rachelpants Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 My *almost* 5 year old is feeling a little left out as all of his little friends went to Kindergarten today. I told him that we could do some fun "school" projects at home. I will be doing informal preschool activities with him at home this year (he misses the public school deadline for Kindergarten by 2 weeks). Anyway....I'm a little overwhelmed as I have never homes chooled before and it seems like there is almost too much info on the internet to wade through, LOL. Can anyone recommend a favorite Art Project, Science Project, Craft Project, Book or other learning activity that was LOVED by your preschooler? Thanks for any help!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shifra Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 I really like Earthways by Carol Petrash. It is written by a Waldorf early childhood teacher, but is not overwhelmingly Waldorf. It has crafts and information about the seasons. You could use it to teach social studies (like farming) and science. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfunnybunch Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 Mudpies to Magnets :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanceXToo Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 For art he might like painting with Kool Aid. Dilute it just enough to get a watercolor type consistency, then paint away. Try not to use a heavy paper that has a 'scent' to it, because then you'll be able to smell the yummy Kool Aid flavors, and can even "scratch and sniff." He might enjoy a nature table or tank of some sort and you guys can go on daily nature walks and find things to put in his tank. He might enjoy cooking and baking with you. If he's anything like mine, he'll love playing board games with you. You can make various homemade "books" with him. With my preschooler we made "Backyard Nature" books, either snapping pictures of things we've seen in our backyard (animals, birds, etc) or sometimes printing pics of them off of the internet. I'd then write a little blurb about that thing. We made "My Favorite Things" books, cutting out pictures from magazines of various things my son likes. We made "About Me" books, writing things about him, he drew a picture of himself, we did his handprint, he told me what his favorite color was and we found things in that color to glue in etc. We made "About My Family" books, we made "Texture Books" (finding things of different textures we could glue onto the pages), we made an "ABC book" gluing something that started with each letter of the alphabet onto the page. And we even made a "hornbook" with cardboard and saran wrap, with the alphabet on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 My boys love Preschool Art by Maryann Kohl. They are still raving about the day they got to smash sidewalk chalk and glue it to paper. I actually have been meaning to order the Primary Art book too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rachelpants Posted August 19, 2011 Author Share Posted August 19, 2011 Such great ideas here! I really like the nature tank idea. I ordered the preschool art book last night. I am hoping to get the Earthways and the Mudpies book at the library ...thanks everyone :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 I'm a big fan of the Discover & Do dvds from Sonlight, along with the "non-consumable kit" (it'll last through all the levels) plus the appropriate grade-level kit. The host of the dvds is creative and fun -- I always imagine him as the goofy, enthusiastic young uncle who drops by to play with his nieces and nephews -- and the activities can be reproduced by even very young kids with minimal guidance and help. You can participate and encourage him, but he can *do* most of it himself. (And getting the boxed supplies makes it *so* easy.) Singing and poetry memorization to start our day were always wonderful. So many delightful, silly, wonderful poems out there for little boys to learn. :) (Ooey Gooey; How Doth the Little Crocodile; Purple Cow (plus "Confessional" which begins "Ah, yes, I wrote the Purple Cow"); anything by Hilaire Belloc, Jack Prelutsky, Shel Silverstein, and so many, many more...) How to Teach Art to Children has great projects illustrating concepts of line, color, shape, contrast, and more. Most are fun and clear, but not too complicated in terms of time or material. (It says "grades 1-6", but you can easily adapt many of them for a 4 or 5 year old.) Saxon K is a great pre-k program. I'm not particularly fond of Saxon otherwise, but the K program (and really, it's generally better for pre-K) is great for just sitting on the floor together and playing with various types of math manipulatives (tangrams, counting bears, bucket balance, pattern blocks, and more) while learning basic math concepts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rachelpants Posted August 19, 2011 Author Share Posted August 19, 2011 I'm a big fan of the Discover & Do dvds from Sonlight, along with the "non-consumable kit" (it'll last through all the levels) plus the appropriate grade-level kit. The host of the dvds is creative and fun -- I always imagine him as the goofy, enthusiastic young uncle who drops by to play with his nieces and nephews -- and the activities can be reproduced by even very young kids with minimal guidance and help. You can participate and encourage him, but he can *do* most of it himself. (And getting the boxed supplies makes it *so* easy.) Singing and poetry memorization to start our day were always wonderful. So many delightful, silly, wonderful poems out there for little boys to learn. :) (Ooey Gooey; How Doth the Little Crocodile; Purple Cow (plus "Confessional" which begins "Ah, yes, I wrote the Purple Cow"); anything by Hilaire Belloc, Jack Prelutsky, Shel Silverstein, and so many, many more...) How to Teach Art to Children has great projects illustrating concepts of line, color, shape, contrast, and more. Most are fun and clear, but not too complicated in terms of time or material. (It says "grades 1-6", but you can easily adapt many of them for a 4 or 5 year old.) Saxon K is a great pre-k program. I'm not particularly fond of Saxon otherwise, but the K program (and really, it's generally better for pre-K) is great for just sitting on the floor together and playing with various types of math manipulatives (tangrams, counting bears, bucket balance, pattern blocks, and more) while learning basic math concepts. Thanks so much! I'm REALLY new...so I had to google the Sonlight and Saxon stuff....they look so great. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 When dd and I were that age we really enjoyed playing with baking soda and vinegar. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rachelpants Posted August 19, 2011 Author Share Posted August 19, 2011 When dd and I were that age we really enjoyed playing with baking soda and vinegar. :lol: ROTFL!!! Too funny! Too funny...because....just the other night when *we* were playing with DS's playdoh volcano (with baking soda and vinegar)...my 2 year old climbed up on the kitchen table and kept dipping her finger in and tasting it!!!! Yuk! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 ROTFL!!! Too funny! Too funny...because....just the other night when *we* were playing with DS's playdoh volcano (with baking soda and vinegar)...my 2 year old climbed up on the kitchen table and kept dipping her finger in and tasting it!!!! Yuk! You can make bath bombs. You can find citric acid at beer/wine making supply shops. Just do 2 parts baking soda to 1 part citric acid. Add whatever else you want. It won't be harmful if they eat it but it isn't good for the enamel on one's teeth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rachelpants Posted August 19, 2011 Author Share Posted August 19, 2011 You can make bath bombs. You can find citric acid at beer/wine making supply shops. Just do 2 parts baking soda to 1 part citric acid. Add whatever else you want. It won't be harmful if they eat it but it isn't good for the enamel on one's teeth I'm totally googling this! LOL!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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