Two lessons all children need to learn are how to make friends and how to navigate through the challenges of friendships. As parents we all want to teach kids how to make friends. Often our children learn hard lessons when they have to move to a new state or school. My kids have become all too familiar with this through military life. Every three years they have to make new … [Read more...]
Best Books for Babies
Reading to our babies is so important. Babies have a unique attention span linked very much to their need for food and sleep frequently throughout the day. The best books for babies will lead you to great choices. Reading a book to your baby will be more about repetition, hearing language, and most importantly closeness to YOU. These are the best books for babies that I read … [Read more...]
Preparing Your Preschooler to be a Creative Writer
Post by Lisa Brown Preschool age children can learn to develop writing skills even before they know how to read and write. Preparing your preschooler to be a creative writer happens with pretend play, books, drawing, and expressive language. Following are several learning activities that you can do with your Preschool child on a daily basis to help them become a … [Read more...]
Less Book Clutter, More Reading for Kids with Skybrary
This post is sponsored by Reading Rainbow Skybrary Family. All opinions are my own. Please view my disclosure. I look around my house and see multiple little bookshelves filled with great children’s books. The reality is my kids want to read the same 5 or 6 books over and over for months at a time. At bedtime when we read together as a family, all the kids pile up on … [Read more...]
Letter of the Day Activities for Preschool
We don’t buy fancy supplies for our homeschool preschool work. I want to teach my children to use what they have first so they do not always think they have to buy new. It certainly has made our budget as a one-income household work much better to live this way. It was easy enough to put together letter of the day activities on a budget. My oldest daughter was a kid that … [Read more...]
Preschool at Home Day 1: Introducing the Alphabet
There is no need to spend a lot of money on curriculum for teaching preschool at home. This activity introducing the alphabet requires 2 supplies that you probably have already. This blog is focused on activities you can create with basic supplies that many homes have on hand. If you don’t have the supplies I list, you can easily purchase them on Amazon, at your local Dollar … [Read more...]
Calendar Time in Preschool at Home
Calendar time or circle time is a great way to start the day in preschool at home. It also allows for some repetition that is necessary for preschool age children. This is a time for learning big concepts in little bites. Preschool at home was a great experience for my daughter and me. I really enjoyed the extra time we had together and since I was a teacher before having … [Read more...]
Pre-Reading Skills ABC Book Word-Matching Game
Children do not have to be reading to be exposed to reading skills. When my kids are in preschool we start looking more at the initial letters of different words. All that means is when I read the word "dog" in a book, I ask my child what letter is first. It is a simple way when we are reading together to connect reading with letter identification. This gives preschoolers … [Read more...]
Easy ABC Poster and Alphabet Learning Game
This ABC poster and alphabet learning game is an easy one to create with your children so that they can see you writing each letter and work on pre-reading skills. You do not have to be an artist to do this. How often for your kids ask you to draw a picture for them, or add a special drawing to their artwork? My preschoolers have always enjoyed when I would draw something on … [Read more...]
Teaching Children to Care for Books
It can be nerve-wracking letting your child 'read' books since many pages get ripped, pulled out, and chewed. I tried my best to supervise my children when they were infants and toddlers to help eliminate the need for constant book repair. We keep the board books lower on the shelf so the younger ones can't reach the books with paper pages, but this does not always work out … [Read more...]
DIY Books for Babies and Toddlers
Creating DIY books for babies is a simple way to introduce babies and toddlers to reading and books while creating an infant activity they can play with for months and years. I made DIY books for my oldest daughter (baby #2) when she was less than a year old and we still have the book I made for her 4 years later! They are pretty sturdy , but you should always supervise. … [Read more...]
7 Tips to Encourage Reading and Writing Skills in Young Children
[Guest Post by Janis Cox] With 7 simple tips, you can encourage reading and writing skills in your children. Studies are showing that the earlier children are shown words, the earlier they will make the connection between symbols and language. Early squiggles from children are important – … [Read more...]
Advent Activities for Kids: Teaching about Jesus at Christmas
This post contains affiliate links. Please view my disclosure for more details. If you have toddlers, preschool age children or school age kids, this list of Advent activities to teach children about Jesus at Christmas (or any time) is one you can start using today! My children are at an age where they believe the most important part of Christmas is getting gifts. As we … [Read more...]
5 Simple Writing Activities for Toddlers
This post contains affiliate links. Please view my disclosure for more info. I let my children use crayons for the first time when they are toddlers. Usually around a year old, they show interest when I am writing a note, or signing my name, so it is a natural curiosity for toddlers to want to explore writing. These 5 simple writing activities for toddlers are appropriate for … [Read more...]
40+ Activities for Preschool at Home
This back to school season is an exciting one for me. My husband and I have made the choice to homeschool our preschooler rather than send her to preschool 2 days a week. We did send our oldest to preschool for two mornings a week when he was 4 ½, but our situation is different now-where we live, how much preschool costs in our area, and the needs of our children. Each of us … [Read more...]