Homeschooling (or just living) with preschoolers...

Ever feel like you're just following their trail? And you can't quite keep up?


If you have or have had little ones of your own, you'll especially appreciate this next photo:


Yes, this is the view from inside my bathroom. So much for one minute alone.

Homeschooling will be so different when the messmakers and noisemakers aren't there to distract. I'm seriously thinking of hiring a babysitter for schooling hours, but I'm not sure my husband will go for that. Actually, I knew better than to ask. After putting lots of thought into this "problem," I think I'm beginning to get a little closer to a workable solution. I've started assigning each of the school-aged children to "babysit" the preschoolers while I'm teaching. Because I spend varying amounts of time per child per day, a set schedule wouldn't be of much help, so instead, I just say, "Christopher, take a 15-minute break and do such-and-such with Matthew and Beka." I don't have any children who don't like play breaks and the satisfaction of teaching a younger sibling (or just plain keeping them happy) is great. Not only that, but the younger ones are having a wonderful time learning as well.

I googled preschool activities and came up with this link full of fantastic ideas. Elisabeth and I are working on a list of projects and will be putting together some activity bags. A bit of time to browse through the craft aisles at Walmart was very helpful, too. A box of popsicle sticks and a bag of pipe cleaners can occupy a three-year-old so well. I've also been working on beginning school time with one-on-one time with them myself and holding them on my lap more often as I teach.


Let's face it. They're not going to go away and to ignore them is to ask for more trouble. They do refuse to be ignored! So my solution is to involve them more instead. It seemed a waste to spend so much time making up a list without sharing, so I'm posting it below. You can copy and paste to your own computer program, then add or delete according to what materials you have on hand. I'll be printing and posting my list to keep it handy for the "teachers," and I'm also considering cutting them into strips to be drawn from a jar for those who have trouble deciding. (They could easily spend their entire 15 minutes of teaching time debating on which activity to do.) I suppose I could just number my list before printing it out so they could choose a number, but I think it would work best to rotate, rather than repeating favorites too often.

Training them to play for a specific time and then teaching them to pick up everything and put it away correctly before going on to a new task is a wonderful habit for them to learn and is vital in order for "teaching time" to be a success.


PRESCHOOL ACTIVITIES:

