#totschool

The kids had a blast talking about apples with @mtstep1 yesterday. . They started with How Do Apples Grow? from the Hello, World! book series I recently discovered and LOVE. Then they used this printout from @creativelittleexplorers and looked inside an apple. . Then they used that apple for some painting...lots of painting 😜 . #totschool #totschoolathome #homeschoolpreschool #funwithkids #fallfun #appleseason https://www.instagram.com/p/CGXd3aMFRWU/?igshid=bzqt0nsjfga1

I have been saving our farm unit for W because of this book! Mrs. Wishy Washy’s Farm is super cute and a quick read for our circle time. . I filled our trays with a bunch of fun printable activities I’ve collected from all of these great content creators!! . 1. @miniaturemasterminds had these good counting mazes — great for number recognition. . 2. My kids loved these action cards from @modernpreschool. In fact, since then, any time M dramatically claims she can’t walk down the hall or something, I suggest she chomp like a cow eating grass or gallop like a horse and her legs magically work again. 😜 . 3. We’ve used this @fairypoppinsdotcom fence building number activity with popsicle sticks before and they really like it. Lots of fine motor to get those popsicle sticks on the right spots too! . 4. And 6. are iSpy and counting activities from @andnextcomesl — these are great!! I prob wouldn’t do both in same sitting again for M bc they were challenging for her, but really good practice with visual discrimination and counting. . And 5. We did a roll and cover corn from @iheartcraftythings — they love these and they are so simple for working on addition! . #farmunit #preschoolfarmtheme #homeschoolpreschool #totschool https://www.instagram.com/p/CHvSlg6l5Ta/?igshid=1f8fflzrsrr04

Found some awesome free unicorn printables out there to go with our U is for Unicorns day! @mtstep1 was our teacher for the day. . They started with 1. Magical Unicorn Dreams. . 2. Practice uppercase/lowercase matching with this editable board game from @funlearningforkids — also from them is 5. This count and cover unicorn game. I had unicorn and ice cream cone mini erasers from a big mixed pack I got at target, so they were perfect for this! . 3. Unicorn number bats from @fairypoppinsdotcom . 4. @totschooling has this cute letter matching unicorn game in their big unicorn printable pack thats filled with fun stuff. I gave M the uppercase letters and H the lowercase. They still get stuck on a few but the images helped them narrow down their choices without getting frustrated. . 6. Annnd for the winner of the day: the unicorn magic ring toss mama beth got @barmstrong112 — hilarious! We’ve played a bunch since and they love it. . #homeschoolpreschool #preschoolathome #totschool #totschooling #unicorns🦄 #letterU #earlyliteracy #countingpractice https://www.instagram.com/p/CGsDVDZFJTd/?igshid=ydp26g6ijrs5

Focused on T+r today! . 1. Practiced numbers with a trolls book and some trolls uno cards . 2. Worked on our taping skills with these awesome turtle and train pages from a tape practice book by @melissaanddougtoys . 3. A triangle hunt . 4, 5, 6. T is for train pages from @royalbaloo (cutting, writing, and graphing practice) . In their name books, they drew lines to connect the letters of their names. . Then, after naps, we read a favorite book, Steam Train Dream Train, and filled our own trains with our favorite things. Super cute 💗 . #funwithkids #homeschool #homeschooling #homeschoolpreschool #totschool #totschooling #homeschooltoddler #earlyliteracy #lettert https://www.instagram.com/p/CGlsScelmft/?igshid=10wume0ttroq2

S is for SEASONS! . 1. We started with another @orientaltrading folder — sorting images by season. These folders were a great buy bc they are so easy to grab and the kids really enjoy the discussions they prompt. . 2. Practiced the 12 months of the year and their seasons. . 3. Winter: glue and glitter snowflakes (M looooooves glitter) . 4. Spring: patterns with some flower counters (matching and repeating my patterns) . 5. Summer: read Scaredy Squirrel at the Beach and then they connected the dots for some beach scenes I drew them and colored for a bit. . 6. Fall: I encouraged them to make their own patterns with these fall mini erasers. They ended up using them to tell some pretty funny stories — squirrels collecting leaves and fighting over apples etc... . #letterS #seasons #homeschooling #preschoolathome #totschool #totschoolathome https://www.instagram.com/p/CGRmmpvlwdE/?igshid=cpbdbtv2kd9v

Our next set of activities focused on S is for senses! . TOUCH: We used this @orientaltrading folder sorting and had surprisingly insightful debates about things that were soft vs hard. Then I had them each draw pictures of things that were different textures. I didn’t help them (legit I walked in the other room with the baby) and loved what they came up with! . TASTE: Gave them 6 foods but asked them to try 4 so it was still fun not stressful. I was thinking they’d check love/like/learning (@veggiesandvirtue ) and they kinda did that. H added pics of other foods he loves too 💗 . HEARING: loved this matching activity from @stayathomeeducator — I ran out of time to make more but could definitely add to the bottles and do again. . SMELL: a blindfolded smell test trying to put describing words to what they smelled beyond yuck or good( M said this was her fav activity) . SIGHT: sorting magnet letters by their characteristics . All fun and things we will continue to talk about!! #fivesenses #fivesenseslearning #preschoolathome #totschool #totschooling https://www.instagram.com/p/CGNwjpelSJk/?igshid=yioj9bgf78ek

Set out some trays for the kids to work on the other day. . 1. Covered the next letter of their names with emoji stickers. . 2. Put numbered clothes pins on this awesome number wheel from @dr_megancwright . 3. Looked through and practiced our home in the big universe . 4. Talked about how animals move with this magnet set from @orientaltrading (Ms favorite tray of the day) . 5. Construction movement cards — “lift like a forklift” etc. These were Hs favorite. He made us all try the moves later. . 6. A quick opposites puzzle. . #totschool #homeschoolpreschool #learningtrays https://www.instagram.com/p/CFn2w4mFKVl/?igshid=egy45kbpncf9

Yesterday’s activities were all about Q is for Queen 👸. So we started by reading about our current favorite queens — Anna and Elsa. We decorated the first letter of our names with jewels. Then jumped into our trays: . 1. Little q -> a Queen from @abcstoacts . 2-3. Castle maze and dot to dots. (We need to do more of these! They were fun but challenging.) . 4. Graphing castle things — I believe the dragon “won” . 5. Counting shapes in these castles from @myteachingstation — these were really good printables for working on our shapes and numbers. . 6. A quick Queen puzzle and size order activity. . We finished up with some painting frozen pictures! They hadn’t painted at their easels in a long time and they loved it! H was referencing the Frozen book and had all sorts of color mixing going on to try to make it realistic 💙 . Also: while this all looks fun and easy, baby K was literally a disaster the whole time. Sweet girl just wants to join the fun 😭 . #totschool #totschoolathome #preschoolathome #earlyliteracy #letterq #qisforqueen #frozen https://www.instagram.com/p/CFhfbt9l1-I/?igshid=bpt3j3okno1i