Popcorn Seedlings

G has officially started "preschool/kindergarten" now that I have pulled him out of Head Start. We don't do stuff every single day, necessarily, mostly because of the craziness from getting the house ready to move. Once we move and have everything set up, it will become daily life for us.

One of the first projects G got to do was learning about cause-and-effect through popcorn. We sang a popcorn song while moistening a paper towel and inserting it, along with a few popcorn kernels, into a quart-sized ziplock bag. It was then placed in a window to absorb sunlight.

Then he got to check it out a few days later and behold! the kernels had sprouted.

Tulsa Moms Group

http://tulsamoms.freeforums.org

I created this group yesterday and we already have a few members. Its purpose is to bring together moms of different backgrounds and lifestyles to create friendships with other moms in the area. Check it out!!

Today was Day #1 of preschool for Gabriel and Dominic. We kept it simple with a few sheets out of their workbooks. They had a fun time. Gabriel worked on colors, while Dominic covered a color, numbers 1-20, and the letter A.

Gabriel working on the color blue (although he already knows most of his colors)


Dominic working on numbers

Day 2

Today was the second day of reading a book to the boys.

Today's selection:

Book Reading for Today

Today was Day 1 in reading a book a day to the boys.

Here was today's selection:

Practicing Numbers

Who knew broken water heaters could be so educational? We had ours replaced this weekend (ouch on pocket book!!) but for the last, oh, month or more we have had to manually light it when it came shower or dishwasher time. Of course I turned this into an educational lesson for my 3 year old, who is working on counting (and becoming quite good at it!).

*Press pilot button down*
*count with child to 20*
*count times the pilot lighter is pressed*
*count how many tries we made before the dang thing actually lights*

Now he wants me to light the new water heater and doesn't understand that this one works the way it's supposed to.

Formulating a Curriculum

Here are the ideas I have come up with so far for Gabriel's preschooling experience:

A workbook called "Everything for Early Learning" (has all kinds of math readiness, reading readiness, etc activities that are fun)....also looking into other workbooks.

Themed coloring sheets for each week (bugs one week, cars another week, etc)

Trips to the zoo (frequent...we are members)

Baking activities (to learn measuring, mixing, pouring, etc)

Crafts (need easy ideas because I am not a "craftsy" kind of person)

Lots and lots of outdoor free play (weather permitting) to develop physical prowess.

I'm particularly looking for things we can do that are fun play for them but I can incorporate learning into easily.