* Playdough with plastic knife, rolling pin, and cookie cutters, or mix in food coloring or glitter (Want to make your own? There are eight recipes to choose from HERE, including edible playdough.)
* Paint with water books
* Paint with food color in water using a Q-tip
* String cheerios or macaroni onto pipecleaners or yarn with masking tape on end
* Line up kitchen chairs to use for a train or turn sideways to use for a tunnel
* Chalk/chalkboard/eraser or baby wipe
* Colored paper strips with paper punch or shape punch
* Lauri lacing shapes
* Betty Lukens felts (activity books or Bible figures)
* Plastic stencils with sponge and inkpad or markers.
* Rubber stamps with ink pads (and supervision) or if you don't mind stained fingers, they can make thumb prints with the ink
* Plastic canvas with yarn
* PVC pipes cut in various sizes with connectors - We did this for Anthony on his fourth birthday and he loved it!
* those little plastic beads that you can iron together -like THIS - since I don't know what you call them (perler beads?), I'll have to show the picture. This is Bethany's favorite craft. When I googled this just now, I found that there are free patterns for these. Looking at them made me think that you could use cross-stitch patterns, too. I'm going to have to show my older girls!
* Marble run
* Lincoln Logs
* Tinkertoys
* Legos/Duplos
* No-spill bubbles
* Dishpan of water/rice/dried beans/or sand on floor with measuring cups (Lay large cloth underneath for quick clean-up) OR 2 pans and a ladle to pour back and forth
* Make a tent with blankets and clothespins
* Explode the Code wall chart
* Poke holes in thick cardboard with a tack or pound nails into styrofoam
* Wooden people (Michael's sells little wooden shapes that you or your kids could paint to make people. You can see ours that my friend Heather painted HERE.)
* Vaccuum the floor (If you have a cleaner with a hose, turn your kids loose to clean wherever with it. We use a shop vac in our house, so I can retrieve anything accidentally sucked up with ease.)
* Wash the walls or windows (I use non-toxic cleaners, and they love to spray and wipe anything. For less mess, I just hand them a baby wipe and point out a wall; it keeps them busy for quite a while.)
* Dominoes - build with them, play the game, or use to write number sentences, adding one side to the other: 2+4=? As soon as they can write, my little ones fill pages with these equations.)
* Paint rocks - we did this project last summer and lined our flower bed with them. It washed away after a few rains, but it was a simple, mess-free and fun project.
* Tie a clothesline between two chairs and let them hang doll clothes or laundry up with clothespins (My girls always brought out the toy iron and ironing board when they did this.)
* Bucket of water and a paintbrush for outdoors - they can "wetwash" the deck or sidewalk.
* Outdoor chalk (I save this for special occasions as it always seems to get tracked back into the house on their feet and clothing.)
* Color and bake some Shrinky Dinks - remember those from when you were little? Amazingly fun to make and watch! Now they sell them to be used in your printer!
* Give them (especially boys) a screwdriver or hammer to take apart broken machines such as phones, radios, clocks, etc.
* Sort beads, pasta, nuts and bolts, paper clips, or beans into correct cups (muffin tins work great for this or empty egg cartons, which can also be used to store when finished). Add in a tweezer for some extra fun.
* Tape tracing paper over a coloring book page.
* Themed totes (stock various totes with baby doll, bottle, clothes, etc. or toy food and dishes or matchbox cars or whatever else can be set aside for specific play times)
* Popsicle sticks and a bottle of glue (or just a puddle of glue with some Q-tips for application to save on mess) - they can also be colored with markers or painted.
* Magnets (especially numbers and letters) on fridge or cookie sheet
* Spray shaving cream on table or counter to write/draw in.
* Tongs used to move anything from one place to another, a baster used for water play, a funnel for sifting rice, containers to match with covers... What else is in your kitchen?
* Fill the sink with soapy water and let them wash dishes
* Stickers (Draw a large shape to be filled up with small stickers)
* Transfer colored water between cups with an eyedropper
* Bean bag throwing contest (I plan to have my girls sew these.)
* "Bring me" game - "Bring me... something red, a shoe, something with a star on it, something that smells good, etc." First one to bring it after you say "go" is the winner. All ages love this game.
* Cut out fish and attach paper clips, then go fishing with a magnet on a string. (I'm definitely going to do this for Matthew.)
* Pattern blocks (We love the activity cards that go with these!)
* Cuisenaire rods (I use the Cuisenaire Alphabet book for my four-year-olds as they are learning the alphabet.)
* For boys, dried beans and dumptrucks make a good combination or boats in a sink full of water.
* Paint samples (from the paint department) cut apart, then matched to the correct word cards (For example, I write "blue" with a blue marker on an index card)
* Make number cards with the number and the corresponding number of stickers - play various matching games, such as counting tiny shapes (square legos) to match to stickers, laying the cards in order, matching like numbers, etc.
* String pony beads on pipe cleaners. Play "copy me" by having them make the same sequence as yours. ("Copy me" works for legos, pattern blocks, etc., too)
* Sort blocks making a block train around the rug with a line of red for the red car, then green, etc. (or sort by shape) - Elisabeth and Anthony used to make long snakes all around the living room with their blocks sorted by color.
* Simple workbooks - my two favorite sets are these Preschool Activity books (ages 2-4) and Rod and Staff (a little more advanced).
* Draw simple shapes or lines across a page to trace or cut. I like the idea of sticking a sticker on one end of the line as a finish point.
* Tape a paper with a simple pattern (heart, star) over a black paper over a folded towel. Punch around shape with a toothpick. Tape black paper to window when finished.
* Put a layer of cornmeal or pudding on a cookie sheet to write in, or for a neater project, put some ketchup or mustard in a ziploc bag to write on (or blend together).
* Make spinning tops out of toothpicks and cardboard discs.
* Connect marshmallows and raisins with toothpicks to create shapes.
* Connect shoe boxes and add a pull string. Instruct your child to pull the train to another room and collect various items to return to you. Add specifics according to age (something green or beginning with the sound "mmm.")
* Let them play in the tub with bubbles or toys while a responsible child sits nearby.
* Read books together or set child in chair with a few books to look at on his own. (Rod and Staff's Little Jewel books are our favorites for this age.)
* Do fingerplays together - search online (How about "Let's Go on a Bearhunt?")
* Color Wonder (Wonderful stuff! You just need to keep the bigger ones from coloring all the pages before the little ones get a chance.)
* Lauri avalanche of letters
* Puzzles - the Lauri puzzles are wonderful, but must be supervised as they are fun to chew. My mom recently bought us a wooden box with wires that hold wooden puzzles like a tray. It is great for keeping them all together and accessible.

