Preschool Powol Packets

Soap Boats are fun to make just as a fun project, but they can also be used in science and history lessons to discuss oceans, sailing, boats, floating, and American history. They also appeal to a wide range of ages and require very little set up or clean up! Here's the simple how-to for   Soap Boats : Simple Supplies : Ivory soap grapefruit spoons (or normal spoons, or other sculpting tool!) bowl of water optional: liquid watercolors Easy How-to: 1- Let your children carve out the boat!  Ivory soap works well because it is easy to dig into, but older children may enjoy comparing different brands.  I also like to use grapefruit spoons because they have a gentle serrated edge.  Normal spoons and other sculpting tools will also work. 2- Ask your children if they think their boats will float, and let them experiment with it.  They may also enjoy experimenting with other brands of soaps, objects or people being placed in their boats, objects or people on the

Welcome to Teach Me Tuesday!! I'm so sorry that this did not get up earlier, but I am so excited to see what everyone has been up to! Our features this week are fabulous preschool learning games: #1: Upper & Lower Case Letter Match Printable from B-Inspired Mama #2: Dinosaur Activity Trays from Life With Moore Babies #3: Hidden Ice Treasures from Gift of Curiosity FREE PRINTABLE FEATURES: FREE Digraph Playdough Mats from 3 Dinosaurs FREE Early Reading Printables Bob Books Set 3 FREE Upper & Lower Case Letter Match Printable from B-Inspired Mama Most Clicked on Link: Fizzy Ocean Sensory Bin at Wildflower Ramblings You can also see more free printables on my  FREE PRINTABLES  Pinterest board  here !  It's brand new, but growing quickly, so be sure to check it frequently! If you missed any of these posts, be sure to check them out!  And if you were featured, feel free to grab a button from the right side bar! Now, on to this week

I have so many treats for you today!!   First of all, as part of Poppins Book Nook Book Club, we read the classic fairy tale fable The Boy Who Cried Wolf. It was so much fun that I wanted my new early reader to be able to read it independently and easily.  This is good for building her reading confidence.  So, I re-told the story as an easy reader, and I am sharing it with you as a FREEBIE!!  I hope you have a young friend who will enjoy it!  Click HERE to get your {FREE} copy !   Secondly, here is The Boy Who Cried Wolf  book that we enjoyed.  I think the pictures are absolutely fantastic!   After you read it, try acting it out.  It is a simple, repetitive story that our kids loved  dramatizing!  Our little "shepherd" perfectly mimicked the boy in the story!  You can see the book on Amazon here: (affiliate link): Do you have any fairy-tale activities you'd like to share?  Join the party here: And finally, beg

This week I have been posting a 5-day series on a subject that is close to my heart: How Do I Teach a Child-led Curriculum? Today, I am sharing the Ultimate List of Free Lessons & Unit Plans!  Here is the rest of the schedule: Monday: Why Child-led Education Tuesday: Attention Spans of Children Wednesday: How To Use Routine in a Child-led Curriculum Thursday: How To Plan Lessons & Units in a Child-led Curriculum Friday: The Ultimate List of Free Unit Plans Since this is a preschool blog, I am sharing a list of {FREE} lessons and unit plans for young children.  If you have a FREE unit plan you would like me to list, just send me an email--I'd love to keep this list updated as a huge resource! The Ultimate List of Free Unit Plans for Young Children! Preschool Powol Packets!! Yes, I have several {FREE} units, including a Poetry Unit , a St. Patrick's Day Packet , an Amazing Arctic Animals PreK Packet , a Spiders lapbook  and more!  You can a

This week I am posting a 5-day series on a subject that is close to my heart: How Do I Teach a Child-led Curriculum? Today, I am talking about how to plan lessons and units.  Here is the rest of the schedule: Monday: Why Child-led Education Tuesday: Attention Spans of Children Wednesday: How To Use Routine in a Child-led Curriculum Thursday: How To Plan Lessons & Units in a Child-led Curriculum Friday: The Ultimate List of Free Unit Plans Since this is a preschool blog, I will be discussing the entire subject with a focus on young children, but the principles can also be applied to older children (who can often have even more input in planning their schedules). How to Plan Lessons and Units from Scratch I had years of experience planning units and lessons before I ever began homeschooling, and I enjoy the process and the results.  The process is very easy to describe, but can take time to become comfortable with.  Here is a straight forward, step by step

