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.