Sensory Bins

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April 1, 2019 By Jennifer Lambert 8 Comments

Sensory bins are a great activity for little ones.

We used to have monthly and seasonal themed sensory bins.

We also made a nice frugal light table out of a plastic bin and electric strand lights.

My husband made a little table where I could fit in a plastic tub.

I would gather materials from the dollar store and set out some spoons and scoops for the kids to play with loose parts.

Sometimes, I would gather items to go along with a unit study, like cars, dinosaurs, The Wizard of Oz.

Since I made sensory bins for my own children and know they have no allergies, it was no problem. For items for larger groups, I would make sure there were no wheat allergies or the like.

Why Sensory Bins?

Sensory play allows children to explore, discover, imagine, create, and learn – while engaging their senses.

Sensory play can be used to help kids calm down. We often used a quiet sensory toy during read aloud time or while waiting to occupy busy little hands.

They’re educational – helping kids develop important skills like language, emotions, fine motor, social, body awareness, science and math, and more.

Sensory play is great for special needs! Many therapists use sensory activity with even adult patients.

Sensory Bin Bases

I saved packing materials like styrofoam and bubble wrap.
Dyed rice or pasta.
Dried lentils
Dried beans
Sand
Oats
Bran kernels
Coarse wheat kernels

Sensory Bin Fillers

Themed items:

bells
plastic and wooden beads
ribbons
small boxes
stickers
die cut shapes
plastic planter decor (hearts or stars)
marbles
pom poms
decorative pebbles
shells
toys

Our Monthly Themed Sensory Bins:

Make sure you store your bins away from pets!

My kids loved playing with the sensory bins until they were about 8!

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Homeschool Preschool

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January 30, 2017 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

For preschool, we’ve tried lots of different activities and curricula.

Preschool homeschool doesn’t have to cost really anything. I know some homeschool parents who buy these expensive boxed curriculum sets, but I think these are a waste of money and cause lots of stress for child and parent. The schedules are strict and seem to have a lot of worthless busy work.

Our homeschool days have always been only a couple hours of academic work, even for high schoolers!

I highly recommend the books by Louise Bates Ames. Good guides to follow are What Your Preschooler Needs to Know: Get Ready for Kindergarten and What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know: Preparing Your Child for a Lifetime of Learning by E.D. Hirsch, Jr. These are just great jumping off points.

How We Homeschool Preschool:

While I believe that small children should play, play, play as much as possible, my younger kids wanted to “do school” like big sister, so I obliged with workbooks and fun activities and they soaked it up like sponges.

I read aloud to my kids from pre-birth through high school age. We all love books.

Autonomy

I don’t force anything on my kids. I allow them to explore their interests. We don’t worry about handwriting. Reading comes naturally, whenever the child is ready. They love learning about science and history.

Toys

Lots of plastic electronic toys are a waste of money. My kids prefer building materials and toys and recyclable items for craft creations. Pretend play is important. I shop after Halloween sales and thrift shops for fun dressup clothes. Less really is more.

Technology

Screens in moderation. Sometimes kids just need and want the downtime. When it’s bad weather outside or we’re not feeling well, it’s fine to curl up together or alone with the cats and watch a show or play an app. Why should we make kids feel guilty when adults do it all the time? My kids learn how to self-regulate their screen time by not having strict rules about it, other than all devices away at bedtime.

Outdoors

We spend lots of time outside. We play balancing and running games and run free and wild. We learn about and experience nature. I seldom structure this time unless we go on a hike at a nature center. Kids need lots of free play time outdoors.

Practical Life

They use real tools in the kitchen, helping cook real food meals.

We explore textures and colors and drawing with real art supplies.

We go to the library at least weekly – for storytime and checking out lots of fun books.

Lots of fun field trips – farms, museums, science centers, historic locations, beaches, parks, nature centers. We prefer realistic locales over entertainment places like amusement parks. We love to travel!

My middle and youngest children wanted to “do school” almost from birth. They followed their sister around and wanted to do everything she did. I provided activities based on interests and needs so they felt useful and occupied.

Letter of the Week

We loved using the programs from Confessions of a Homeschooler and 1+1+1=1. It was lots of paper and printing, but the girls really loved it. Alex liked it ok.

My girls completed 2 levels of All About Reading and my son used their entire program. They all loved it! It was a fun and easy way to learn to read and they begged to do a lesson every single day.

Here are some of our random letter blog posts. I didn’t record all of our letter learning efforts.

Unit Studies

Preschool Pinterest Board

Montessori Pinterest Board

I try to limit toys to encourage imaginative play.

