We are looking forward to the fall and beginning to homeschool our oldest. I love the sounds of this meme, stART. Michelle is a former elementary school teacher who created weekly activities for her kids mixing literature (stories) and art projects. They look like a ton of fun! Here was one of the projects that she did with her daughters this past spring. Hopefully, you’ll be inspired from her collection of book-based crafts. Thanks Michelle, of A Mommy’s Adventures for joining us today.
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This week …

Anna of The Lawrence Girls and Daddy, has three crafty girls.  The stories of their lives and interactions has me laughing almost every time I read her blog!  In 2-3 weeks our little girl will arrive and I am both terrified and curious what life with three girls is like – curious, read her blog!  Till then, Anna and her girls had a recent craft project – blowing bubbles and making art!  What a great combination!  We did bubble art last summer, but used cups.  I know my kids would …

This buckle, clipping toy kept my toddler (17m) entertained for hours! I was inspired to make this one morning at the park, when all the other kids were playing with the slides and the swings and the two toddlers at the park were hunched in deep concentration over a stroller, buckling and unbuckling the straps.  This is a great addition to our activity bag, especially as we were anticipating a long cross-country road trip.   I am so thankful we made this, this and the “I Spy Shaking Bottle” were …

One of the things I love about blogging is meeting people who become the friends I have never met.  Debbie is a mom/grandma who blogs about her life and experiences with her preschooler.  I love how she incorporates learning into play!  Debbie collected a bunch of doll houses, barns, and cars and trucks to create a mini-doll city.  I love how she morphed this dollhouse “game” into a discussion of government and city planning!  I only wish we had as many houses as Selena does so we could replicate this …

My daughter came home after Easter Sunday thrilled with the lesson she had learned!  She made a Gospel Fuzzies glove.  I need to preface this post by saying it is not original!  Her Sunday School teachers didn’t remember where they first found out about this activity, so if you are the creator, let me know so we can attribute you!  Basically, the concept is similar to the gospel bracelets I made in youth camp decades ago.  Each color represents a truth.  Only instead of a bracelet, my preschooler came home …

Here is another great learn-to-read, DIY resource: Sliding word cards.  We aren’t quite at the reading stage where they are useful, my daughter is still on three letter words but we are trying to transition into blending consonants.  I know she loves manipulatives like our learn-to-read cootie catcher and I am hoping that these new sliding words might help engage her mind as her hands are occupied making new words.  They were super easy to make.  These sliding word cards were inspired by the blogs, Preschool Playbook and The Snail’s …

As my younger children napped, one of my preschoolers and I grabbed a bunch of little items and played a game of “What is missing?”  using our used Easter Egg casings from the weekend’s festivities.
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How to create your own “What is Missing?” Game:
We used Easter egg tops, but I bet you could use old cups or even sippy cup lids.  Basically, you want something to cover up each item.
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A mix of ten or so small trinkets or items.  We had a figurine, a horse shaped eraser, some candy, a button, …

We are using our word cards to practice writing this week.  I wrote earlier about how I love the collection of sight words from Erudition (we’re giving a game of theirs away this week).  The words have been incredibly helpful!  You can easily make your own cards, but I love that they did the work for me.  Now I can set my daughter up on the floor with our tracing tray and she can practice writing with relatively little assistance.
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To make your tracing tray:
We used a cookie sheet and I …

Congrats to Natalie of Mouse Grows Mouse Learns! She and her daughter are the winners of this weeks “Learning to Read Sight Words” Game! Thanks to all who have participated!
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We just discovered Erudition! It is a game designed to help early readers memorize common site words. We were given a copy to play and one to giveaway to you, our readers!
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Brief description:
Erudution has over 280 word cards. They say that 50% of all written text uses the words on those cards. The game also …

I think that Sight reading is a great way to help our kids learn to read.  We probably mix sight words with phonics, mixed with several longs days of play outside where we never touch our “school stuff” – I love Spring.  But if you live in one of those parts of the country where the weather is constantly changing, you’ll still have several inside days before spring is here in full force!  It is pretty cold out this morning, time to get those word cards out.  Thanks Erudition for …