A few of our top favorite preschool games over the years (the ones I have purchased over and over because they wear out from being played with so often):

* The Bug Game (We use this as a memory game, to play like "Go Fish" and just to match up in a long line across the floor).
* Catch the Match (more on this HERE)
* I Spy cards (yellow box from Walmart) - another set of cards that can be played several different ways

Our favorite DVDs (a special treat that we use very rarely) for this age:

* Moody Bible Stories - Filmed back in the 60's or so, Mr. Fix-it (a Mr. Rogers-type Christian man) tells Bible stories to the boys who visit his shop. Not cartoon-style; the Bible pictures are drawings from a Bible story book.
* Backyard Math with Zac
* Milo and Otis (Cat and dog buddies, bought at Walmart - I love to just listen to this while I work, it is so adorable! It does show the actual birth of the puppies and kittens; just a warning if that should bother you.)
* Baby Einsteins (We have: Things that Go, Meet the Orchestra, and Around the House - I bought them from our local grocery store.)

With Christmas coming soon and most people looking for gifts, if I haven't given you enough ideas yet ;), you'll LOVE the things that Timberdoodle has to offer. Just click on the Preschool link on the left side of the page for tons of terrific products. My top favorite homeschooling purchases have almost all come from Timberdoodle. They know their stuff! Nature's Workshop Plus also has a wonderful selection of educational gifts. I recommend that you order these catalogs in the mail to browse at your leisure. I love receiving both of them.

Need gift ideas for slightly older kids? I promise you won't be sorry with these:

Easy Paper Crafts, #1 and #2 (If you have access to a copier, these provide hours of cutting and coloring fun and make great gifts of encouragement.)

Draw-Write-Now - Series of 8 books. For ages four and up, I would say. You'll be amazed at what your kids can draw! This could be used as the basis of some good unit studies or as a penmanship curriculum, too.

Your Story Hour story tapes - We love the history and character building sets and have listened to many of them over and over and over again without tiring of them. I highly recommend sets 6 and 7!

And the next time you're in Super Walmart, look in their craft department for Martha Stewart's craft kits for kids. Our store just started carrying them, and I wanted to buy almost every one. You can make a card, decorate with your name, build a farm, and so much more. They would be great gifts!

Note: As far as the links go, I didn't look for the cheapest prices, but was only aiming at giving you something to look at to get a better idea of what I am talking about. You may be able to find them at several different locations so that you could order from one source. Please search before you assume... :)

If you haven't already checked out the first link above, you should take time to read the great tips for preschool activities. (under "Some Additional Activities"). I really like the idea of using a blanket, a wading pool or a big box for the child to actually sit on/in while they are working on some of the messier projects.

And also, I would love to have you share some of your favorite ideas or products for occupying your own little people.

And just because I don't think this post is quite long enough yet, I'll share a couple of conversations from this morning - with one of my preschoolers, appropriately:

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"People call me a 'dah-doh-er,'" Matthew informed me this morning with a touch of aggravation in his voice.

"A what? Oh, a toddler?"

"Yah, and I NOT one. Beka is."

"What do you want them to call you then?"

"I wanna be just Matthew."

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I set Matthew and Beka up this morning with a handful of Cheerios in a bowl along with a pipecleaner for each. I took a few minutes to explain what to do and to help them get started stringing the Cheerios on.

"Mommy, I want some sugar in mine," was Matthew's response.

"No," I patiently explained, "these are for making necklaces or bracelets, not to eat."

"Ohhhh," he replied, and then, "Can I just have milk then?"

:)

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*** Just wanted to add one more thing. From someone who is forever working on simplifying life, I certainly am not encouraging anyone to try to obtain all of the items suggested here. But if you're like me and you have relatives asking for gift ideas for your children, you may want to choose a few new things that would be worthwhile to own. I just finished reading this article and thought I would pass it on. If you only click on one link in this post, please be sure to read this one. It is excellent!