Recommendations:

Book Recommendations:

Your Self-Confident Baby: How to Encourage Your Child’s Natural Abilities — From the Very Start by Magda Gerber
Baby Knows Best: Raising a Confident and Resourceful Child, the RIE™ Way by Deborah Carlisle Solomon
Elevating Child Care: A Guide To Respectful Parenting by Janet Lansbury
No Bad Kids: Toddler Discipline Without Shame by Janet Lansbury
Help Your Preschooler Build a Better Brain: A Complete Guide to Doing Montessori Early Learning at Home by John Bowman
How To Raise An Amazing Child the Montessori Way by Tim Seldin
Montessori at Home Guide: A Short Guide to a Practical Montessori Homeschool for Children Ages 2-6 by AM Sterling
Teach Me to Do It Myself: Montessori Activities for You and Your Child by Maja Pitamic
Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv
Unconditional Parenting: Moving from Rewards and Punishments to Love and Reason by Alfie Kohn
How Children Learn by John Holt
Teach Your Own: The Indispensable Guide to Living and Learning with Children at Home by John Holt
Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life by Peter Gray
Free-Range Kids: How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children (Without Going Nuts with Worry) by Lenore Skenazy
The Collapse of Parenting: How We Hurt Our Kids When We Treat Them Like Grown-Ups by Leonard Sax
A Disease Called Childhood: Why ADHD Became an American Epidemic by Marilyn Wedge

Preschool does mean Before Schooling. Kids before age six really need to play, play, play.

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How We Do Math

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September 3, 2015 By Jennifer Lambert 5 Comments

Math is very important for productive members of society.

I think many homeschool parents are intimidated by teaching math, especially as kids get older and do more complicated work. I love learning along with my kids, filling in the gaps in my own education.

I got lost in math around 6th grade and never really caught up. I love learning along with my kids now!

Here’s how we do math in our homeschool – from preschool to high school.

Primary curriculum is Singapore workbooks, Life of Fred, and VideoText.

We do lots of supplemental math work with stories, games, manipulatives, and apps.

We love notebooking along with workbooks and occasional drill exercises to ensure our kids know their math facts and concepts well to move on to higher level math coursework.

We love keeping math journals. We do special math projects around seasons. We do fun math activities during the holidays like Valentine’s and Easter. I like to incorporate cross-curricular activities for further review. And we love playing with food. The kids like Montessori math games.

We love reading math stories all year long, no matter our age!

Preschool

Babies, toddlers, and preschoolers should play, play, play!

As soon as my kids showed interest, I would let them lead the way and provide opportunities for them to explore and learn about math.

We focus on counting and number recognition: cardinal and ordinal. We play and make math fun.

There is little writing at this age.

We draw, play with shapes, identify, play matching, games, sing songs, play apps.

Alex soon begged for a math workbook like his sisters.

Luckily, I found Singapore K was just right for him!

He would beg to do so many pages each day that he completed both workbooks in just a few months!

I don’t hold back or push my kids. I let them soar and rest as needed.

Elementary

I follow the natural transitions of my kids’ learning.

We’ve loved Singapore Primary Math for levels 1-6 since the beginning of our homeschool journey.

My children have been ready for the Book 1 Set by the time they were 5 years old.

A complete set of Singapore Primary Math for one grade level consists of two softcover textbooks and two consumable workbooks. There are also teacher manuals and homeschool schedule booklets that I never needed or used.

We love notebooking with Life of Fred math.

I read the books aloud and the girls complete the Your Turn at the end of each chapter together with printable themed notebooking pages.

The elementary set of Life of Fred math are 10 books with titles beginning with the alphabet A through J.

Life of Fred is fun reading: it’s a narrative following the character Fred through adventures that entertain as we learn math concepts.

The math concepts in Life of Fred are interspersed with fun stories, life skills, cross-curricular information. We all love it!

We reinforce math concepts with fun store bought, printable, or homemade manipulatives.

Place value, money, and fractions are easier to grasp with visuals.

The girls love learning math with music, doing special activities around the holidays and seasons, and playing math apps on their iPad minis.

Middle School

Singapore Math changes after Book 6.

My eldest jumped right into VideoText, but my younger kids needed a transition curriculum. Singapore has middle school texts that they do with their dad.

The Life of Fred Intermediate books are a great new addition to our math shelf. They weren’t around when Liz was at this level.

I find it funny their titles continue the alphabet with the alphabet: KLM.

These offer a great transition to pre-Algebra and higher math.

I love the Intermediate and “Before High School” sets of Life of Fred.

