HOME IS THE FIRST SCHOOL

A new school year!

Well, we officially began our new school year today!  The students all seemed very eager to be at school and make new friends.  We had a fun introductory day, getting to know one another and doing lots of laid-back playing! 

We played a game that the kids loved, which I call the "get-to-know-you-ball-game".  (Original, huh?)  Everyone sits in a circle, and I call out a category such as "favorite color" or "favorite vegetable".  I begin by giving my answer, then I throw or roll the ball to someone else in the circle, who then gives their answer.  We continue until everyone has had a turn, then I change the category.  They loved this so much that I think we will do it again on Thursday.

It was a great first day!

Peanut butter and granola bird feeders!

Yesterday we enjoyed the wonderful 85 degree weather by doing a fun outdoor craft: peanut butter bird feeders.  This project takes about thirty minutes total, encourages fine motor skill development, and brings on another welcome activity...bird watching!

Begin by gathering the materials needed: peanut butter, putty knives/speaders, scissors, yarn or string, and bird seed.  I actually couldn't find the bag of bird seed, so we used granola from the pantry.

Next have the kids search the yard for good-sized pine cones (not too difficult in our yard), and if you don't have pine trees, large sticks can work too.

Show the kids how to spread peanut butter onto the pine cones.  Either place some birdseed or granola onto a plate and roll the pine cones in it to cover the peanut butter, or let them mash the seeds onto the pine cone with their hands. 

When they are satisfied with their feeders, tie a knot around the small end of the pine cone and hang them from a branch that is visible from a window.  Another great way to encourage fine motor skills development with this project is to allow the children to string cheerios onto the yarn before hanging them. 

 

Okay, so maybe the squirrels have enjoyed these more than the birds, but they were fun to make and look beautiful as well!  Happy Spring!

 

For Japan With Love

Please visit forjapanwithlove.com

Whether you are able to donate to the cause or simply pass on the website to help raise awareness, it matters. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We love holidays in our house, even the not-so-major ones.  The night before St. Patrick's Day, the leprechaun (or as Luke calls him, the "lepra-monkey") comes to visit while we are sleeping and does sneaky things like throw the kid's underwear all over their rooms and turn the milk green.  He also leaves little gold coins all around the house for the kids to find.  It makes for a fun morning! 

We also make Sweet Shamrocks for breakfast:

2 c. flour

2 T. baking powder

3 T. sugar

1 t. salt

1/2 c. half and half

4 T. melted butter

1/2 c. craisins

green food coloring

I throw it all in the Kitchen Aid the night before, and when it forms a dough, I just wrap it up and put it in the fridge overnight.  In the morning, roll out the dough to 1/2 inch thickness and make your biscuits using a clover-shaped cookie cutter.  Bake for 10-12 minutes at 425. 

They sort of lost their shape while baking, but they were still a hit.  While eating them this morning, Anna said, "You know Mom, you CAN make these on days other than St. Patrick's Day!"  :)

Play clay!

What is fun to make, encourages fine motor skill development, and keeps little ones busy for an entire half hour at a time?  Homemade play clay!  Each month, we make a different kind of play clay.  We've made pumpkin pie play clay, candy cane play clay, sparkle play clay, and this month we decided to honor St. Patrick's Day by making our play clay green.

Here's a basic play clay recipe:

1 c. flour

1/2 c. salt

1 c. water

2 t. cream of tarter

1 T. oil

Let the kids help mix the ingredients in a saucepan, then cook on medium heat, stirring constantly.

The mixture should start to form a ball.

Dump the ball on the table, knead it until it has cooled down enough for the kids to handle, give them some rolling pins, cookie cutters, and Popsicle sticks, and enjoy!

 

Mixing Colors

We have had fun learning about rainbows this month.  Today we discussed primary colors and how mixing two (or more) colors together produces a new color.  To illustrate this concept, we tried color mixing on coffee filters. 

