Preschool Powol Packets

Did you know that over the last few years, I have shared more than 30 math games for preschoolers...for FREE?!! Most of these games require printing, some need a little cutting, and then you are ready to go!! I decided it would be handy to have a list of all these math games in one spot, so if your preschooler wants a game (or you want to teach something with a game), you can just pick the one you want, print, and go! I've divided them up into three groups: board games, matching games, and "other" games. Don't discount the "other" games--they are AWESOME too! They just don't fit into the other categories! Preschool Math Games Board Games: Decorate a Heart Cookie (Valentine Game) North Pole Train Game Bear Walk Game   Shark Diet Game (younger preschoolers can play without coins) Unicorn Magic STEM Board Game (screen-free coding skills) Apple Race Getting to Know You (requires an adult to read) Sports Grid Game Superhero Scarecrow Matching Games: Frog ...

The other day I was in a group, and we were talking about using things our preschoolers are excited about to teach them. I came up with this activity as an example of something you could do with a kid who gets excited about volcanoes to help him learn letters. I am a strong advocate for learning by play and learning with hands-on activities. You will recognize this popular preschool science activity, but I added a small change: mystery letter cups! Three cups are labeled with "B," "S," and "F" (or whatever letters you want to work on).  Inside the cups are a few tablespoons of baking soda (my "B"), salt (my "S), and flour (my "F"). I used the first letters of each word in this example, but it's really not necessary if you want to work on other letters. Inside the vase, let your preschooler pour about a cup of vinegar. He can add red or orange food coloring, too! (My kids are a little obsessed with food coloring! I should do ano...

This is our second How to  Homeschool Preschool  class! The topic for today is: 9 Awesome Pre-K "Learning" Activities! And, as you read through the "lesson," you will find a link to get this fantastic little printable reminder for free! Homeschool Preschool 9 Awesome Preschool "Learning" Activities A lot of people I know get stressed out about making sure their preschooler is "doing" enough "school." It turns out that there are TONS of educational "learning" activities that you should give you and your preschooler credit for! As you consider the activities you plan into your preschoolers day, please remember the three "Big Picture" goals we talked about last time: 1- Help develop a love of learning. 2- Encourage a broad range of experiences. 3- Develop skills to learn more. Amazingly, your child comes pre-programmed to explore, learn, and develop on their own! Preschoolers will naturally gravitate toward activities t...

This is our first How to Homeschool Preschool class! The topic for today is: What Preschoolers Need to Know! And, as you read through the "lesson," you will find a link to get this fantastic little checklist for free! Before we get started, it's really important to point out a quick definition here: I consider 2-6 year old children "preschoolers."  This definition is important because this list of skills is NOT one that I'd expect a 4-year old (or even many 5-year olds) to have completed. I think the "kindergarten" year should be spent playing and using every-day learning opportunities to teach these skills. Finally, please read all the way to the end of this article! There is A LOT of good information, and I couldn't just stuff it all in the first few paragraphs! So, let's get started... Homeschool Preschool What Preschoolers Need to Know Preschoolers are delightful in a way no other age group is! Their excitement and energy are contagiou...

It's summer time!! What are your favorite summer pictures? Can you find all the "hidden" pictures I listed? Can you tell I am excited to share this preschool summer I SPY game with you (for free)?!!  The download link is below. Just print both pages once -- the first page is full of hidden pictures and the second page lists the hidden pictures.  Of course, you can find other pictures too! Or let your preschooler pick something for you to find! I'll tell you a secret: I think the seahorse, flamingo, and fireflies are my favorites! Do you have a favorite? Or does your kiddo? You can play this game with your preschoolers, put it in a Quiet Bin for nap time, or put it in a busy bag for when you need a quick activity!  I SPY games are great for preschoolers because they help them develop lots of pre-reading and pre-math skills! Here are a few: 1- Visual Discrimination: Noticing fine details and differences is necessary for reading and telling letters and numbers apart! I S...

I am super excited about this dinosaur activity because I think my preschoolers will love it! To celebrate my new book,  A Dinosaur Made Me Sneeze , I am sharing loads of FREE dinosaur activities, and today it is a "Find the Hidden Dinosaurs" activity!! This is the eighth activity in my  10-day Preschool Dinosaur Activities series ! Check out the rest  HERE  (there's also a  gift card giveaway  in that post--scroll to the bottom for details)!! This printable activity is kind of like playing hide-n-seek on paper! As your preschoolers find the number of each dinosaur, they can write it in the box at the bottom near the dinosaur. Or, if they aren't writing numbers yet, they can make tally marks or dots! I should probably make one quick note here--pterosaurs are technically not dinosaurs, but they lived during the same time and are such fun animals, that I tossed one in. Flying reptiles? Yes. Dinosaurs. No. :) But then, the trees aren't dinosaurs either. ;)...

If you've been following along with the How to Teach Reading series , you know that this is the final article! We laid the ground work with Pre-Reading for Preschoolers in Part 1 , we discussed how to tell if your child is ready to read in Part 2 , and now we are going to cover how to actually teach your child to read! The good news is that once your child shows all the readiness signs I discussed in Part 2 , there are literally a million different ways to teach him or her how to actually read!   And for the most part, they all work! Some work better than others, though, and that's what we're going to discuss here. Research shows that the best reading instruction combines 3 elements: word study, phonics and decoding, and meaningful stories. This means that your reading lessons should include sounding out skills (word families, word meanings, rhyming, etc) AND sight words AND meaningful stories with these first two elements in them.  There are virtually unlimi...