We completed Fractions, Decimals and Percents, Pre-Algebra 0 with Physics, Pre-Algebra I with Biology, and Pre-Algebra 2 with Economics in about two years.

Life of Fred Middle School and High School Books

Middle school is a rough time and we have to make sure all the basics are memorized and all the concepts are learned well. This is super important before moving on to high school math.

Unfortunately, most higher education options expect students to complete the SAT or ACT but these texts help with critical thinking.

I plan to enroll my younger three kids in test prep since my eldest didn’t quite get the score she hoped for on the SAT though she was accepted into Ohio College Credit Plus early admission and then to a local university. She might have to take a math placement test or remedial course.

High School

We love continuing Life of Fred math for high school.

I purchased the last of the series: Beginning and Advanced Algebra, Geometry, and Trigonometry.

I also purchased Calculus, which is listed as college-level, but it tells the story of Fred’s baby years and we wanna know! There are also books on Linear Algebra and Statistics.

We use VideoText Algebra and Geometry for our main college prep high school.

The VideoText Algebra program gives these credits: pre-algebra, algebra I, and algebra II.

The VideoText Geometry program gives these credits: geometry, trigonometry, and pre-calculus.

It was always highly recommended by homeschoolers I knew for high school math. The videos are a little dry, but the lessons cover all the material needed. Both Videotext algebra and geometry can be completed in two years if you rush it.

My eldest went through VideoText Algebra in a little over a year. She and her dad worked through one lesson each school day.

We’re lucky that I’m a history/language arts/biology person and my husband is a math/chemistry guru.

Liz completes her video lesson and notes during the day and then she works through the text with Dad before dinner each evening. There are also quizzes and tests.

We teach to mastery, reviewing and supplementing as needed.

Visit my Math Pinterest board:

Follow Jennifer’s board Math on Pinterest.

Resources:

Ideas, Activities and FREE Notebook Pages
Life of Fred Worksheets
Is Life of Fred enough?
Life of Fred; Apples, Chapter 5
Life of Fred; Apples, Chapter 1 Math Lesson
Free Printables for Life of Fred

What are your favorite math activities?

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Kindergarten Boy Fun

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April 22, 2014 By Jennifer Lambert 5 Comments

Alex has been loving school lately.

I make sure I set aside at least an hour of uninterrupted one-on-one time with him every day.

We play trucks.

And we have to have an audience!

He recently announced that he wanted to do math.

So I got out the Unifix and Cuisenaire and we counted and colored blocks.

He loves All About Reading and we reinforce his learning with blend ladders and our movable alphabet.

I made this with Lauri letters and phonograms tiles similar to these letter tiles. I got the case at Walmart, similar to this scrapbook organizer case.

These ladders are fun for reinforcement of the sounds.

I love the time we spend together, learning and exploring.

Recently, Alex has started saying to me: “When I was a boy…”

I asked him what he meant. What is he now if not a boy?

“Mama, when I was three, I was just a boy. I’m a big boy now.”

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Preschool Listening Skills

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January 24, 2014 By Jennifer Lambert 3 Comments

I’m not really all that metacognitive about teaching my kids listening skills. I’m sure it works better some days than others despite the fact that I don’t actively incorporate this into our school time.

I recently have had some lightbulb moments when I noticed my son was learning on his own how to listen actively.

I want to to practice Listening Skills in our homeschool.

And I love his interpersonal skills. He often reprimands me, but kindly: “Look at me, Mama!” and then he tells me or shows me what he wants. This is a great skill that my husband and I should really have mastered with four kids. In this age of rampant ADHD and behavioral disorders, many parents and teachers would rather treat the symptoms instead of solving the problems that cause these disorders, whether imaginary or real chemical deficiencies.

I am learning to be a better listener with my children. I know they require my undivided attention and deserve my respect when they speak to me. By looking directly at my kids while they speak, I am teaching them to respect others who are speaking – and that’s a great life skill.

I am so pleased that my children are learning to listen so well and I vow to be more diligent to keep them active and attentive listeners as we continue to practice these skills.

Preschool Listening Skills with Games, Nature Study, and Learning

My three-year-old son, Alex, really did well with listening to directions with Funnix Reading and Math this week. I love how it offers clear directives and teaches listening and following directions just as much as reading and math skills. He has his little pointer and follows what the “teacher” tells him. It’s like a dialogue and he did wonderfully for his first lesson. We’re also thoroughly enjoying All About Reading Level 1!

Alex and his six-year-old sister, Kate, played so sweetly together with the light box and rainbow blocks. They usually power struggle with each other, but they took turns and listened to each other well. I was a proud mama.

