A friend of mine, Chelsea, has been using Headsprout to help her daughter learn-to-read and gave me rave reviews. I just had to check it out myself. After contacting Headsprout, they gave me a trial. Headsprout is an all-online system. The have a map of activities and objectives for the kids to reach. The kids use the keyboard and mouse to manipulate the letters and form words. They also have a trove of coloring sheets, mini-books, and flashcards that you can print out corresponding …

As we are working on learning our letters we have been having fun learning how to write them. Here are several ways that you can help your preschooler or kindergartener have fun while learning to write letters and words. You can also use these same techniques to practice tracing and working on any fine motor skills.
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First we have sticky sticks. These are great for tracing letters you can also use them for “dot-to-dot” activities. I drew the letters out first for my daughter, but for a …

As my oldest has recently begun sounding out letters to form words, we are beginning to review a bunch of different early literacy programs and curriculums. To find what works and what are the most interesting reading programs out there!  This is the first in what I hope to be a long (although occasionally sporadic) series on different reading curriculum’s. This first program we discovered through Natalie, of Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns.  She raved about Progressive Phonics.  We got the first e-book, printed it out and I was …

Joelle of Homeschool Blogger worked with her kids during their Body Unit, creating some model arms from houshold items.   Thanks for sharing your instructions and photos with us!
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Preschoolers Learn About Arms
Supplies to make your Model Arms:

Ping Pong balls
Cardboard Tubes (centers of paper towel rolls)
Glue
Paper Clips
Tape
Rubber Bands

Joelle found the instructions for her first model arms here.  Basically, her family glued one half of the ping pong ball into the tube.  Then opened up the paper clip and made a hook for the rubber band.  They used tape to secure the paper …

Have you accumulated candy that no one will eat (or you’d prefer that they not eat it)?  Jennifer has a great idea!  Use it for science experiments!
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We have a lot of Halloween candy we can’t eat. So we decided to do experiments with the candy we couldn’t eat because of the colorings in it.
Our first experiment was “Does it contain Acid?”. We took candy, put it in water, then we added baking soda. If the solution bubbles, its an acid. If it doesn’t, its not an …

This is a great activity to teach our kids color, what bugs need to eat (nectar) as well as the important roll of bugs as pollinators.  All while having fun with a craft project!
Materials Needed:
-coffee filters or paper towel cut into circles
- watery tempera paint or food coloring and water
- Pipe cleaners
To do:  Dip different parts of the coffee filter into various bowls of paint so that each filter becomes multi colored. When dry use pipe cleaners to turn the filters into beautiful, colorful butterflies and flowers.
Learning Opportunities:
-notice how …

This week’s learning theme is plants.  We got lots of rain last week and tons of flowers as a result.  Today we decided to dissect a flower.

We didn’t use all the scientific terms, but my three year old had fun identifying the petals, the pollen, the stem and leaves.  She loved looking into the stem and seeing the hole, like a straw, that sucks the water and nutrients into the flower.  We even tried using part of the stem as a straw.

* Thanks to Tulip Test Gardens for their educational …

Have fun discussing the names and basic functions of parts of a plant while decorating this fun picture using various materials.
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Materials Needed (Improvise when necessary):

Straws
Colored paper
Pipe cleaner
Tissue paper
Scissors
White glue
Colored pencils/crayons/markers

Draw a basic picture of a plant including petals, stem, leaves and roots.  Using the various materials let your child decorate the picture while you help them name the parts and explain what they do.  We used bits of straw for the stem and roots because the plants use these parts to “suck up” nutrients and water.  We used small squares …

This is a great way to discuss hyperbolic pressure… or to just enjoy making a mess creating cards with your kiddos.
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Ingredients needed:

1 T Dish Soap
3 T Water
water soluble food coloring (10 drops)
straws
cardstock paper (You can use computer paper or construction paper but they disintegrate more when wet).

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Mix the water and soap with the food coloring.  Blow into the solution until bubbles form.  Gently lay your cardstock over the bubbles.  As the bubbles pop they will leave an imprint on the paper.  Repeat the process until your page is covered.  We …

Themes for the upcoming year, with a sample activity to give you an idea of what we’ll be doing – I hope to have 4-6 activities a week:

Air – vinegar & baking soda (gas) blowing up a balloon
Water -  drop a variety of items in water and see what happens, do they sink or float?
Earth – Go on a nature hike and identify non-living things, living things and signs of life
Plants – Make plant rubbings (leaves are great)
Bugs – Paint a symmetry butterfly picture.  Fold paper in half paint one …