Five Ways to Make an Awesome Preschool at Home
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our free email feed. Thanks for visiting!Originally seen as a guest post on I Love My Kids. I’m a kindergarten teacher by training but when my youngest son was born, I decided to spend a few years outside of the classroom. Even though I’m not working on bulletin boards or report cards any more, my mind is always racing with new ways to teach my boys. As a result, I’ve created our own home preschool. The process hasn’t been easy and I’ve definitely had my fair share of hits and misses, but now that we have...
Read MorePlato Academy Registration is Open!
Registration is now open! Registration for the next session of Plato Academy {starting Sunday, June 9th} has officially begun. I’m especially eager for this round to begin for two reasons: 1. I’ll be taking the workshop right along with you. My oldest son {now 3.5} has been showing all the signs of reading readiness – naming letters, asking about words in books, rhyming, etc. So it’s the perfect time to start teaching him the ins and outs of reading. I can’t wait! 2. For the first time ever, I’m offering TWO packages- the...
Read MoreHow Many Legos Long?
As I mentioned in Tuesday’s post, my boys are in the middle of a big Duplo phase, so it only seemed right to incorporate their favorite building blocks into a few learning activities. One afternoon last week, I invited my oldest {age 3.5} to play “How Many Legos Long?” I handed him a roll of tape and a pile of 2 x 4 Duplos. Then I helped him measure his favorite stuffed monkey. He stuck one piece of tape near his monkey’s toes and a second piece at the top of his head. Then we worked together to lay a line of Duplos from one piece of tape to the other. My son was...
Read MoreLego Word Families
My boys have been on a Lego kick the last few weeks. The other day, as I watched them play, an idea popped into my mind: in addition to building THINGS with this favorite toy, they could also build WORDS. Later that evening, I pulled out their box of Duplos {the extra large size gave me more space to attach letters}. On six of the 2 x 2 skinny blocks, I added a sticker with an alphabet letter (left). On four of the 2 x 2 fat blocks, I attached two alphabet stickers to make word families (right). Since word families are groups of words that use the same spelling pattern, they were...
Read MorePrincess Early Reader Book
Several months ago, I created two packs of printable books for new readers. One set was filled with things boys often love: trucks, monsters, space ships and more. The other pack was all about girls’ favorite things including baking, pet shops, babies and, of course, princesses. The books have remained two of my most popular products and, as a thank you, I’m excited to share one of the stories for free with all of you as a token of my appreciation. You can download your own copy of the Princess Early Reader Book from the right hand column of this post. And, if your child...
Read MoreThe Reading Wand
Whenever I asked my kindergarten or second grade students to name their favorite part of the day, “recess” always seemed to be #1 on their list. They loved playing, talking and moving with their friends. So it’s no surprise that their favorite reading activity was usually “Read Around the Room”- an activity your family will quickly fall in love with too. To prep, you’ll first need a wand. Feel free to use a wand from your dress up box if you already have one or, if you’d rather make a reading wand like the one pictured here, hot glue a...
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