We practiced being quiet and listening to the birds, wind sounds, and the crunchy snow beneath our boots on our snowy nature walk. He whispered so he didn’t scare the birds and deer we saw on our hike. He pointed out lichen and leaves and the frozen pond to me with dancing eyes.

More fun ways to work on listening skills:

Simon Says games
Directed coloring pages (Alex likes the ones from 1+1+1=1)
Narration with or without props (like puppets!) – we also like to discuss and review body parts at bathtime with bath puppets.
Following directions with chores
Helping in the kitchen (with kid-sized tools!)
Q&A after Bible lessons
Montessori sound matches and studies
Music, instruments, and composer studies (we like to discuss the high and low notes, fast and slow tempo, and different instrument sounds)
Looking speakers or teachers in the eyes and repeating what is said so it is understood and then completing the direction
Go on a Letter Walk and point out things that begin with a certain letter

Do you have any tips to improve preschool listening skills in your kids?

Essential Oils to help with attention:

Vetiver
Cedarwood
Lavender
Brain Power
Frankincense

ProSchool Membership - Productive Homeschooling

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Christmas Preschool

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December 11, 2013 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

My youngest is enjoying our Christmas themed work this month.

W drew our gingerbread family. Big sister cut them out for him.

Then he took a “reading break” on the sofa. He loves looking at the pictures. He has lots of his favorite books memorized.

It’s fun strewing themed activities to encourage exposure and learning each month.

Preschool Printables:

Meet Penny Free Nativity Pack – Lifetime Premium Membership for $15
1+1+1=1
Confessions of a Homeschooler
Homeschool Creations
Candy Canes pack from 2 Teaching Mommies (and lots more Christmas printable packs in the sidebar!
All Our Days
The Moffat Girls ($ with some freebies)

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Preschool Math

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December 11, 2013 By Jennifer Lambert 2 Comments

We focused on math this week.

I got organized and had him match up some base ten blocks with printable counting cards I found here. He really enjoyed it and did so well!

Of course a cube found its way into his sleeve. Silly!

He is really, really into counting lately.

He likes these base ten blocks and we have Cuisenaire rods too. I am looking for cards and lessons to go along with those. I think some may find their way under the Christmas tree.

He really loved these counting cards I found online. They are colored to go along with a Chicka Chicka Boom Boom unit. He jumped out of the way and didn’t want to be in this picture.

Upside down counting? Whatever works. He used these cards over and over this month!

He loves this Montessori wooden counting box. He didn’t want his picture taken. But then he wanted to see the picture and then he laughed.

What are your favorite preschool math tools?

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Fox Unit Study

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November 25, 2013 By Jennifer Lambert 2 Comments

Welcome to November Poppins Book Nook!

This month, the theme is Animals and Pets.

My son, Alex, is pretty obsessed with foxes. Apparently, Ylvis is too.

Win/Win.

I made a Fox unit for my son.

Check out these sites for foxy fun:

Fox printable craft by LearnCreateLove.com
Fox Christmas Card by Positively Splendid
Fox Activity Pack by Mudpies and Make-up
Fox Printable Masks by Kitschy Digitals ($1.50) or get FREE here: Jan Brett
X if for Fox Bible Verse Printable (coincides with MFW K) by Mama Jenn
Origami Fox face
Fox in Sock unit study by MPM Ideas
Fox in Socks unit by Homeschool Share (scroll down)
More Fox in Socks by Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas
Fox hot chocolate party printables by Hostess with the Mostess
DLTK fox craft
Fox maze from Education.com (and other pages too! Get More Fun Kindergarten Worksheets from Education.com!)

Library books Alex begged for and read with Dad:

Media to go along with our Fox unit:

Coloring a paper fox:

Counting foxes clip cards:

How many foxes in the box?

Learning fox facts

A fox maze. It was a little hard.

Singing and acting out “What Does a Fox Say?” with puppets

Check out the other Animals Units this month: Enchanted Homeschooling Mom – 3 Dinosaurs – Monsters Ed – Chestnut Grove Academy –Growing in God’s Grace – Royal Little Lambs – Life with Moore Babies – Teach Beside Me -The Usual Mayhem – Fantastic Fun and Learning – Kathys Cluttered Mind – Toddler Approved – Growing Book by Book – Adventures in Mommydom – Edventures with Kids –Learning & Growing the Piwi way – A Gluten Free Journey – Preschool Powol Packets – To The Moon and Back – Our Craft ~N~ Things – Fresh Farm Adventures – Are We There Yet? – Afterschool for Smarty Pants – Hopkins Homeschool

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Montessori 2.5 Years

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September 11, 2013 By Jennifer Lambert 2 Comments

My son had lots of fun this summer!

