Preschool Reed family style

I've had some families ask me what we do for homeschooling and preschool. I will admit this was the first year I really got into homeschooling preschool as my older girls went to preschool and we just did things on the side at home. Usually working on handwriting, or letters or numbers we usually did a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

This year was a little different as I chose to keep Maggie home from preschool. Our preschool has consisted bascially of getting in what I can when I can get it in since I have three other children to teach at the moment. We haven't skimped on things though. Maggie has learned her days of the week, months of the year, how to tell what the weather is like and chart it on her weather map. We're working on colors and color patterns, number recognition, letters and their sounds, and even blending some three letter words to read. Maggie has learned so spell her name and is learning how to trace lines to spell her name and other letters.

This all sounds like a lot, but in fact we do it in such a matter of fact way that it has not seemed like much work at all. How you ask? Well I'll tell you. You can actually get these results buy remembering one simple thing. Have fun! If you can remember that you will find that your preschooler will learn so much in such a way that it almost seems effortless for you.

Here are some of my preschool secrets :

Learning Letters and their sounds- Leap Frog Videos,, Letter Factory, Talking Words Factory, Talking Words Factory 2 are all great videos and they work. In 2 weeks or less they will learn their letters and their sounds. Of course in order for that to work they do have to watch it at least once daily for two weeks.

Letter of the Week - this is a free online curriculum that teaches the letters and their sounds. It includes daily activities for each letter of the alphabet.

Number recognition- I use a combination of Touch Math and The Leap Pad Math Circus video.

I've also used websites such as Tot School to add some pizzaz to our days as well , and created our own Totbox to add Maggie's school stuff in so she can pull it out. I actually have a picture of that on the blog here and will have to dig for that photo and will post it.

File Folder games are awesome for little ones and even big kids to in order to help them learn. What better way to teach your child and not have them even know that they are learning something?
Websites such as:

File Folder Fun.com
Child Care Land. com
Positively Autism.com
Preschool Printables.com
The Resource Site.com

are great places to start with. Some of the websites may require you register for membership but these websites are free. You can also make file folder games of your own, and you can also buy premade ones as well. You just have to google them.

The next fun thing to do is to make Lapbooks. We absolutely love to Lapbook here. Lapbooks are educational and make a fun keepsake. You can be as creative with them as you want.

To learn about lapbooking you can go to www.squidoo.com/lapbooking
This website will give you some links and a quick tutorial on how to make lapbooks.
Also Lapbook Lessons.com will give you a not only all the information you'll ever need on lapbooking but also videos on how to make minibooks to add to your lapbook. If your unable to access that from their site you can easily type in lapbook on You Tube and they are on there.
Some of my favorite Lapbook websites are :

www.lapbooklessons.com
www.homeschoolshare.com
www.homeschoolhelperonline.com

You can also purchase them already made and download to your computer

www.currclick.com
www.heartofwisdom.com
www.homeschoolinthewoods.com

So there you go. Simplicity is the name of the game for preschool. Fun and enjoyment.
Playing with playdough, helping cook things in the kitchen with mom, learning to set a table, tie their shoes, zip their coats , jump and skip, draw pictures on paper and on the sidewalk with chalk. All of these things are equally important as much as academic work if not more important. Cuddling, kissing and lots of hugs also go along with the grade, because our little ones are little only once in their life time. So enjoy my suggestions and enjoy your little one.

Spiffing up the Saxon K and 1 Meeting Book

Since I am using the Saxon K and 1 right now to get the girls used to the math program that St. Thomas will be using. I found it pretty redundant to repeat myself twice everyday. So I made my own meeting book on our walls. By using some of the stuff I already have here at home, finding some things on the internet and creating my own stuff it turned out really nice. I took a video of our Meeting book wall since our camera's flash is not working so the pictures were coming out to dark even with enough light in the room.
Saxon K and 1 Meeting Wall Part 1

Saxon K and 1 Meeting Wall Part 2


Here are the links for the charts I printed out: Click on the Title.

100's Chart
Weather Stickers
Skip Counting Pages
Calendar Pages
this I forgot to take a picture of and mention. Since the K meeting book is bascially the set up of our wall plus arrows at the top where you add a number each day and do color patterns on. I am using the calendars from Touch Math because they are cute and do the job. Right now they just have January-April for the time being but each month they add a new calendar and hopefully by the time November rolls around they will have Decembers. My suggestion is to make two copies each time they bring out a new calendar. Touch Math doesn't keep everything on their websites for all times sake and plus they are celebrating 50 years this year so I think this will be up for a limited time. Of course you can find other calendars on the web if you google them. In the end if you have these items in your home or are up to creating some of the stuff this can give you an idea of a better way to do the Meeting if the meeting book is a drag ,or if you need to combine levels that are close together with Saxon math.

Getting Ready for Easter

Ahh, its finally spring and warmer weather has been showing up lately. Its wonderful to now see the sun and the grass on the ground. Its nice to not be freezing all of the time either.
We've had much to do last month. The girls spent some time with their Agora friends getting those cute little caricature pictures done. Then they also had a chance to spend a day at school! The girls will be attending St. Thomas this year. This was by their own asking so in the spirit of life Tim and I feel that we can not deny them a chance to see what it is like to go to school. So off they will go in September and I on the other hand will be busy finishing my degree. I am both excited and sad all at the same time. Excited for them because they will be having a new experience, and isnt' that what life is about? Trying new things? Sad because I just don't feel ready to give up my homeschool mom status either.
Of course I'm sure I will try to fit in afterschooling in there somehow.
The girls visited St. Thomas on March 29th and they had a great day and really enjoyed it.


