Archive for the ‘Preschool’ Category
Kids love to do hands-on science experiments. My boys and I are doing different experiments with baking soda and vinegar. This experiment involves blowing up a balloon with the gas resulting from the reaction of the baking soda and vinegar. Kids of all ages will love doing this experiment. We have even included a YouTube video so you can see our experiment in action. To do this project you will need:
- Water bottle
- Baking soda
You can do this experiment with larger two-liter bottles too, but we used a smaller water bottle so that we would not need to use extra baking soda and vinegar.
With the small bottle you will only need about a cup of vinegar. First use the funnel to pour about a cup of white vinegar into the water bottle.
Next place the funnel in the open end of the balloon and slowly pour about 2 teaspoons of baking soda into the balloon.
Place the open end of the balloon over the opening of the water bottle. After the balloon is attached to the bottle, raise up the balloon until the baking soda falls down into the bottle.
As the baking soda reacts with the vinegar, carbon dioxide gas will form, filling the balloon and blowing it up. I love the reaction of my boys in the video when they thought the balloon was going to burst (you will have to watch the video to see what happened!).
This was a really fun experiment and I hope you have fun doing it with your kids too.
Copyright 2014, Christian-Parent.com. This article may not be reprinted.
If you are looking for a homeschool curriculum for your preschooler, then I highly recommend that you check out the “Learn and Grow” preschool curriculum by Michelle Caskey.
I have used this curriculum for all three of my boys. For my older two, I found there was much more information than I even needed in the curriculum, and I just chose a few pieces of it here and there as my boys made their way through their preschool years. They were not very interested in “school” at that age, so I didn’t really push reading and writing too much on them until kindergarten (they liked the counting and art projects best).
For my youngest son, however, this curriculum is a life saver. Now that I am homeschooling all three of my boys, it has been a challenge keeping my preschooler busy while his twin brothers are doing their third grade school work. I need to spend a lot of time with them working on their reading, writing, and times tables.
It is easy to leave out the four year old, and oh how he wants to join in! He is begging me to let me him “do school”. Isn’t this what every mother dreams of? Well, yes, and no, not when we are busy trying to help older children.
I am excited that my four year old is so eager to learn. He is actually doing kindergarten work, which is no problem even with this preschool curriculum.
The author of this curriculum has used the alphabet as a basis for the curriculum. Every week has a series of lessons associated with the letter of the week. For instance for the letter “A”, your child will be making apple prints with paint, making a handprint apple tree, having fun with an apple toss, counting, sorting, lacing, and much more. Each lesson also includes resources so that you can go to the library and check out books about the letter for that week.
You will find out there are more activities than you will probably complete in one week, but the nice thing is that you don’t have to complete them all in a certain amount of time, and you can pick and choose the activities as you go. Every letter in the alphabet is covered (there are 130 lesson plans and 700 activities).
So if you are looking for a comprehensive resource for teaching reading, writing, and math fundamentals to preschoolers, you will not have to look any further. To order a .pdf copy of this curriculum you can order it from the author’s web site at http://www.homeschool-your-boys.com. You can also order a hard copy of the curriculum at Amazon.
With all the homeschooling resources available to parents today, it’s very easy to homeschool your preschool aged child. Here are some resources to get you started.
In preschool, children learn their shapes, colors, number and letter recognition, and basic writing skills. Some preschoolers even start learning how to read, although for some children this skill isn’t mastered until kindergarten.
While it is not necessary to have a set curriculum to teach a preschooler these basic concepts, there are curriculums available that can help make teaching preschool easier.
Many preschool curriculums have been prepared by homeschooling mothers who have experience homeschooling their own children. Curriculum such as “Learn and Grow: Hands On Lessons for Active Preschoolers” by Michelle Caskey gives you step-by-step instructions for each lesson so that you don’t have to spend hours preparing your own lesson plans.
For preschoolers who are not yet interested in reading or writing, math manipulatives are a great way to get them interested in learning.
Web sites like http://www.discountschoolsupply.com are good resources for purchasing items such as math and science supplies. They have many math manipulatives such as wood pattern blocks, lacing cards, building sets, and puzzles to choose from. Kids love putting together puzzles and matching shapes, and at the same time they are also learning important math concepts without even knowing they are learning.
There are many board games you can play with preschool-aged children. Games such as Candyland, Hi Ho Cherry-O, and Memory have been around a long time, but they are still very useful for teaching preschool aged children important concepts such as color and shape recognition, counting, and matching. Kids love to play games of all kinds, and it also teaches them skills such as taking turns and following directions.
