What a month! Husband working from home in the basement, baby who just started crawling and is getting into everything, a Kindergartener who is starting virtual school in the living room, and me, attempting to accomplish some sort of preschool-at-home in the margins with my energetic 3 year old.
Some days are crazy, but I’ve gotta say… to my surprise, it’s actually working so far. 🙂
(By the way, if you want to see what my typical preschool-at-home schedule and routines look like, check out the links below.)
Today I’m sharing 10 new things that we’ve been doing (or planning to start doing this month) as a part of our preschool at home routine, that we’re absolutely loving!
Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This post contains affiliate links, meaning that if you choose to click through and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
This planner page
I’ve shared this planner page on the blog before, but it’s worth sharing again. I fill out this page once a month, and use it to keep track of all the themes, books and activities that we’ll be doing during that entire month.
I love that I can plan for an entire month of preschool at a time on a single sheet of paper. It never feels like an overwhelming job. Here’s our plan for September:
This play-based preschool at home curriculum
I recently bought Year 2 of the Playing Preschool curriculum. (We already completed the first year, and it was great!)
I love that this curriculum includes themes and focus letters for each week. In September, for example, we’ll be learning about:
- All about me (Focus letter: A)
- Animals (Focus letter: H)
- Alphabet (Focus letter: E)
- Blocks (Focus letter: B)
This curriculum includes book suggestions for each theme, so at the beginning of the month I put all the books we’ll need on hold at the library and pick them up all at once.
There are also lots of activity suggestions included in the curriculum. I look through them all at the beginning of the month, and choose 5-6 activities to do each week. Then I write them on my planner page so I won’t forget. 😉
This fine motor alphabet bundle
I bought this letter-of-the-week resource from the Crafty Classroom. It is full of hands-on activities for kids to use as they practice their letters.
For example, during the first week we’ll use play-dough to make the letter A, glue pom poms in the shape of the letter A, and make an A using do-a-dot markers. These activities are all quick and easy for my daughter to do on her own, and she loves them!
This activity brainstorming page
I keep this activity page hanging on our fridge, where I can refer to it when I’m looking for activities to do throughout the day.
In addition to all of the activities listed on this sheet, here are a few more that we’ve recently added to our list:
This Famous Artists series
My daughters both love art, so when I found this tutorial for recreating famous artwork, I knew we had to give it a try.
So far we’ve learned about Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, and Andy Warhol. I think the girls’ art turned out great, and they have really been enjoying it.
We also bought this set of oil pastels and this set of gel crayons, and have been using them nonstop, even after the art projects were over. (I had never even heard of gel crayons before… but they are awesome.)
This book of easy science projects
Since I published this list of 17 super easy science experiments to do with your kids, I have been on the hunt for more experiments to do.
So my husband recently surprised me with this book, by Steve Spangler. I cannot wait to start trying out these experiments. You can do most of them with supplies that I already have around the house, and they seem easy but really cool! We will definitely be doing a lot more science this month!
These devotions for siblings
We’re doing virtual learning this year, which means the siblings are spending a lot of time together lately. And without too many opportunities to get out of the house, they seem to have been arguing more than usual lately.
So we’re excited to check out this devotional series. We chose the books for 4-7 year olds. There is a section for the adult to read, and then kids have a chance to respond to prompts and questions by drawing pictures and writing simple words. And it’s all about how to appreciate and get along better with your siblings!
We haven’t started yet, but I’m pretty excited about it. I’ll have to keep you posted on how it goes. 🙂
This yoga channel on YouTube
When it’s too hot (or too rainy) to get outside, I have to do something to get the kids moving, or they go ca-razy.
We recently discovered this channel on YouTube, where they tell a story that goes along with each yoga move. I’m shocked that my kids will follow along for 20-25 minutes, doing every motion.
They’re so interested in the story that it really holds their interest, and I’ve noticed that they’re much more calm afterwards! Plus, I do it along with them, and I feel better afterwards, too. Genius.
These books that are perfect for quiet time
Our library just got a ton of these Playaway books, called Wonderbooks. They’re regular picture books with a little audio box in the front cover that will read the book out loud to your kids as they follow along.
It’s the same idea as a book on CD, but even less complicated. I’m so glad I discovered that my library has these. They’re perfect for my 3 year old’s quiet time. It’s definitely worth checking to see if your library carries them as well!
And a little something for Mom
I’ve recently started listening to the podcast Risen Motherhood.
It offers great encouragement for Christian women.
Risen Motherhood speaks specifically to moms with young kids at home, and I feel like they’re reading my mind. They also wrote a book, which I’m reading and enjoying a lot. It helps me to remember that I’m not alone in working day in and day out with these little ones, but there are many of us, all in this together. 🙂
That’s it for me! What do your plans for this month look like?
I’d love to hear any great ideas that you have! Just leave a comments. 🙂 Whatever you’re doing, just remember that you’ve got this! You were made to parent these little ones, and you can do it.
Have a great month, and thanks for reading!
-Laura
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