Homeschooling your kids is a big responsibility. By assuming the role of your children’s teacher, you take on the task of making sure that their knowledge and skills are up to speed and, ultimately, that they are prepared for the world of work or further education. Despite feeling this pressure though, you should still be able to pack plenty of enjoyment into your lessons. To help you along the way, here is our homeschooler’s guide to making learning fun.
This month a group of Multicultural Kid Bloggers have got together to create an A-Z of raising global citizens. I’ve always found maps really fascinating to study, and remember spending hours leafing through my Weetabix Atlas as a child (anyone else remember that book from the 90s? It was the best!)
So naturally I opted to take M for Maps, and have put together a series of maps printables for children to colour and label.
Coloured buttons or counters are perfect to use for hands on Maths practice. Whether for counting, adding, subtracting or dividing it’s much easier for most children to work out and understand these concepts with something tangible in front of them. They are also ideal for sorting games.
We’re taking part in the Manipulatives series over at School Time Snippets where 21 bloggers have joined together to show how maths can be made fun and hands on using simple supplies found in the home.
We have been using Reading Eggs for several years now, first with Z who is now 6, and now with his younger brothers. T is 5 and in reception, and R is 3 and will be starting school in September. One of the things I really like about Reading Eggs is how much repetition and practise this programme offers on some of the basic pre-reading skills that children need to master before they are able to move on to blending and sounding out words.
We love it when an activity can combine both art and science. This simple coffee filter activity was a hit with R (age 3) and required very little set up. It is low on mess too!
It can be really hard for young children to grasp the concept of time. “In 5 minutes” doesn’t always mean a lot to them, which can lead to frustration for both parent and child. And even when they do understand time, reading the time on a watch face can sometimes take a while for a child to master too.
I was really interested to hear about a new type of watch from Madame Irma, that aims to solve these problems and make understanding time easier for young children, and luckily we were sent one of these watches for R to try out and see what he made of it.
We’re happy to be joining in with the name recognition and writing series hosted by Preschool Powol Packets. Learning to recognise and write their names is an important milestone for children getting ready to start school, and for those can already read and write their names – using their names in crafts and activities is still a lot of fun, and helps them feel proud and connected to their work since it is personalised to them!
We decided to make some textured names using double sided tape and lots of fun materials. This activity was enjoyed by all of my kids (ages 3-6).
Teaching kids to take care of their teeth is an important life lesson. The habits they start now will continue with them for life. This important right from when they start to get their first baby teeth, but now that my eldest has just got his first permanent tooth I’ve been emphasising even more – these teeth are the only ones that you’re going to get. It is so important to brush and clean them well and take the best care of them.
Last year I shared some fun ways to motivate children to clean their teeth. I was inspired by these to make a fun toothbrush painting activity so today I’m going to share another simple activity that my children enjoyed as a fun reminder of the importance of brushing teeth.
Today I’m welcoming a friend on to the blog to share her E is for Elephant plastic egg craft to help children learn the short E sound. Over to Meeghan..
If you have ever been to my blog, Mrs. Karle’s Sight and Sound Reading, you would know that I teach children to read through youtube videos and free worksheets. So, when I do crafts or recipes, I usually try to sneak in some sort of learning. I try to make it so that the children do not even know they are learning. Today I have an activity to teach the short e sound.
Learning about time with toddlers and preschoolers might sound a bit challenging. Well, it’s hard even for a grade school kid! So many things related to time are there to understand and master: seconds, minutes, hours, days, the days of a week, months, future, past, present, etc. And all of these terms are connected with something that sounds so simple: time.
