Playhouse Preschool

May 3, 2011 by

All my sisters and I were already in school by age 3.  Most of my friends’ children have started school at a young age also.  Those who are the same age as Jade will be attending regular preschool come June.  Understandably, I am a wee bit saddened at being unable to send Jade to preschool this coming school year.  If not for her frail health, I would probably insist on sending her even just to the neighborhood preschool. Since I am also worried about her acquiring any virus, bacteria or ailment that is prolific in schools, I have resigned myself to “homeschool” her and her brother until their immune systems are strong enough for them to be able to go to school.

My toddlers are just turning 2 and 3 years old so there really is no pressure for regular homeschooling schedule.  I would just usually prepare some games or activities we can do in the morning and sometimes print out worksheets for Jade to do.  Lest some think that I’m this evil mom who expects too much from her children,  I don’t force my toddlers to sit and do their worksheets.  I also don’t impose on doing the activities I’ve prepared for them.  Although I do urge them to finish an activity that they have already started.

Since we’ve started this practice homeschooling, Jade has had significant improvement in language and math skills.  Jakei still just loves to play and goof around so I provide him with plenty of manipulative to develop his fine-motor skills and reasoning ability.  I made a daily schedule for them which included language, reading, math, music, and art each day.  It didn’t work though as more often than not, we were unable to stick to the schedule. What worked for us was this weekly schedule that focused on one learning subject each day:

  • Monday: Music & Me (music and movement)
  • Thinking Tuesday (math and abstract reasoning)
  • Wonderful World of Wednesday (art and science)
  • Thursday Talkies (language and reading)
  • Friday Free Day (do-anything-day ^_^)

I get plenty of homeschooling ideas from The Mommy Journey and the Confessions of a Homeschooler.  My printables are mostly taken from Kidzone.

It might seem too much for toddlers, but it really is all play for them.  I always take my cue from them as to when we have to move to the next activity or when we need to have our “recess”.  There are also days when we would just opt to watch a dvd that they really love or would just lounge on the bed and talk.  It is PLAYhouse after all.

 

 

 

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Easter Egg Baskets Math Activity

April 17, 2011 by

It’s Easter Sunday today and this morning, the toddlers and I prepared Easter cards to give away.  As with most of the activities that we do, I try to incorporate something that would hone their thinking skills.  So while creating our Easter cards this morning, I gave my little Jade a Math activity.

For this activity, I cut out small baskets from used board paper and flowers from a used gift wrapper.  On the flowers, I wrote the numbers 2, 3, and 4. I had Egg Stickers printed beforehand since we were to use them for making the cards.

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Jade’s Easter Math Activity

Here are the instructions I gave my little Jade, which I am proud to say she was able to follow without assistance.

  1. Get three eggs and place them on the pink basket. Two eggs on the blue basket. Four eggs on the red basket.
  2. Color the eggs. (This one she wasn’t able to do properly though. She was in no mood for coloring)
  3. Count the eggs on the pink basket and get the flower that shows the correct number.  How about the blue basket? The red basket?

Jade was able to count the eggs in each basket and to find the corresponding flower for each.  She has actually known the concept of counting from one to twenty for months now.  Her little brother has been able to count by rote from one to ten at an early age just by watching his sister practice her counting skills.

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Online Resources for Toddler Activities

April 5, 2011 by

The level of boredom and the degree of hyperactivity in toddlers are directly proportional to each other.  The greater the boredom, the more hyperactive toddlers become.  I have two toddlers in my care and hyperactivity is definitely something I dread!  It has happened a couple of times, and believe me, running after them trying to figure out which one is in danger of getting hurt or hurting the other is a pretty nasty sight.

Good thing moms like me are able to get great help from the web.  There are now plenty of sites that we can go to for ideas on how to keep our toddlers entertained while learning at the same time.  Here are four of this mom’s favorite go-to sites:

PreKinders, a site with resources for Pre-K Teachers, has plenty of activity ideas that can be used not just in the classroom but at home also.  There are also free printables available.