This week I am posting a 5-day series on a subject that is close to my heart: How Do I Teach a Child-led Curriculum? Today, I am talking about using routine in a child-led curriculum.  Here is the rest of the schedule: Monday: Why Child-led Education Tuesday: Attention Spans of Children Wednesday: How To Use Routine in a Child-led Curriculum Thursday: How To Plan Lessons & Units in a Child-led Curriculum Friday: The Ultimate List of Free Unit Plans Since this is a preschool blog, I will be discussing the entire subject with a focus on young children, but the principles can also be applied to older children (who can often have even more input in planning their schedules). Why Routine is Important Routine provides children with stability and predictability in their day.  When a child knows what is coming up, they will argue and resist it less, if at all.  Children also feel like they have more control over their own lives when they can expect a consistent r

This week I am posting a 5-day series on a subject that is close to my heart: How Do I Teach a Child-led Curriculum? Today, I am talking about attention spans of children.  Here is the rest of the schedule: Monday: Why Child-led Education Tuesday: Attention Spans of Children Wednesday: How To Use Routine in a Child-led Curriculum Thursday: How To Plan Lessons & Units in a Child-led Curriculum Friday: The Ultimate List of Free Unit Plans Since this is a preschool blog, I will be discussing the entire subject with a focus on young children, but the principles can also be applied to older children (who can often have even more input in planning their schedules). Attention Spans of Children Your children's attention span is one of the most important things to be aware of and monitoring as you teach!  Whether you use child-led techniques, or not, children will misbehave if you expect them to focus longer than they are able. How long should a child be abl

Welcome to Teach Me Tuesday!! I'm so excited to see what everyone's doing this week! First we're starting out with four letter-learning activities that you can use to help develop early reading skills: #1:   Water Balloons Letter & Shape Play from Little Bins for Little Hands #2:   Raising Readers Without Breaking the Bank: 0-2 from Lessons in Homeschooling #3:   Letter P Sensory Bin from Life With Moore Babies #4:   Help the Babies to Find Their Mamas from Growing Merrily The Most Clicked on Link: Free Summer Emergent Reader Pack from The Measured Mom Last week we also had eight amazing {FREE} printables shared: FREE PRINTABLES FEATURES : Free Poetry Memorization Cards for Kids from Teach Beside Me Free Apples Activity Pack from 3 Dinosaurs Free Apple Calendar Cards from 3 Dinosaurs Free Early Reading Printables: BOB Book Set 3 from 3 Dinosaurs Free Not Back-to-School Homeschool Pack from Enchanted Homeschooling Mom Free Summer

This week I am posting a 5-day series on a subject that is close to my heart: How Do I Teach a Child-led Curriculum? Today, I am talking about why child-led education is important.  Here is the rest of the schedule: Monday: Why Child-led Education Tuesday: Attention Spans of Children Wednesday: How To Use Routine in a Child-led Curriculum Thursday: How To Plan Lessons & Units in a Child-led Curriculum Friday: The Ultimate List of Free Unit Plans Since this is a preschool blog, I will be discussing the entire subject with a focus on young children, but the principles can also be applied to older children (who can often have even more input in planning their schedules). What is Child-led Education? There is actually a range of parents and teachers who consider their educational style child-led: they vary from families and schools where the parents/teachers let children direct all aspects of their education to parents/teachers who teach material chosen on th

We're starting out our school year with frogs! I'm sharing our Back to School Packet {FREE} just this week, so you can join us too! The packet has a Back to School banner, frog pond activity placemats, a back to school book, and a lesson/experiment about flying frogs!  There are also frog headbands, frog labels, a frog game, and an "F is for Frog" page!  Here are pictures: Our first day of school was this week.  The kids discovered a note from a "sneaky frog" who wanted to steal their school supplies!  They happily read and followed the clues to where he had hidden them...my 3-year old has mentioned that sneaky frog each day since then!  After the "treasure hunt" we made frog headbands and Hop Back to School books.  Here's a peak inside: Click here to get your own Back to School Froggy Packet !  Remember it is only FREE for a week! If you use it, I would love to hear from you or see pictures!! Do you st