Education resources for parents and teachers
This is one of those things that's so easy, and so great, you just have to do it. It's extremely rare for me to have just my two youngest at home during meal preparation, but that's what happened today. It was the perfect time to give my Two some one-on-one in the kitchen -- and to teach counting as well. After church we ran to the store (in 16°! Ack!) to get some strawberries and grapes so we'd have enough ... Read More
(This post contains affiliate links.) Letter F printable - F is for Fish Dot stickers (get them at any office supply store or online) are a favorite of my kids. Print this letter F printable and have your child fill in the circles. Doing the page promotes one-to-one correspondence, letter recognition, and gives fine motor practice. My son took a break from dot stickers this week and used Do a Dot markers ... Read More
(This post contains affiliate links.) This week we pulled out all our farm toys so we could make a letter F sensory tub: Farm in a Box. I got this idea from Small Potatoes, where she has an incredible amount of sensory ideas -- including a whole series called Building a World in a Box. Farm seemed like a good word to start with for the letter F - especially since we have a lot of farm toys. I poured our beans ... Read More
If you need a healthy snack to bring to playgroup, try this one! It is so easy to make and oh so delicious to eat! I found this recipe a few places (Little Birdie Secrets and Feeling Lovesome), but since the recipe was not original to either blogger, I am publishing it here in its entirety. I didn't change a thing - it's perfect. Homemade Graham Crackers (makes 16 large ... Read More
For much of two weeks we worked on E, the first letter of our A-Z Exploration. (See How to Teach the Alphabet to Preschoolers). Check out our eight ways to make the letter E! First, I printed two large letter E's, which you can make yourself or use mine: giant letter E. Then my Two and Four filled their E's with gems to reinforce the shape of the letter. Next, they filled their E's with buttons. We ... Read More
I created these mini-books when my little guy was just over 2. He has always loved music, and I wanted a way to help the letters stick (because they weren't). He wasn't too interested initially, but I made it a habit to sit down and read/sing these with him. Before long he was bringing his "wittle books" to me. Now (2 years, 8 months) he carries them around and knows many of the songs and rhymes by heart. We ... Read More
Letter E Craft Ideas Here are some Letter E craft ideas to go along with your Letter of the Week. Remember that I have three kids doing these crafts -- and not one of them does every single project. The important thing is to find a project your child will enjoy -- reinforcing the letter E is a bonus! Tissue Paper "E" My four-year-old boy really loved this one. I printed out a large E and gave him a bag of ... Read More
The last two weeks we have been exploring letter E activities. Check out these ideas to support our letter learning and build math skills as well! 1 - Counting - Count the Eggs The kids added brightly colored "eggs" to nests numbered 1-10. My Four and Five did this on their own. My Two enjoyed doing it with me. See my original post here. 2 - Ordering -- Big and Small Elephants I printed these from ... Read More
This post contains affiliate links. Rhyming is an essential skill for success in reading (see why rhyming matters). But each year that I taught first grade I saw a few children for whom rhyming was a struggle. Inevitably, reading was an extra challenge too. I've suggested a number of games to build rhyming skills. But always, always, always -- the best way to teach rhyming is to read. Looking for the ... Read More
I found the original recipe for this easy main dish, Cheesy Beef & Rice, at Heavenlyhomemakers.com. Laura has a huge database of real food recipes - no cream of chicken soup, no white flour, and no processed sugar. And many of her recipes are simple, like this one. Be sure to check her out! I changed a few things in Laura's recipe. First, I substituted plain yogurt for the sour cream. I rarely have sour cream ... Read More
