Sunday mornings are special at our house. I get up with the kids while the hubster sleeps in, which means sleeping until about eight instead of seven. We have banana pancakes with real maple syrup for breakfast, and William tells us all about how maple syrup is made from his new favorite book Tyler Makes…
Edible Play Dough Recipe
Edible Play Dough Recipe for Preschoolers “But Mom, Corinne will eat the play dough!” That was William’s response to my suggestion that we do something with our hands. And his concern is quite valid, Corinne might eat play dough, which makes it a challenge to enjoy this kind of sensory play. I know there are…
Stacking Blocks and Mathematicians
One of the signs of a toddler developing appropriately is if they stack things. Stacking is a beneficial activity for toddlers for many reasons. Stacking blocks is one of the earliest forms of geometry. Yep, playing with blocks is geometry for toddlers! Stacking blocks is not only beneficial because it develops hand-eye coordination or social…
Letter Sound Matching Activity
Learning all the letter sounds might seem like a monumental task to young children. The more opportunities we can give them to connect letters and their sounds, the better. Also, if we can provide fun, engaging letter/sound matching games and activities, we are doing them a world of good. We can do our best to…
Introducing Your Preschooler to Addition and Subtraction
Many parents feel rather confident in teaching their child early mathematics skills such as the basics of number recognition, one to one correspondence in counting, sorting activities, and knowledge of shapes. But…what about addition and subtraction? I once taught with a teacher who frequently complained about the difficulties of addition and subtraction for her third…
What is Phonological Awareness?
Phonological awareness is the detection and manipulation of sounds within an alphabet language. It involves having a thorough understanding of how oral language can be represented via written language and how those sounds and word are organized. Phonological awareness includes breaking down spoken language into smaller components, such as sentences into words, words into syllables,…
Squirt the Letter!
Squirt the Letters! Letter Identification Game for Preschoolers My husband is going to laugh when he reads this post. There is a very funny story associated with this game, and let me just say that I, Mom, am at the butt of the joke…of course (and as usual)…while my son thinks that he is the most…
Color Pattern Cards
Patterns are all around us. Simple rhythms in music, for example, or the patterning in manicured landscaping, or tiling on the floor. More complex patterns can be found in a child’s kaleidoscope or the ornate organization of decorative bricks on a building, or the intricate and delicate threading of a spider’s web. Patterns can be…