At the beginning of the school year, it's a great idea to plan a family theme for preschoolers. Today, I’m going to share with you our favorite activities and free printables for this theme. I created a free booklet about families to read with students. It's black and white, so it's also great for coloring. You can download the booklet right here --> Family Booklet A fun sensory and fine motor activity you can do with preschoolers is to use family playdough mats. Just use … [Read more...]
The Ultimate Guide to Using Ten Frames
If you teach math to early childhood students, it's important to understand what a ten frame is. Ten frames are tools for teaching math and they help kids with developing number sense. This post will help you understand the benefits to ten frames and provide printable resources that you can use in your classroom or home right away. Ten frames help with developing number sense. Number sense is having good intuition about numbers and their relationships. This develops gradually as children … [Read more...]
All About Me Preschool Theme
An all about me theme for your preschool, homeschool, or classroom is a great way to start the school year! Preschoolers love to learn about themselves and there are plenty of fun activities to do! Today I'm going to share with you our favorite activities and free printables for this theme. All About Me Books Here are some of our favorite books to read for this theme. ChrysanthemumMy Amazing BodyThe Tooth BookMarvelous Me: Inside and OutPartsAll of Me!: A Book of Thanks All About Me … [Read more...]
Halloween Pattern Strips
I know it's only September, but Halloween will be here before we know it. If you're a planner (like me!) then here's a great printable you can download now in preparation for your Halloween-themed lessons. These Halloween pattern strips are an easy and fun way to practice creating patterns with preschoolers. The printable for this is found at the bottom of this post. After downloading, print on cardstock and laminate for durability. Then just cut each strip apart. You can choose to … [Read more...]
I Spy Fall Counting Booklet
It's starting to feel like fall and I can't say I'm mad about it! There are so many things to do during fall, including fun learning activities for kids. When I look back at all my blog posts I've written the past 7 years, most of the activities are for fall! I just love this time of year. Today I'm excited to share with you an I Spy Fall Counting Booklet. This is perfect for preschoolers, or even some toddlers. The purpose of the booklet is to practice counting, one-to-one correspondence, … [Read more...]
Why Letter of the Week Curriculum Isn’t Effective
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Amazon. For more information, please see my disclosure. Do you use Letter of the Week curriculum? I've used it in the past and while it does have some benefits, it's not my first choice. The concept is great...children will learn a letter every week and then at the end of 26 weeks, they will know all the alphabet letters! But the reality is, most children aren't going to magically know the alphabet letters after 26 weeks. In my opinion, … [Read more...]
Our Homeschool Room for 2019
I'm excited to share that we've decided to homeschool our boys this year! We did preschool at home but then decided to send our kids to our local school. We loved the school and teachers, but because of my husband's non-traditional work schedule, the school schedule made it hard for the boys to see their dad. Family life is super important to us, so we thought homeschooling would be a great option. We are excited for the year ahead as we will have a 2nd grader and 4th grader. Our youngest … [Read more...]
16 Ideas for School Organization
School is just about to start! Whether you're a homeschool mom or teacher, you may be looking for ideas for school organization. If that's you, you're in the right place! My advice is to keep things simple. Find what works for you and don't spend tons of time or money organizing. Also, find a system that will work for you. I know we aren't all type-A people who like to clean or organize 24/7. I know for me, I need to have things in place, otherwise, I can't focus and it's harder for me … [Read more...]
First Day of School Signs for Preschool – 5th Grade
It's back to school time! Can you believe it?! I LOVE to take photos with the first day of school signs. I've been using the same ones over the years and today I'm excited to share them with you! These are great to snap at home before starting school or even use in the classroom with your students. The freebie includes signs for preschool through 5th grade in 5 different colors. This picture shows the year, but I didn't include the year on this set of printables. To use these … [Read more...]
Patriotic Tin Can Windsock
Today I'm sharing how to make an adorable tin can windsock! It would be a cute decoration for the 4th of July! First, rinse out a tin can. Then spray paint it blue. At first, I added start stickers before painting it but found it didn't work out as well. So I recommend waiting to add stickers until the paint has dried. After the paint has dried, add some star stickers! Next, cut 15-20 pieces of ribbon. Attach them to the can using a hot glue gun. (Don't have your child do this unless … [Read more...]