Preschool at Home - Planning Ahead!

When I was a teenager I babysat for some kids whose neighbor was homeschooled.  When he would come to play I would ask him all about his days learning at home with his mom.  I was fascinated!  That was the first time I had ever heard of homeschooling as a concept and I made some mental notes and tucked them away in the recesses of my brain, thinking maybe when I had kids I would do the same.

Homeschooling has been something that I have read about online from time to time over the years.  I followed a few homeschoolers blogs and always loved seeing what they were doing with their kids.  I knew I would want to share in my children's learning in a bigger way than I would if they went to traditional school.  I even mentioned it in our adoption profile book in my "letter to birth mother." I was somewhat hesitant to do so because I didn't want to scare off any potential birth mothers, but by the time we were on the road to becoming parents homeschooling was on my mind a lot.

There is more to it than this, but to keep things short for now I will just say that we have "officially" made the decision to do preschool at home for our twins.  I am also really hoping to do kindergarten as well and then take it year by year after that.  There are a lot of unknowns at this point, obviously.

Despite all of the unknowns and being a planner by nature I have been researching curriculums and methods for a long time now and have started making some decisions.

Here is the gist of what I am planning so far for tot school and preschool.  Let me add some links...

Tot School - This is where I found the concept and a lot of ideas for tot school
Tot Trays - You can read more about tot trays here.
Before Five in a Row Curriculum - I am super excited about this literature based curriculum.
Sonlight P3/4 - Another literature based curriculum, I will be mostly using this one for read alouds.
Letter of the Week - From Confessions of a Homeschooler.  When I add it LOTW, this is what I will be using.
All About Reading - Pre-Reading - I have read such great things about this program and will be adding it in when my kids are 3 and a half. (tentatively)
We Choose Virtues - Character development

Although I am pretty sure about the curriculum I have chosen, I am VERY open to adjusting start and finish dates and following my kids leads.  When the time comes, if they don't seem ready we will push things back.  My main goals with preschool is to increase their attention spans for books (which is already very good, yay!) Develop their fine motor skills, get them outside as much as possible and expose them through experiences to as much as I can.  It is very important to me that the kids just PLAY as much as possible and have lots of sensory experiences, that will be unstructured and comprise the bulk of our day.

In my ever expanding need to plan I also planned out curriculum choices for their K4 year.  I will post that soon.

Any questions, feel free to comment or reach out on my facebook page.

First Tot Trays

Hammy and Snickers are 19.5 months old

I introduced my kids to tot trays this week and they were a big hit!  I was so happy that they enjoyed working on them.  They have both done them several times each over the course of the last few days.

Matchsticks in a Cheese Shaker

First things first, these were match sticks NOT matches ;-) Ok?

Supplies:

Trays - Oriental Trading
Match sticks - Discount School Supply
Cheese shaker - Dollar Tree
Clear dish - Walmart

I have seen this idea on Pinterest using toothpicks but I liked the match sticks better.  Anything that comes in a rainbow array of colors with no excluded colors is fantastic in my book!

Hammy tried it first and instantly knew what to do.  He did this one to completion 3 times in a row the first day.  I only provided about 30 matchsticks in the clear dish.

He got on the tray to do this game, which I thought was so cute.  When he was finished putting all of the match sticks in the jar he put the little dish on top every time to show me he was all done.  Clever little Hammy!

Snickers liked this game too, not as much as Hammy.  She has better fine motor skills than he does, she was able to do this game pretty fast.  She liked to take the jar off the tray and work on it on the carpet.  

Older Child

I am now watching my 3.5 year old niece, Roo on Mondays, yesterday was the first time.  She was introduced to these and other tot trays and LOVED them!  She whizzed right through this one putting the match sticks in and then asking me to dump them out and do it again.

Alphabet Peg People in an Ice Tray

Supplies:

Pegs - Michaels
Paints - Martha Stewart acrylics, Michaels
Ice Tray - Amazon, it's for water bottles
White dish - Target

This idea came from HERE I had been on the look out for some way to use them on a tot tray and when I saw this ice tray I knew it would be perfect.  Right now I just wanted my kids to use it for fine motor and one to one correspondence and if they happen to notice the letters written on the pegs, bonus!  In the future I want to find a way to label the ice tray so that they can put the peg people in matching slots.

Hammy liked this one a lot too, but he did not stay with it long enough to complete it.

This was inevitable!

Once he moved on from putting them in the ice tray he though they needed to be cooked so he added them all to the pot lol.

Snickers did this one too but I didn't get any pictures.  She did not complete it either.  They have only returned to this one a couple of times in the last few days.

My niece, Roo was able to complete this game but didn't like that there were 27 slots in the ice tray and only 26 peg people lol.  Perhaps I will make an extra vowel!

Presentation

Right now I have just set the trays up on the Expedit shelf in the arts and crafts area but eventually (hopefully soon) when we get the Trofast system for the other side of the playroom I will set them up on that shelf instead.

I worked with the kids this week on selecting and carrying the trays to the floor, working on them, cleaning them up and bringing them back to the shelf.  They both seem to like "procedure" and routine.  I want them to feel independent with it and above all have FUN, and feel proud of their accomplishments.

