PreK wrap-up, what worked

I had good intentions of posting more about our PreK year, but it just didn't happen. So many times I thought, "ooo, I need to get the camera and document this," but then I realized sometimes just enjoying the moment is more important. Like the week he showed me first thing every morning how much our bean sprouts had grown with such excitement, or him reminding ME to have perseverance when I got frustrated with something.

Here are some things we enjoyed using this year:

Bible...

 We used only the Bible portion this year. I love how they link a character quality to the story and verse each week.







Reading...

He knew all of his letters and sounds from last year, so we started reading with BOB Books. Though it might seem intimidating, teaching your child to read is SO MUCH fun!

Math/Phonics...

We used this and the Kindergarten one to pull lots of worksheets. We also used play mats and theme kits from The Mailbox. (They have huge sales twice a year.) 







  

Other...

 He loved doing these books. For a child who is reluctant to start writing, I highly recommend the tracing book to start with. We are continuing with their other books for handwriting next year. They make it so easy and fun.

Our most used resource was definitely Pinterest. Here is my 4YO board with all the themes we did this year, which were:
Community Helpers
All About Me 
My Family
Super Heroes
Weather & Seasons
Aircraft & Big Machines
Garden
Reptiles & Amphibians

Skipper At 2!

Skipper is growing like a weed! He's in that stage where he's learning new words every day, which has to be my favorite stage. It's so much fun! He loves animals, music, and doing whatever his big brother is doing. It's funny how different the second child is. The first copies YOU and wants to be with YOU all the time. The second copies the bigger sibling and wants to be with THEM. :) That's great for Kruiser, because he's so social, and now he can play with his little brother instead of me all the time. The trick is to make sure your oldest is trained well, and then it's easier for the ones that follow. (where did that soapbox come from?) 
Anyway, we love this little man so much! He loves to be silly, KNOWS he's cute and HOW to be cute and make us laugh. I thought he would be more serious, but his little personality is coming out. Since his birthday is right around Christmas, we decided to celebrate in January instead. It works great for now, but I wonder how he'll like that when he's older. 

 I used this recipe for the "cupcakes" with Reddi Whip on top.

 Yes, I used Christmas paper. Don't judge. It's still cold outside. :)

 We got him a CD player and some Cedarmont Kids CDs.

 Farm animals from great-grandmother and great-aunt.

Kuiser at 4!

This post is reeeally late, as he has been 4 for 4 months now! (Why do I keep catching myself saying, "He just turned 4."? lol) 

Kruiser is just as social as ever, loves his family, but wants to "go somewhere" EVERY DAY. :) He is more interested now in super heroes than vehicles, and his favorite show is Team Umizoomi. He has started doing simple addition and reading simple words ON his own. We aren't even there yet in our "curriculum"! 
He wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese for his birthday.

 Super Dad picked up this cake on the way. Yikes! lol We didn't even take it home with us.

 Spider man lunch box

 More electronic games. :)

Last night as a 3 YO.

Fall '13 Schedule

It's no secret I am a schedule freak. If there are any other closet schedule stalkers out there, here's a peak at ours for this fall. :) My goal was to SIMPLIFY and LARGE blocks of FLEXIBLE time slots, so more like a routine, really. We will be trying to go in order, rather than by the clock. 

7-9- Get ready, breakfast, morning routine (dishes, dinner (what's for dinner?), and dipes (throw a load in or fold, as needed).)
9:00- We will start "tot school". See this post for more. I will start chores (hopefully!) somewhere in here.
11:30- Lunch!
12:00- Sensory bins/free play
12:30- G-man goes down for a nap, K to room time. I work out and then do 15 minutes of cleaning in the current zone. (see Flylady.)
1:30- K goes down for a nap. I have my quiet/rest time.
2:30- (This needs to be the only time slot with a strict, kick me in the rear, alarm clock or something!) Kids are still sleeping, get back to chores. (G-man might wake up here too, so maybe that will help. ;) )
3:30- Kids have a snack when they wake, and then outside time while I finish up chores. I may read outside while watching them too.
4:30- TV time for the boys. I fix dinner and finish chores.
5:30- Dinner!
After dinner, we have time with Dad, I do the evening routine, etc, etc. But that's our day in a nutshell!

Oh, here are my chores for each day (goals, at least)....

