Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Where to Start?!?

If I were to start preschooling my kids today, this is what I would have to start with:

1. A subscription to The Mailbox magazine full of excellent ideas www.themailbox.com
2. An alphabet puzzle and a number puzzleYou can take all the letters or numbers out and ask them tofind specifis ones to put back in the puzzle starting out in order does make it not so frustrating for them and eventually they will be able to find them all randomly.
3. The Leap Frog Phonics DVD
4. Craft supplies-Paint, playdough, crayons, scissors, paper, etc...-use your imagination here. You can make paint and playdough there are tons of recipes online and the kids love helping you make it. You can even use vanilla pudding tinted with food coloring for finger paint and if you have young children they can get in on the fun and you don't have to worry about them eating it.
5. A set of counting bears with cups-these are used to make groups, count, sort etc
6. Magnetic numbers- you can make a fishing pole out of a dowel, string and magnet and fish for letters
7. Dry Erase board and markers This way they can practice making their letters over and over again
8. Books, lots of books

This seems like a relatively small list, but you have toys they use that can be applied to preschool too. Some of my favorites are blocks, duplos, little people, plastic dinosaurs and animals.
For me preschool has been about them learning about the world around them and keeping it fun, so trips to apple orchards, pumpkin patches, fire stations, etc have been a staple. Story times at the library and other free events in our community. Going on nature walks counting squirrels in the fall or flowers in the spring, collecting fallen leaves and observing ant hills. Children love the world around them and they like to observe and explore everything and I take advantage of that.
If anyone has questions about this post they can ask me questions in the comment section.