Maggie was sort of okay with it. The moment we step foot in the classroom and I took off her coat she began to cry. So I sat in with her for some time until I was able to slip away. She did well for the most part. Her teacher Mrs. Buell said she only cried when she realized when I was gone but she settled herself down, then looked a little teary eyed in the afternoon and then she finally had enough and cried around 1:30 ish beause she pooped her pants. Of course I had to come and change her diaper because she wouldn't let anyone change it except for me. So I stayed the rest of school because school was almost over anyways and she went back and stayed right until the end. I was very proud of her because that made for a long day. I'm sure we'll have to go through this again when school starts but I think she will do just fine. I really do.

Marilyn, Katie and Hannah really enjoyed their time. Hannah's favorite part was that one of the children in the class had a birthday and they all got Dairy Queen for desert ( lucky Hannah). Katie had fun and all of the girls asked if she was coming back the next day (which she wasn't). Of course one little boy had to pipe up and act like an idiot but she was fine with it and was more interested in what the girls thought of her. LOL. Marilyn said she had fun with her friend Abby and she talked to a few other girls and there were a couple of boys who thought she was pretty neat,, ;>) That's my Marilyn! In the end I think this will be a good experience for them.
Hopefully with the time I have I can finish my degree. Work on getting better with my health and maybe the 'funness' of the school will wear off and I can go back to doing what I do best,,, homeschooling. This definitely will be another season in our life. One that we will all get through with flying colors. That's for sure.

Oh yes, before I forget I ran across a pretty neat blog called Homeschool Creations. There was a really cute Easter Bunny game and thought you all would enjoy!

Cartoon Caricatures.....

Today we had an awesome fun day. The girls went to their PSSA party for Agora and we were surprised with an artist that drew caricatures. So of course the girls each wanted their very own cartoon version of themselves and they turned out so cute! Of course I took some photos of the drawings and this is what they looked like!

Aren't they funny? I plan on going to Walmart or someplace that sells frames and get these all frammed. They definitely are something that the girls will look back upon with some fond memories!

The never ending winter

I'll have to start off by saying I'm sorry I haven't posted pictures in a while. Our trusty Kodak camera's flash is not working so I'm not getting very good pictures off of it. At least none that would look any good on the computer. So I'm in picture withdrawl at the moment.

We've still be pretty busy with school work. Trying to get this year done and overwith. I am still looking forward to going back to traditional homeschooling. I think I was happier when I did it that way. No, I know I was happier when I just homeschooled on my own.

The girls are getting ready for Thinking Day at Girl Scouts. They've also been busy with working on earing patches for their vests. They love earning badges. Silly girls.
We've also been busy with more physical activity. This winter has left us pretty sedintary and I don't like that. I like for the girls to be active and that is what they need. So Marilyn, Katie, Hannah and Maggie have taken up karate at the YMCA. The older girls like it, Maggie isn't so sure. But there isn't much you can do with a three year old and karate. LOL. She'll learn to like it though. Maggie has also found she really likes gymnastics instead though. She is a little monkey girl, and its good getting her out and about around other kids about her age. She really needs that because my 3 yr old thinks she's either 6,10 or 12 instead of 3.
Marilyn, Katie and Hannah are continuing on with swimming and they are enjoying that.

Me, I've been working out at the Y at least 3 times a week. I'd like to do it everyday but well being a mom that isn't always possible. So far I have lost 12 pounds and I seem like I am at a standstill with my weight again. Grrr. I'm hoping that I can lose some more here. I'd like to lose about 50lbs if I can. That would be very good for me if I could. I am glad to say these days I am feeling better. I'm not sure what had been ailing me in January. Just that I really was not feeling well at all. It could of been a number of things, my thyroid, stress, the winter weather, not getting enough exercise, not enough vitamin D or B , or heck maybe all of the above. All I know is I've been feeling much better than I had been last month. I still don't feel 100% yet, but its a work in progress. I still think I'm having hormonal issues but its so hard to find a doctor that is willing to work with me and get to the bottom of things so I can get to my old self.


Other then that we are just having a never ending winter. The snow wont' stop. It just won't get warm and just looking at the tundra of snow is getting really old. I want warmth and sunshine. I want to walk outside without a coat, hat , boots and gloves on. I'm just so glad that Feburary is almost over with. Thank goodness its such a short month.

Wishing it was Spring

I think I am pretty much done with winter. I am so longing for some warm air and looking around at green grass and leaves on the tree. I long for walking outside without a coat, boots and hat on that's for certain. I am also longing for this school year to be overwith as well. I am so ready to end cyberschooling. Not because its a bad thing, its not at all. Just because I'm one worn out momma from it all.

I love having the girls home and I love teaching them more than anything in the world. I just am finding with me having health issues that I need to use something more mom friendly if that makes any sense. I just have enough on my plate right now.

Dealing this whatever is going on in my body wether it be thyroid related or not has really taken a toll on me. It has taken a toll on me both physically and emotionally. So its definitely time to beging to prioritize what needs to be done for the upcoming school year so things aren't so stressful.

Horray for Spelling!

I'll have to admit I am impressed with my girls today. I had signed them up to participate in their cyberschool's National Spelling Bee. Yes, the National Spelling Bee that you see on television. This was the school's first try at it this year. They won't always be able to participate at the national level but the school will always hold a Spelling Bee. Which is great because it really encouraged my girls to really try hard at improving their spelling.

I had fun creating a spelling file folder for them ( which I don't have a picture of at the moment because the flash on my camera went and it won't take good pictures) so they could study their spelling words. We worked on this for an entire month, and today was the day!

Marilyn impressed me by getting first place , with two other first place kids in her 6th grade class, and Katie was a runner up for the 4th grade class. Hannah gave it a try and she tried her hardest but couldn't spell egg and macaroni. I told her at least she tried her very best and she did.
Now they have this under their belt and can someday tell their children that they participated in the National Spelling Bee.

Way to go girls!