Printable | Preschool Homeschool | Mathematical Concepts

Mental Checklist for the Preschool Homeschool – Mathematical Concepts

Printable | Preschool Homeschool | Social Development Checklist

Mental Checklist for the Preschool Homeschool – Social Development

Printable | Preschool Homeschool | Motor Skills Checklist

Mental Checklist for the Preschool Homeschool – Motor Skills

Printable | Number Formation Practice

Having made a template for letter formation practice pages, the next logical step was to create number formation practice pages.

Printable | Letter Formation Practice | Upper Case

Well, I posted a set of lowercase Letter Formation Practice Pages a week ago. I thought there might be a few people who found them useful, even though they were pretty simplistic. Apparently a lot of people found them useful. I guess it's not just my own kids who find it constraining to write the same letter over and over.

Printables | English Language Arts Essentials | Text Types and Student Glossary

When I began teaching Middle School ELA in the United States, I began a second career in teaching, that was totally different to my first career as a high school teacher in Australia. Education, it seems, is yet another one of the many facets of culture that differ vastly between Australia and the US (not simply our pronounciation and spelling of aluminium).

Now, I was no longer a teacher of various subjects to various grade levels, but a teacher of one subjects, to one grade level, simply performing what was essential the same lesson, six times in a row. Variety is truly the spice of life. 7th Grade ELA can become mind-numbingly boring after the third year. So mind-numbing, in fact, that one starts to ask questions one has never asked before.

Printable | Letter Formation Practice | Lowercase

Ada is getting much better at coloring between the lines...when she takes her time. I think she might be a bit of a chip off the old block here in that she likes to rush things because her active little imagination is racing ahead to the next thing she wants to do.

Craftivity: The Ten Plagues of Egypt

As a part of our exploration of the letter 'i' and the story of Moses leading the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt, we completed a craft activity based on the Ten Plagues of Egypt. This activity was very useful in helping my oldest (aged 3 1/2) in retelling the order of the plagues and what they were.

'10 Top ABC Coloring Pages' Rides Again

Life is a little busy, but the crayons are always handy, and the alphabet never gets stale.

10 Top ABC Coloring Pages

We love to colour, and when life gets busy and schoolwork gets pushed to the side for a time colouring is a great activity to keep working those fine motor skills, visual discrimination, and vocabulary. Here are 10 of our favourite alphabet coloring sets

Printable: Letter Recognition Assessment

Formative assessment is the most important of the three types of assessment used in the classroom, whether it be a regular school classroom, or the homeschool classroom.

Printable: The A-MAZE-ING Alphabet

In our exploration of the Alphabet, I have continually seen the need for constant exposure to letters, from pointing them out on the side of a truck, to pointing to the words as I read them in a book, even knowing that my little ones might not yet make much sense of them.

At this stage both Ada (3.5) and Ida (2) can recite the alphabet and name any letter they see, both lower and upper cases. Ada can also name the sounds letters make, and enjoys telling me what letter words begin with ("Mummy! Poo starts with p...p...P!")

I feel it's time to start giving her exposure to the SHAPE of letters as well as the SOUND of letters. She enjoys simple mazes, so I decided to use letter shapes in maze form. This is a complete alphabet set to go along with the Alphabet Roll'n'Graph set I made a few weeks ago. You van find that here.

Craftivity: The Symmetry of Creation



The Symmetry of Creation Craftivity

In searching for preschool resources and activities about the Creation, I came across the most wonderful blog run by a member of The Bible Society in Australia.

Visual Unit is a collection of biblical diagrams, illustrations and charts put together over the last few years by Mark Barry, of The Bible Society in Australia, a time during which he has been involved in a number of different ministries.

At the Visual Unit blog, you will find fascinating and thought-provoking representation of genealogies and doctrines, maps, outlines of various books of the Bible (including a wonderful breakdown of the book of Job), and even a Periodic Table of the Bible.

Printable: Alphabet Roll'n'Graph

As we start our journey through the alphabet using the God's Little Explorers Preschool curriculum plan, I've been collecting resources from all sorts of places, as well as working on a few things that I know will specifically help my kids in their learning process.

One thing I want to achieve is familiarity with the sounds that each letter makes, and that takes constant exposure using various senses and patterns of thinking.

I really like Roll and Graph activities for my kids.  Not only do they enjoy them, but they utilize counting, fine motor skills (I have them peeling and placing small stickers on the graph), and basic data recording concepts.  I wanted to combine that with exposure to the sounds made by each letter.

I put together an alphabet's worth of roll and graph activities. 

You can download them here.