabriela his Nerf gun to hunt with. We have a stuffed plush turkey (saying stuffed sounded funny), and I kept hiding it for Gabriela to hunt. Upon finding it, she would shoot it with the Nerf gun. She had a blast playing this and didn’t want to quit. 
Before Five in a Row
Prayer for a Child
Goodnight Moon
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt (2 weeks)
For those 3 books, I mostly did activities mentioned in the Before Five in a Row book, and they were not things I photographed. For Goodnight Moon, I did teach her the nursery rhyme “Hey Diddle Diddle.” We read it in a Mother Goose book and also sang it (this version):
I also had her tell me the story of “The Three Bears” in her own words, as we had already read the story some weeks before. She did quite a good job of it! We did those activities because of the pictures in the book.
For We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, I made a story board similar to one I saw on Pinterest—here’s the link to the one I saw: Rockabye Butterfly
Safety
Playground Safety—We went over some good rules, practiced with toys (we have two playground sets—Little People and Dora the Explorer), and we eventually made it to a playground!
Water Safety—Along with discussions on water safety, we also made a water safety book. I found some picture, and she pasted them in the booklet.
Home Safety—We went through each room and talked about safety—everything from electrical outlets to medicine to matches. We also practiced Stop-Drop-and-Roll. A favorite book for safety is Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann! I have the cassette tape that goes with the book. Gabriela is very good at turning the pages when she hears the beep.
Health
Exercise and Rest—Each day I had Gabriela exercise. We used an exercise DVD I have, and I also had to dance to music. Some days we used exercise videos on YouTube. Here are a few I found via Easy Peasy:
Cleanliness—We made a hand-washing chart for Gabriela. It’s hanging on the bathroom door, and she colors in a square each time she washes her hands. It has really helped her remember! We also talked about how to clean a cut. She practiced on a stuffed animal.
By the Way…
These are a few autumn crafts that should have been included in the last Preschool Corner post, but it’s too much trouble to insert them now, so I’ll post them here!
To view the books we’ve read aloud to Gabriela during these weeks, go to THIS link. We read books listed from #s 79-160.
I’m linking this post to “Preschool & Kindergarten Corner” hosted by Homeschool Creations.