Starfall is the toddlers’ most recent favorite site.  The toddlers are still on the first level which is ABC Getting Started to Read.  They have both showed great progress in letter recognition and phonemic awareness since we started using the site a month ago.

Fisher-Price Online Games and Activities has dozens of games and activities for infants, toddlers and preschoolers.  My toddlers’ favorites include Shapes + Colors, Who’s at the Door?, and Learning about Opposites.

For printables, I go to Wholesome Toddler Food.  Aside from providing nutrition facts and recipes, this site also has links to hordes of great printables for introducing letters, numbers, colors, and shapes to toddlers.

 

Filed Under: Kids At Work, PLAYhouse preSCHOOL Tagged With: , , , ,

Learning Teamwork and Developing Creativity Through Edmark Smart Cube

March 17, 2011 by

Electronic toys abound in toy stores nowadays.  Plenty claim to offer children hours of entertainment.  Some claim to be educational and would do wonders in improving children’s thinking abilities.  Although some are indeed very helpful in teaching some skills,  these toys are still quite expensive.  Add to that the costly batteries that need to be replaced often and you have a veritable money drain in your hands.

Another reason why we don’t usually buy electronic toys for our toddlers is that they seldom encourage imaginative play and are often meant to be played alone.  Puzzles, building blocks and even shape sorters on the other hand challenge children’s creativity and also encourage them to play together.  These types of toys are what my toddlers usually ask for during playtime.

One of their favorite toys is the Edmark Smart Cube which was given as a gift for Jade’s first birthday.  I once checked the store for its price and it costs only around 200 per set.   As for durability, we have been using our set for almost two years now.  It has withstood being thrown across the room, being smashed against the wall, being bitten by Jakei, and whatever else you could imagine a toddler doing with a toy.

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Jakei used to just throw the pieces around or smash whatever his Ate Jade has built.  But he has outgrown this destructive phase and can now create figures by himself.  I really love seeing them working together to build something.   They are now able to take turns putting the pieces together.




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A Little Imagination Goes A Long Way

March 8, 2011 by

One Toy + A Little Imagination = Hours of Fun

A couple of days ago, this mom was too lazy to bring out the toddlers’ toy box and just opted to reach for the nearest toy for the kids’ afternoon playtime.  Believe it or not, but this Mickey Mouse shape sorter gave us hours of wonderful playtime.

There are only 10 pieces to sort so shape sorting lasted only around 5 minutes, the time it took for the toddlers to be bored by the repetitious activity.

Jade then turned the bucket over and exclaimed, “C’mon! Let’s have a picnic!”  The bottom of the bucket became our plate and the shapes became strawberries, grapes, blueberries, carrots, etcetera, etcetera.  Some of the shapes were used as cups for our juice, coffee, Milo, and milk.

Although Jakei gamely ate whatever “food” his Ate Jade gave him, he was not keen on playing pretend picnic.  Instead, he “borrowed” the bucket, placed it on his head, smiled, and said, “E-ly Hat!” (Toddlerspeak for “silly hat”).  He entertained himself with his silly hat while Jade and Mama continued their picnic.

With our tummies full from eating all the picnic food, Jade then decided to join Jakei with the lid as her own silly hat.  Upon doning her hat, she announced, “I’m Princess Jade! I’m wearing a tiara.”  Insisting that I should be Queen Mama, she borrowed the bucket from Jakei and put in on my head.  I was able to convince her though that Jakei is a Prince and should have a crown too.  Pretending to be a royal family was replete with trumpeters announcing the arrival of the prince andthe princess, a sumptuous feast(with carrots according to Jade), and other royal festivities.

The bucket and shapes became a myriad things – a stool, a drum, a pail, a hat, fruits, cups, juggling balls to name a few.  And it provided us with hours of fun. This just shows that you don’t really need a roomful of toys to have fun.  All it takes is a bit of imagination and you’re all set for a good time!

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