If your preschooler likes to play computer games, there are many resources you can utilize to help your preschooler learn fundamental skills. If you have an iPhone, iPad, Kindle, or laptop computer, there are many apps and computer programs available that make learning easy for kids.
One great web site for preschoolers is http://www.abcmouse.com. There is a small fee to use this web site, but it is a very comprehensive resource that will help your preschooler learn all the letters of the alphabet, learn to recognize shapes and numbers, and even learn how to read. The site is very entertaining and is good at keeping kids engaged.
Other fun, educational web sites for preschoolers include:
Other places to look for homeschooling resources include yard sales, thrift stores, and on Craigslist. Your public library is also an excellent resource. In addition to books, they have many CD’s and DVD’s available for educational use. Libraries will also often purchase items that you are looking for if they don’t already have it. All you have to do is ask.
Ask around for homeschooling co-op’s in your area. Many homeschooling families like to trade resources with each other or sell them to others at a reduced cost.
Even if you are on a tight budget, there are many ways you can teach your preschooler at home. With all of the free resources available today, it’s easier than ever to teach a preschooler everything he or she needs to know before kindergarten.
Jayce Rafferty is a professional blogger that enjoys discussing baby topics. She writes for Kidznstyle.com, a baby shower and gifts retailer.
These glow stick lanterns have been really popular on Pinterest this summer. I have made them a couple of times with my boys and they are really fun. They are great for when you are hanging around on the patio and/or fire pit in the evening, or they are also fun to take camping.
For this project you will need:
- Canning jars with lids
- Glow sticks
- Sharp scissors
These lanterns are really easy to make. All you need are some glow sticks and a canning jar. We used pint sized canning jars.
You can buy glow sticks in a variety of shapes and sizes. If you buy small ones, you will probably need at least two glow sticks per jar.
An adult will need to pour the glow sticks into the canning jars.
Use a pair of sharp scissors to cut off the end of a glow stick and pour the contents of the glow stick into the canning jar. It works best to have the stick down in the jar when you cut it so you won’t get the liquid everywhere. We bought glow sticks in several different colors and poured two glow sticks into each jar.
If you have never seen the inside of a glow stick before, there are small pieces of glass floating around in the glowing liquid. Just dump everything in the jar and put the lid on it right away. Let your child roll the jar around in his or her hands so that the liquid coats the sides of the jar.
If you get any of the liquid on you just wash it off with soap and water. There has been a lot of controversy about whether or not glow sticks are toxic or not, but the general consensus is that they are not. You do want to be careful about the shards of glass. Just make sure you supervise your kids while they are looking at the jars. They are not for carrying around and playing with.
These jars are really fun to make for evenings you will be spending time outside. These DIY lanterns will glow for several hours. After you are done with them, just rinse them out and save them for next time.
Copyright 2012, Christian-Parent.com. This article may not be reprinted.
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On rainy days it’s sometimes hard to find things to do in the house to keep the kids busy. Surprise your kids with this fun bathtub paint. They will have no problem taking a bath, any time of day! I had a hard time getting my kids out of the tub.
Soap crayons are a fun bathtime treat for kids. You can make them in an hour or two, and it will provide hours of bathtime fun for your kids. All you need are some bars of soap, food coloring, and a mold.
For this project you will need:
- Three bars soap (Dollar Store)
- Food coloring
- Cheese grater
- Ice cube trays
I used three bars of soap, so I used an old cheese grater to grate a bar of soap into three different containers.
After you have grated the soap, into each bowl add approximately 2 tbsp. water and 20 drops of food coloring. Use your hands to blend the soap shavings, water, and food coloring together, adding more water if necessary. The mixture should be the consistency of playdough.
Make sure to do this on the counter or over the sink. You will get some food coloring on your hands, but it will wash off.
Next remove the soap from the bowl and form into whatever shape you want. I used some star shaped ice cube trays I found at Walmart close to the Fourth of July. You can also use regular ice cube trays or just use your hands to shape them however you want. You can coat the trays with a light coating of cooking spray to keep the soap from sticking to the trays.
Let the molds set for a day or two for the soaps to harden. I stored them in a ziploc plastic container with a lid to keep in the bathroom near the bathtub.
Your kids will love these soap crayons. They are really fun to make and fun to play with. The food coloring shouldn’t harm your bathtub, but if you have tiled walls, make sure to have your kids keep the “crayons” in the bathtub to avoid discoloring any grout.
Copyright 2012, Christian-Parent.com. This article may not be reprinted.
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