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Matschstick Preschool Box

Kim from Matschstick Adventures comments here quite often, and if I ever get around to updating my blogroll, she’ll be on it.  She posted pictures of her preschool box–some great ideas!  Kim’s a former preschool teacher, so she just might know what she’s talking about.

“I Ate It”

Fannie posted yesterday about her Funny Fidget, and I commented that Junior (who was born a few hours before Fidget) has given up funny for naughty.  I spoke too soon.  He’s experimenting with naughty and funny.

You’ll notice in the picture that a piece to his favorite puzzle is missing.  After searching for it for several minutes, I asked Junior, "Where is the red piece?"

He replied [pointing to his stomach], "In here.  I ate it."

Groaning inwardly and realizing a trip to the ER for puzzle-piece-removal would likely knock me out of the race for Mother of the Year, I redoubled my efforts to find the mysteriously missing red circle.  It wasn’t under the newspaper.  It wasn’t under Junior’s chair.  I even looked down his pants, thinking he might have stuffed the missing piece down there (which, by a toddler’s way of reckoning, might seem like eating it).  Nothing.

So I asked again, "Junior, where is the red circle?"

He smile impishly and said, "I frew it in the ribber."

I glanced toward the river but realized that even a crafty young man like Junior couldn’t make an unnoticed trek to the river, as I’d been sitting within eyesight of him all morning.  But I move my search to the vicinity of the window which overlooks the river.  And, sure enough, that darn puzzle piece was lying on the floor near the window, across the room from where Junior was sitting.

Poor Junior had his comeuppance later in the morning.  He was standing near the front door when Baba walked outside to do a nature scavenger hunt for science.  Baba didn’t realize that Junior’s hand was near the door hinge, and he pinched the little guy’s pinky in the door and then pushed and pushed trying to close the door.  In the slow-motion moments that followed, I was certain we’d have to make an ER trip for finger-reattachment instead of puzzle-piece-removal.  However, although the damaged little appendage turned purple and sported an ugly crease, nothing was severed nor appears to be broken.  After an hour and a half (and a dose of Tylenol) Junior is still complaining of the pain.

That tingling in my scalp?  That’s just gray hairs sprouting.

More on Preschoolers

Jeannie Fulbright (the author of our science curriculum) has some suggestions for "engaging" preschoolers while you’re teaching others.

You might also want to check out Preschool Activities in a Bag by Paula Reetz and Sherri MacLean.  The link I provided will take you to Homeschool eStore, where you can buy and download a copy of the book.  You can also check out the Activity Bags website.  It appears these activities would be appropriate for preschoolers who are a little older than Junior, but it’s nice for future reference.

One other suggestion I’ve heard echoed over and over again is the idea of rotating toys.  For example, have a different toy for each day of the week so the child sees that particular toy only once a week and only during school time.

Occupying Preschoolers

JJ left a comment on my puzzle post from yesterday asking for more information about the occupying preschoolers session.  I was going to email her, but I thought others could use the ideas as well, so here are a few other suggestions I brought home:

1. Set aside 15 minutes at the beginning of every school day to give your preschooler one-on-one attention.  That little bit of attention might carry him through for an hour or two while mom works more intensely with the olders.
2. Give your preschooler "new" things at the beginning of the school year when the older children get their school supplies (these don’t actually have to be new, just new-to-him).
3. Have a box with toys, games and puzzles set aside especially for your preschooler to use exclusively during school time.

I’m working on that last suggestion for Junior.  I have a plastic tub for him, and James and I have been thinking on ideas for filling it up.  We’re planning to buy a couple of Lauri puzzles and the Lauri Toddler Tote (which would double as a take-along for church).  I found this idea at Matschstick Adventures, so we’ll probably put together our own version of preschool cards.  We’re open to suggestions from others as well.

One other thing I wanted to mention is to make use of older kids as teachers/playmates for preschoolers when you’re working with others.  For instance, when I need some uninterrupted time with Baba, I’ll ask Margie to be my "babysitter" (she’s thrilled by the use of that particular word) and take Junior to the toy room and play with him for awhile.  I fully intend to have Baba teach preschool to Junior for a half-hour a day next fall so I can have intensive time to work on phonics with Margie.

Anyone else have suggestions?  Please let me know.

EDITED TO ADD: I have a book recommendation to make that fits with this topic.  In the past, I’ve pulled a few ideas from Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready by June Oberlander.  This book provides developmental activites from birth to age five–you might want to check it out.

Decimal Street

From Decimal Street

I’ve mentioned before how much we love Math-U-See, and today I’ll give one reason why. A couple weeks ago, Margie started Primer, which is the MUS preschool/kindergarten book.  For the past couple days she’s been working on place value, using the MUS concept of "Decimal Street" as a teaching tool.