My niece did some other tray games that I have not photographed yet.  I will post them soon.

Thanks for reading, feel free to leave any questions in the comments or on my facebook page.

Tot Trays!

All of the above tot tray (or busy bag) games were made prior to starting The Learning House.  I made them for my kids as busy bags originally but have since realized that busy bags and tot tray games are pretty much exactly the same in most cases and right now I am more interested in using them for tot school.

If you are not familiar, tot school and tot trays were created (I believe) over at 1+1+1=1  Lots of moms and homeschoolers are using them with their tots and tiny tots as a fun and gentle introduction to preschool at home.  That's what I am doing, more on that in a different post.  Let me show you some tot tray games!

Colors and Shapes Memory Game

First up is a little matching game.  I got the idea HERE

I got the wood disks and wool blend felt from two different Etsy sellers.  Felt HERE and wood disks HERE

I made the shape patterns in Photoshop CS6 and used that for my pattern.

Targeted skills: Color identification, matching, shape identification, memory, vocabulary building, turn taking.

Color Shade Matching

I found this idea HERE

I made this game using standard size clothes pins from Walmart and paint chips also from Walmart.  I grabbed two cards for each color set I made.  One is kept whole and on the other I used a square punch to get a little square of each shade.  I then glued all of the squares to the clothes pins.

Targeted skills: Color identification, distinguishing between shades of color within the same color family, fine motor, hand strength, vocabulary building (lighter, darker, darkest, lightest etc)

Pom Pom Push

Really simple activity, just push the pom poms through the little slot in the lid.  I used a little container from the cake decorating section of the grocery store.  I can't find the original source for this game.  If I come across it later I will add it.

Targeted skills: Color identification, fine motor.

ABC Ice Cream Cones

I got this idea HERE

I followed this idea almost exactly, although I could not find a cone clipart that I liked so I made one using Photoshop CS6.  I wrote all of the upper and lowercase letters on with a Sharpie, but in retrospect I wish I had just added them in Photoshop since my writing is not the best even when I am trying my hardest.  I added half circles of velcro dots on to the scoop and cone after I cut, laminated and cut the pieces again.

Targeted skills:  Alphabet identification, upper and lowercase matching.

Counting Cream Scoops

I got this idea HERE

When I originally came across this idea I don't believe there was a link to the printable pies, so I ended up making them myself in Photoshop CS6.  There seems to be a link there now but it wasn't working for me.  After I made and printed the pies I wrote the numbers on and cut and laminated them and cut them out again.  I filled the Cool Whip container with the exact amount of cotton balls needed in the hopes that this would be a self correcting activity.

Targeted skills: Number identification, counting, fine motor.

Magnetic Fishing

I made this fishing set by getting a fish shape from google images and using that as my pattern to cut the wool blend felt.  I purchased the felt from the Etsy seller Sweetemmajean (link near the top of this post)
I sewed a magnet inside each fish, sewing completely around each magnet so it would not move out of place.  I liked how that made a "target" on one side of the fish because you could see the circular stitches so I repeated the circle in back stitch on the other side of the fish as as well.  I blanket stitched around each fish.

I made the fishing poles using dowels and rainbow cord from the craft store.  "Hooks" are just binder rings.

Targeted skills: Color recognition, fine motor, patience!

Toothpick Counting

I don't have an original source for this, if I find it later I will add it.

Counting activity made with fancy toothpicks and an ice tray for making ice for bottled water.  I labeled each slot with a label maker.  Sort the correct amount of picks into each slot.

Targeted skills: Counting

Pony Bead Transfer

 This idea is from HERE

Simple fine motor activity.  Spoon the beads from one bowl to the next.

Targeted skills: Fine motor

Straws in a Bottle

Hey!  An original idea, what do you know!  At least I think this one is originally mine, I haven't seen it anywhere yet.  This was just a ketchup bottle with a rubber spout thingie.  I had these little cocktail straws and they fit perfectly in the hole.  I may cut them in half to make it easier, I think the longer the straw the bigger the challenge.

Targeted skills: Fine motor

Color Match Cards

This idea is from HERE

I got all the images from google images.  I edited some in Photoshop.  Supplies: Cardstock (Stampin Up!) Corner rounder, laminating machine, paper cutter, velcro dots.

Match the colored pictures to the color card.

Targeted skills: Color identification

Color Popsicles

This idea is from HERE

Popsicles are two pieces of craft foam glued together along the edges with hot glue.  Popsicle sticks in tongue depressor size.  Match the stick to the pop!

Targeted skills: Color recognition and identification

Clothes Pin Number Match

Free printable HERE on this blog.  I just printed them and laminated them.  Standard size clothes pins from Walmart numbered 1-20.

Targeted skills: Counting, number identification and recognition, fine motor.

Popsicle Sticks in a Mayo Jar

Idea from HERE

Targeted skills: Fine motor fun!

Easter Egg Alphabet Matchup

It took me forever to find Easter eggs that were not hinged.  I wanted to be able to separate them so that the colors were not a hint at matching upper and lowercase letters.  I wrote the letters on with a Sharpie.

