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Fun Ideas for using old sheets with preschoolers

From Bright Kids Newsletter
PRESCHOOL CORNER --- Old Sheet, New Idea!
Copyright Evelyn Saunders
Used with permission. All rights reserved.

For your bouncy active preschooler, here are a few active learning activities. All you need is an old bedsheet or two and a permanent marker. On one sheet write the numbers 1 - 10 (or higher if needed) in large print, randomly all over the sheet. Use the sheet in one of several ways:

MUSICAL NUMBERS
Played like musical chairs, play music and when you stop the tune the child(ren) must jump onto a number. Then draw a number out of a hat. Show the number ... the child standing on that number is "out." This is good for working on number recognition.

MYSTERY NUMBER
Give the child a clue like "I am thinking of a number between 5 and 10" and have them stand on the answer. Continue to give them clues ... "No, larger ... now smaller."

MATH QUIZ
Ask any number of math questions and have the child hop and jump to the answer. They also like to answer a question with each foot and hand. Here are a few sample questions:

--How old are you?
--How old will you be on your next birthday?
--How many pet's do you have?
--How many day's until Sunday?
--What is 5 + 5?

Now make another sheet with the lower case alphabet randomly written in bold marker. Maybe do the vowels in another color for a lesson on vowels. Have your child(ren) hop and jump onto some letter sounds as they answer questions:

--Can you stand on the letter that makes the sssss sound as in snake?
--Can you put one foot on a vowel and one foot on a consonant?
--Can you hop onto "ffffffff" for fox? (Note: Always say the letter's sound, not the name of the letter.)

Have fun!

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Description

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Cat's out of the bag

Earlier this week Galen was out of town for a funeral. He spent quite a bit of time with his parents. Grandma & Grandpa were asking about the boys, Daddy was telling about what they have learned recently, what they can do, etc., and one of the grandparents commented about feeling sorry for their future teachers who will have to try to keep them challenged. Galen couldn't hold in our plans to homeschool. He told them that we've been talking about it since about the time Aaron was born (Isaac was 1 1/2 then). He answered their questions, particularly the one about "socialization" very similarly to how I have been answering it for him for the past year. He's coming around, and I'm pleased with that. He also told them about the freedom & flexibility it will give us for vacations, and how we can "do school" (his phrase) even while on vacation.

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Convention

We went to the TPA homeschool convention on Saturday and went through the vendor/exhibit area. We picked up several catalogs and talked about things. We are intrigued by Sonlight. We both like the literature basis, Galen likes the schedule, and I like that the schedule is flexible. The "core" doesn't include everything, but they also have math, science, language arts, and others that they call electives that you can get. I'm interested in finding out more about Five In A Row also. It seems similar, in that it doesn't use textbooks for everything.

Before FIAR: Book List

Before FIAR: Book List

Book List
* Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? by N.W. Carlstrom
* Yellow Ball by Molly Bang
* My Blue Boat by Chris L. Demarest
* The Little Rabbit by Judy Dunn
* Ask Mr. Bear by Marjorie Flack
* Blueberries For Sal by Robert McCloskey
O12 * Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
* The Big Green Pocketbook by Candice Ransom
O1 * The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
* The ABC Bunny by Wanda Gag
* If Jesus Came to My House by Joan Gale Thomas
* Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
* The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
* The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
* The Quiet Way Home by Bonny Becker
* Play With Me by Marie Hall Ets
* Prayer for a Child by Rachel Field
* I Am an Artist by Pat L. Collins
* Angus Lost by Marjorie Flack
* Katy No-Pocket by Emmy Payne
* We're Going On a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
* The Red Carpet by Rex Parkin
* Corduroy by Don Freeman
* Jenny's Surprise Summer by Eugenie

Key: O=own B=borrowed 1=read to DS1 2=DS2

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