To make Decimal Street, I cut foam board into squares just big enough to fit nine each of the corresponding MUS manipulatives (dimensions are included in the teacher’s manual).  The green blocks are units, and nine of them fit into the green Unit’s House.  The blue blocks are tens, and nine fit into the blue Ten’s House.  The red blocks are hundreds, and nine fit into the red Hundred’s Castle (the hundreds need a castle because they’re so large).  I also made number cards from 0-9 in each color to let Margie know how many of each value are "at home".

Margie’s been playing with Decimal Street for hours this week.  She enjoys creating stories to go along with each problem I give her.  And she’s learning, too!  Last week she had no concept of numbers larger than the teens, but now she understands tens and hundreds place.  Her only struggle is with remembering the names of the tens, whose English names follow no math logic.  Per Mr. Demme’s suggestion, she calls 20 by the "proper" name of "two-ty" and we’re working on remembering that two-ty’s nickname is "twenty".

Jenn at My Homeschool 101 has instructions for making Decimal Street:Extended Version, which teaches place value up through billions and trillions (or make it as long as you’d like!).  Have fun with math!

Puzzled Preschooler

At the MACHE conference, I attended a session entitled "Occupying Preschoolers While Teaching Older Children".  David Hazell (creator of My Father’s World curriculum) started the session by retitling it–"Teaching Preschoolers While Teaching Older Children"–because he wanted to stress the importance of giving preschoolers one-on-one time of their own during the school day rather than just trying to keep them out of the way.

I’ve used one of Mr. Hazell’s suggestions with great success the past couple weeks.  We have a few Lauri puzzles (I love Lauri!), and I’d thought they were well beyond Junior’s ability right now.  I based this judgement on the fact that when I gave him a puzzle he had no idea what to do with it, even when I showed him how to put it together.  However, Mr. Hazell suggested giving a preschooler a small task and when they master it, start building skills on top of it.  To apply this to puzzles–take one puzzle piece out and let the preschooler figure out how to put it back in.  When he’s mastered that one piece, take out a second piece along with the first.  When he’s mastered those two . . . well, I think you get the idea!

I implemented this idea with Junior the day after we came home from MACHE.  After less than two weeks, here are the results:

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Photo Sharing – Upload Video – Video Sharing – Share Photos
Photo Sharing – Upload Video – Video Sharing – Share Photos

(You’ll notice I had to post the video in three installments because I had to stop the camera twice in order to correct fighting children.)

Junior is 2 years and 3 months old, and his puzzle abilities are well beyond what my other two had accomplished at that age.  This may seem like a "well, duh!" discovery, but sometimes the obvious answers are the ones we overlook.

BONUS: Junior sat at the kitchen table and worked quietly on that puzzle for one hour this morning while I taught math and Latin to the other two.  He considers these puzzles his school work, and he’s just as proud of his accomplishments as Baba and Margie are of theirs. 

One Spot Left

There’s still one Family Fun subscription left to be claimed.  It goes to the first person to leave a comment under this post and email a mailing address to me.  If I don’t hear from anyone before I go to bed tonight, I’ll just order for the three people who have requested so far.  So hurry!

Family Fun, Anyone?

We’re very thankful to have a subscription to Family Fun magazine, which has been a gift to us from James’ parents for many years.  The newest issue arrived today, and I noticed that they’re having a special promotion for Mother’s Day.  I can give gift subscriptions to four people for $20.  That’s a whole year of Family Fun for $5!

I have the $20 sitting right here waiting for the first four people who comment on my blog and send me a mailing address via email (you have to do both to qualify).  Look here if you don’t know my email address.

Don’t forget to thank my in-laws, who made this possible in the first place.

Spring Cleaning

Yes, indeed, it’s that time of year!  We’re throwing wide the windows and pulling out the Pine Sol because it’s spring cleaning time at the Cartoon Factory. 

I had to giggle this morning as I sorted sundries from my two kitchen pantries and found a half-dozen, no make that at least a dozen, items on the shelves that had expired in 2005.  I’m not saying I bought them in 2005 . . . oh no, these puppies expired in 2005.  As in, that’s the last time I bothered to clean out the pantry. 

Recently someone asked me how I "do it all," when educating my children takes up so much of my time.  The answer is, I don’t.  I have 24 hours in my days, and those that are spent in research and teaching simply aren’t available for housecleaning.  Thankfully, I live with an understanding husband who is willing to roll up his sleeves and do his share of household chores and doesn’t complain when he finds colonies in the fridge.

Next time you’re reading my squeaky-clean blog and are tempted to think I’m Supermom, just imagine what’s lurking in my closets.

PS – I don’t bake cookies, either.

PPS – Fear not, we’re not raising our children in a barn.  We keep reasonable order and cleanliness in the house (at least most of the time).  But it’s not the order and cleanliness I’d like to have nor what I would have if I wasn’t teaching my children full-time.