Chores:

Monday- Pick up house, bulk cooking
Tuesday- House cleaning (floors, bathrooms, trash). Keep in mind I also spend 15 min a day in each "zone", doing deeper-ish cleaning.
Wednesday- Menu planning, office list (We are gone all morning too.)
Thursday- Errands, work on special projects
Friday- Laundry, weekly to do list
Saturday- Yearly chores, fold & put away laundry

4 YO Tot School Year!

The 3 YO Year was a big success. We had so much fun with some of the units and learned a ton. If you are looking for a 4 YO Preschool @ home curriculum, here are some great ones...

God's Little Explorers- Looks Awesome! (more Bible based)
Confessions of a Homeschooler- Letter of the Week (more letter based)
ABC Jesus Loves Me- completely free (more literature based)
Raising Rock Stars from 1+1+1=1- also free (theme & memory verse based)

I have used ABCJLM since K was 2, and I like it, but it needs tweaking in my opinion (I, however, am the queen of tweaking!)

Here is how I came up with what we're doing this coming year....

• Wrote out some goals.
• Used ABCJLM's Bible section as the backbone of the curriculum. I like how they have a character trait to go along with the Bible story for each week. 
• Came up with 8 broad themes. Instead of 1 each week, we will take about 4 wks per theme.
• Then I thought about where he is academically and what the next goals are to move him along. Every child is different, so I am kind of tailoring this area to his needs. He knows all his letters and sounds so may be able to start reading this year. If he is, I will add in "Teaching Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons", but I won't start that until we review some. He knows all his numbers and can count objects, so we will just move right along in "math". His fine motor skills are more lacking. He has VERY little interest in writing or even coloring yet, which is FINE. We will take it really slowly in this area. We'll start with tracing, but we probably won't start letter formation until at least the spring. If you aren't into "tweaking" as much as I am and just want to follow the curriculum, then do that, but if your child is "behind" in some area, don't force it, just skip that part for this year. They will be FINE. ;) And challenge them to take other areas where they're excelling a little further. If you need to supplement something, there are TONS of ideas now on Pinterest and the internet.

What we are doing....

•  3 days a week only
• Circle time in the morning: read Bible story, go over memory verse, music time (going to get some fun kids praise CDs. In the past, I planned out which songs to do each wk, but I'm going for more SIMPLE this yr.), and gross motor time. I'm using these cards. We will draw a couple each day and do them! G-man will join us for circle time too, as he wants. (I thought about adding calendar time, but I think it would be too much right now.)
• Then we will do work boxes. I think these will help motivate him. We will do 3 things per day. So it will go something like this: Bible activity, theme activity, phonics worksheet; then character trait activity, math worksheet, your choice; then math activity, phonics activity, theme activity. His fourth box everyday will be a learning toy of some kind, for him to work on by himself.
• That's it! Except for maybe reading some books on the theme @ bedtime.

I am SUPER excited!

Alphabet Wall

 This was a great addition to our 3 YO year! So simple & fun! We printed the letters off here. I got the ideas from various sites. (Google, "Z is for" for each letter to get ideas.) Here  is one site.

 He painted it black and the glued some bones I had cut out of white paper to make an x-ray.

 Glued on a construction paper umbrella and then added drops of water with a dot marker. Yeah, there's not supposed to be water UNDER an umbrella, but really, it's preschool :)

 Glued on feathers and a beak & feet I had cut from orange foam, along with a googly eye.

 Googly eyes and foam ears & a tale.

 The volcano is made from foam.

 The quilt is made from squares of scrapbook paper.

 Brown crayon, a construction paper bird, a cardboard stick nest and white paper eggs.

Pink & green paint and watermelon seeds cut from black foam.

 He drew brown lines for tracks and then glued the train I had cut out of construction paper.

 Apple stickers from Amazon.

 Painted O blue and then used shiny fish stickers. O is for Ocean.

 Painted it yellow. Genius, eh?

 Glued ribbons on. :)

 Kisses. He used a washable stamp pad to put his lips on.

 Star stickers.

 Glitter.

 Caterpillars. (these are from ABC Animals from one of the links above.)

 He actually did this at church, and I borrowed it. :)

 I cut out parts of a house from construction paper and helped him glue them on. I did the flowers. Amazing, right? lol

 He glued on strips of black paper and then 2 eyes to make a zebra.

 This was supposed to be "ice paint". It's really called snow paint- mix together white school glue & shaving cream. I added a few drops of blue food coloring. You can't tell from the pic, but it makes a fluffy, textured paint.

 Lion stickers from $1 spot in Target.

 These bears are also from Animal ABCs.

 Glued on foil. Simple is sometimes best!

 Colored it black with marker, then added foam cut-outs of feet and beak & some googly eyes.

Easter foam stickers I had saved from his Easter eggs the year before.