He went to preschool nature camp with Dad at Ogden Nature Center.

We learned fun stuff at library Dig Into Reading sessions. We learned about other countries, history, language, art, animals, and more!

Alex made mashed potatoes almost all by himself. That cool knife? They’re over here. We have 2 of that one and 2 of this knife and the kids love them!

Alex still loves Tot School and Animal ABCs and Raising Rock Stars Preschool.

He’s snuggly and likes to watch the iPad with sister

He gets so excited when our cat, Sinéad, allows him to pet her.

Alex helped in the garden lots. He helped dig up our potatoes.

He likes to help Liz with science. They do experiments together. He dropped the antacid tablets in the water/vinegar solutions to learn about concentration

A rare moment of peace between these two

Watching Tori play Reading Kingdom

Alex has a lot of freedom. I try to make sure he’s learning by all the everyday things we do. I want him to love learning and never get discouraged or frustrated. We limit our seatwork since he’s an active little boy!

Check out our Logic of English review…

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Preschool is Hard to Teach

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July 25, 2013 By Jennifer Lambert Leave a Comment

Preschool is the hardest level for me to teach.

I love the exploration and excitement that comes with this stage.

I miss naptime! My kids all relinquished naps at the ripe age of two. Nooooooo!

It never occurred to me to not have my tots and preschoolers “do school.” They begged to have their own schoolwork and, if left to their own devices, wreaked utter havoc on the house. I’ve had friends who didn’t encourage their preschoolers to do much of anything, and, well, it shows.

Thank God for blogs. They helped me survive those preschool years (and still going strong for Alex, sort of), and now I feel like a preschool pro. Sort of.

But I love teaching older kids. It is what I went to college for, more by default, but still. I could wax philosophic about literature and history all the livelong day. I have a bachelor’s in English literature and a master’s in secondary education.

The problem with preschoolers?

They. are. so. demanding.

You can’t tell them to just go read or play alone for a few minutes like with older kids. They need constant attention. (so do teens for that matter)

It wears on my ever last nerve.

The constant “Mama! Mama! Mama!” The never-getting-to-use-the-bathroom-alone thing.

It wears me down.

I loathe pushing swings. My mind wanders to all the “more important” (read: selfish) things I could be doing.

I know I am selfish. I loathe myself for being selfish.

No one sees when I cry out to God: “Increase You and decrease me. Let me shine for You. Help me to overcome myself.”

I can only run to my Father for comfort and snivel and whine and be a big brat about my own kids who are only being children, themselves, hungry and tired and needing a hug.

I don’t really want them to grow up so fast.

I can barely remember when Elizabeth was a preschooler and all of a sudden, she’s 12 and doing high school work already!

Tori and Kate look half grown and to hear them talk, they already know everything. And Alex doesn’t want to be 3 anymore. He wants to grow quickly so he can drive monster trucks.

I want to make memories with my babies. I want them to remember their childhoods fondly and grow in their relationship with me and their dad, God, and each other. This is, after all, why we are homeschooling.

I want to calm down and sit and watch my son play with his trains. I want to snuggle on the sofa and listen to Tori read – without pressure or tears or correction. I want to let Kate have an improv jam session on the keyboard and guitar without wanting to scream. I want to thoughtfully answer Liz’s never-ending questions about everything without impatience. I don’t want to lose them or their hearts. I want them to still want to ask me questions or say, “Look at me, Mom!” when they’re 15, 20, 30 years old.

The benefit and drawback to having preschoolers with older siblings is that they are constantly challenged. I am amazed at how much they can do and understand. I am too content to let them follow along in the older sibs’ footsteps. With this whole delight-driven schooling thing, I too easily let tot school and preschool fall between the cracks. Is it detrimental to their formative years and early education? Maybe.

Comparison is the thief of joy.

I could waste days beating myself up over how great those preschool blogs and Pinterest pins are while my son just wants to do math and science and writing and art with his sisters instead of putting pipe cleaners into the holes of an empty cheese container. My favorite is the argument over how he needs the same advanced apps on his iPad mini as his sisters. Sometimes I feel superfluous and other times like there’s not enough of me to go around. But often, the chores get done more quickly with teamwork!

So, I envy all you Pinterest preschool mamas with your messy crafts and darling handmade Montessori toys. I’m up in here having guilt trips while scraping Nutella out of our dining room bench crevices and scouring the art paint out of drinking cups.

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