We trundled over to the health center yesterday to get my daughter’s eyes and ears tested. I knew that her ears were fine, but I just wanted to make doubly sure. Her eyes I was a little doubtful about – while she has great distance vision, unlike her mother, her reading vision was a little off last time we checked. It turns out it is still borderline, so we are off to the eye doctor to get it sorted out. When babies are born, they are really good at seeing what they need to see, which is their mother’s chest … Continue reading →

Flickr/Zanastardust Cereal is a fun breakfast or snack but in the classroom it’s fun math manipulative. All you need is a box of Froot Loops or other colored round cereal for the fun and learning to begin. This is a fun activity for preschoolers through Kindergartners and their older brother who likes to sneak a few between doing his own math problems. These activities will keep your little ones busy and happy for quite some time. My 2.5 and 5 year old love using food for school. However, my littlest one often eats the cereal as she engages in the … Continue reading →

Today I answered the door in my pyjamas. It was 11 am. This is not unusual for me. First, I work at home. Secondly, many days we homeschool. Some days we do not leave the house very early and I like it that way. My daughter also likes to sleep in. She’s gradually recovering from the flu and she needs a lot of sleep these days. Or perhaps she’s growing. We also get to bed somewhat late. Whatever the reason, sometimes she sleeps in and I like that too. I work, she sleeps, life is good. If we had to … Continue reading →

Looking for resources for your kindergarten and pre-K home learners? There are so many web-based services to choose from. ABC Mouse is an educational web site with a vast scope, and we checked it out over this Thanksgiving weekend. ABC Mouse has a huge number of activities. There are activities for toddlers to kindergarten children. Most activities are under five minutes long. There are reading and math activities and there are also areas that focus on science, social studies, and art. For under $8 a month, your child gets access to hundreds of web-based lessons, games, puzzles and printable worksheets. … Continue reading →

Do you know when to give your child a push and when to leave well enough alone? I do. However, there are so many social pressures that push against my instincts, encouraging me to push my child to conform to whatever it is people feel that she is supposed to be doing. I can easily get swept along in these pressures unless I determine what my goal and my daughter’s goal is for a learning experience. Let’s take swimming lessons as a case in point. We are taking swimming lessons for two weeks. Every day at high noon, we go … Continue reading →

Are you concerned that your preschooler is too busy playing to learn anything? It seems to be a constant theme for homeschooling moms who want to see some measurable progress in their child. Well, do not worry, your child really is learning. Here is part 1 of things your preschooler learns while playing. Driving Toy Cars: Playing with toy cars can teach many basic life lessons. Children learn how to follow road signs like stop and go using activity driving rugs, as well as learning to recognize important buildings like churches, schools, and fire stations. I Spy: Whether you use … Continue reading →

I’ve made it no secret that I’m not a fan of formally schooling kids before age 6. I think our society has pushed the idea that kids need to be educated earlier with the Universal PK agenda, but I still maintain that providing good experiences to little ones is more important than providing the 3 R’s at an early age. This isn’t an academic blog so I’m not going to delve into that research here. However, I thought it might be helpful to talk about what preschool might look like in a homeschooling setting. Turn Off the Television I don’t … Continue reading →