To get started, fill four mason jars about halfway with water, then add a few drops of food coloring to each.  We had red, blue, yellow, and green on hand, so those are the colors that went into the jars. 

Place a plastic drinking straw (or medicine dropper) in each jar, and show the kids how to stop the liquid in the straw by holding an index finger on top.  Let the kids put colored water droplets onto their coffee filters and watch how the colors mix together.

The process can be kind of messy, so I recommend using trays.  And be prepared to go through A LOT of coffee filters!  The results were beautiful, and the kids had a great time discovering how to make their favorite colors by mixing other colors.

Four Leaf Clover Potato Prints

Continuing with our St. Patrick's Day theme, today we made four leaf clover potato prints.  This craft requires a little extra preparation, but it's really fun for the kids.  You'll need a large potato, a paring knife, a small heart-shaped cookie cutter (or excellent precision with a paring knife), some green paint, and blank paper.

First, cut the potato in half.  Insert the cookie cutter into the cut end of the potato.  using the paring knife, cut around the cookie cutter until there is no extra potato flesh around the heart shape.  Remove the cookie cutter, and you should have a nice heart-shaped potato stamp!

Now show the kids how to stamp the heart in a circular pattern with the point of the heart facing the center.  Make four heart prints and...voila!  Adorable four leaf clovers.

We also read this book to go along with the craft.  It explains the difference between shamrocks and four leaf clovers.  Check it out!

Letter of the week

I was going to teach numbers first, but my son developed a sudden interest in the alphabet, so we are now doing "letter of the week".   We started at the obvious place, "A", and have spent a week on each letter.  First, we write the letter on the chalkboard and the kids think of things that begin with that letter, and I attempt to draw them on the board.  Here's what this looks like for our current letter:

On another day that week, we'll have a letter hunt, where we try to find that letter repeated around the house (or the park, library, museum, etc.) as many times as we can.  Then we will add the new letter to the "letter hall of fame" by decorating a giant cut-out letter and hanging it in the stairwell.

And, of course, we can't forget the song (some of you might recognize this from the Leap Frog toys):

"S says sssss,

S says ssss,

Every letter makes a sound,

S says ssss!"

Handprint Rainbows

We began March by discussing one of the kid's favorite topics: rainbows.  We discussed why they occur, the colors they contain, and we even tried to make our own rainbow by spraying the hose directly into a patch of sunlight.  We didn't get an actual rainbow, but the kids still had fun getting a little wet!

We finished up by making hand print rainbows.  Very easy!  To begin, you need washable paint (rainbow colors, obviously), a paintbrush, and white paper.  It's also helpful to have a wet washcloth nearby!

Paint each child's hand red, then allow them to make a print on the paper.  Continue with each color (in order) and have them make their hand prints in the shape of a rainbow.

It can be a little messy, so we did this project outside.  The results were beautiful!

Welcome!

Well, it's official: The "Perfect Preschool" that I have been trying to find for my son simply does not exist.  Since moving back to Durham last July, we have done our research on just about every half-day preschool around, and nothing has felt right.  Some of the programs seem entirlely too rigid, others lack any kind of structure, many are too religious, and all of the ones I liked are out-of-this-world expensive. ($800 a month for three hours a day?!?  Really?)  While doing all of this digging and investigating, I uncovered a truth that sort of shocked me....Maybe I can teach my son everything he needs to know at home!

So I stopped looking. 

While discussing my preschool plans with other parents, many agreed and said they were doing the same thing.  Others said that they didn't feel confident enough to teach their children themselves.  But the overwhelmingly number one thing that other parents had to say about my decision to forgo preschool was, "Well, I REALLY need that break a couple mornings a week!"  This was when I had my second epiphany regarding preschool: it provides a much needed break for stay-at-home parents who work entirely too hard and deserve some time to themselves to, you know, take an uninterrupted shower, shop for groceries, exercise, or do whatever it is that makes them a better and more refreshed parent three hours later.

So, I had an idea.  And this blog is where I will share my adventures in creating a small, home-based preschool.  More to come!