Targeted skills: Alphabet identification, uppercase and lowercase matching, fine motor.

Dry Erase Alphabet

Idea and printable from HERE

These need to be laminated to make them dry erase but you could print them on regular printer paper for one off use.


So there are all of the tot tray ideas I have made so far.  I have hundreds pinned so I will be adding and posting more soon.

Where We Play

-Hammy and Snickers are 19 months old

Last year I started working on converting our basement to a playroom for the kids.  Previously it had the walls up (Owens Corning that I hate) but we had removed the carpet 5 years ago when we moved into this house.  Mr. Wonderful had been using it for a poker room despite the concrete flooring.  We finally made it a priority last February to have a new carpet installed and start populating the room with kid stuff!  I was so excited.  It is such a large space, 2 adjoining rooms, one of which I decided to further divide into two play areas.

I found these alphabet cards in the Target Dollar Spot a few weeks ago and put them up on both sides of the staircase.  We talk about the pictures as we go up and down with lots of lingering and pointing.  Especially at Mr. Gorilla whom Snickers loves.  She beats on her chest with her tiny fists and says "ohhhh."  She is too cute!

When you first enter the room you are in the "arts and crafts" area.  I put laminate flooring in this section so that we could paint and glue and craft freely and not worry about spilled paint or play dough ground into the carpet.  I got this table and 4 chairs (we have a red one too)  from Discount School Supply, or rather, Santa brought them for Christmas.  The kiddos can get in and out of the chairs by themselves but it has been slightly challenging teaching them that the table is not a dance floor!

I have hung a clear shower curtain on the walls to protect the (stupid) fabric walls.  I need to grab another one at Dollar Tree or Walmart next time I go for the right hand side.

We will certainly be doing other things here at the table besides arts and crafts, sometimes my kids sit here and play with their quiet book pages I have made for them.

I have this stack of 15 drawers in the art area.  I haven't settled on the exact way I want to store their supplies but I figure the more shelves and drawers the better.  I have 6 more on the other side and want to make it another full stack of 15 drawers soon.  We also have a 5x5 Ikea Expedit shelving unit that is in this photo just on the left.  I am using that for more art supply storage (paint up high etc) and when we start Tot School I will be using the lower shelves for their Tot Trays.

We converted a train table into a light table following a tutorial from Play at Home Mom.  This only got finished a few days ago even though it was in the works for a VERY long time.  I am in love with it!

I converted one of our pack and play cribs to a ball pit when the kids were around 8 months old.  I got 2 packages of THESE balls from Amazon to fill it up.  The kids like it when the shark lives in there lol.

I really believe in having books in every room in the house and the playroom is no exception.  I've been really fortunate in that my kids both LOVE to be read to and have since they were 9 months old.  We started reading them the day we brought them "home" (to the Best Western) from the hospital and kept at it daily until one day it clicked and I finally got them hooked on books!

Mr. Wonderful made this sensory board/busy board for the kids when they were infants but it's still something they like to explore so we have left it.  It's funny how most of the things with interesting textures that I chose to put on it are cleaning products haha!

Our sensory table.  I am thinking this will go back outside as soon as spring really hits but for now it is in the playroom.  The kids have been exploring blue and yellow this week, so that is what is in there right now.  Next week I am switching it to purple and green.

Right now I have this set up as a block corner but my kids are not that into blocks yet unless I am building them towers for them to knock down.

Tiny bookshelf for a tiny nook!

Mr. Wonderful made this by framing a piece of sheet metal and screwing it to the closet door.  We have quite a few magnetic things for the kids to use on here with plans to get or make more.  In case it's not obvious *I* put the alphabet up like that...they did the numbers...nah!

Santa sprung for the PB Kids Retro Kitchen last Christmas.  I love everything about it and the kids are really enjoying it so far.  I am hoping they will continue to enjoy it for years.

I sewed all of this felt food for them between October and January.  I went a little crazy.  There is a lunch/BBQ set, a taco and fajita set, a breakfast set and a bunch of desserts.  Mozzarella sticks with marinara sauce too that goes with a pizza set that is perpetually baking in the oven.

We change the day on the calendar and talk about the days of the week every day, they have no clue what I am talking about lol.

Right now I have some random things stacked here on this wall but I am planning on getting an Ikea Trofast shelving system for this wall in the next few months.   I think it will be better to store things on and make things more accessible.  Eventually I am planning on doing away with the lids for all the boxes.  The lids are helpful now to keep down the mess for my kids who are in the dumping phase.  At least they are working for now until they inevitably learn to get the lids off.

Foam alphabet mat.  I feel like you can never have enough alphabets around.  I've been lucky with this thing too, my kids don't tear it apart.

Our small light panel.  Mr. Wonderful made the wood and plexiglass cover for it following the lead from the moms on the Play at Home Mom blog (link in sidebar.)  He also made the low table for the kids to stand at/kneel at.


So there you have it, this is where we play for the most part.  I have lots of projects I still want to do in this room and I know the room will evolve as the kids grow.  I hope you enjoyed taking a peek at the things we've done in here and have found some inspiration for you own playroom.  If you have any questions I hope you'll leave a comment.