Category: Homeschool Den

Interesting Statistics about Preschoolers and Literacy 0

Interesting Statistics about Preschoolers and Literacy

There are some really interesting statistics out there about educating preschoolers in America.  Did you know that enrollment for preschoolers has increased 679% between 1985 and 2008?  In 1985 0.2 million preschoolers were enrolled in school in the USA while in 2008 this had increased to 1.2 million! But in reality, still only a little over half of all 3-4 year olds are in school (52% in 2009) (Digest of Education Statistics,...

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Brush Your Teeth! (another experiment)

A couple of weeks ago I saw some cute preschool activities about dental health at 2 Teaching Mommies, I was inspired!  We didn’t get to Amber’s ideas, but we did fit in the science activities from 1st grade with Miss Snowden. After talking about the germs in our house (see this post), it seemed fitting to talk about the germs in our mouths. I hard-boiled six white eggs and we...

Preschool Math 0

Preschool Math

We incorporate a lot of Montessori math into our preschooling days.  There are lots of great websites, but Living Montessori Now is a wonderful place to start as Deb has compiled ideas from all around the web. I also play lots of board games that require counting, we jump and play and sing about numbers. Here are some of the math activities we did a couple of weeks ago. I had this...

Math: Fractions Unit (Day 2) 2

Math: Fractions Unit (Day 2)

We’ve been using the fraction chart and a pencil a lot to look at equivalent fractions.  I have the kids line up the pencil on 1/2  and then ask them what some equivalent fractions are. We also have spent a lot of time building equivalent fractions with our manipulatives.  Again the  fraction table pictured below is from Right Start math (a math curriculum that uses Montessori concepts and hands-on math manipulatives and games),...

“Time In” for My Preschooler 0

“Time In” for My Preschooler

I once read about the concept of a time-in. Well, at this stage of life I have to be really mindful to do this for my four year old…  Sometimes I even need to turn on the stopwatch on to be sure I’m stopping and focusing on ED for a good solid ten minutes. I do this for my older kids of course too, but at times it’s easier to...

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Have Your Kids Join in on these Engineering Activities!

Engineering Challenge – Week 2  The kids did their second Engineering Challenge this week.  Each day I spend time reading a book aloud to the kids. Right now we’re reading a wonderful book about the Oregon Trail.   On Thursday I had them try this challenge while I read. The Goal: Build a tower with post-it notes. Make it as sturdy and high as you can. Here are some of the solutions...

Math: Fractions Unit (Day 1) 0

Math: Fractions Unit (Day 1)

About ten days ago we started a new fractions unit in math.  I did these activities and games with both LD (age 8) and DD (age 6).  We did these activities at the beginning of our math time and then the kids went on to do their daily work in their math workbooks.   The kids’ math workbooks both have a chapter on fractions, but I wanted to go a...

Welcome to the Homeschool Den! 5

Welcome to the Homeschool Den!

On any given morning you’ll find our family trickling out of bed one by one and heading to the kitchen. Usually my youngest, ED, is the first one awake.  As I get her breakfast I put away dishes, grab my coffee and then finally sit down to read with her; she’s usually asked me a half-dozen times by then!  Most of the time the other two kids (DD, 6 and...

Cute Writing Paper 0

Cute Writing Paper

I’ve been printing out our own customized writing paper for DD when she does her spelling and narration work.  She loves this paper and you can choose from all kinds of themes (animals, holidays, seasons, cartoon characters and more). You can also choose the size of the writing paper (from larger lines for beginner writers to standard rule for more seasoned writers).  Anyway, since we get SO much use out...

Antarctica 0

Antarctica

I can’t say we did an entire unit on Antarctica, but we revisited it briefly this past week and a half as we read Mr. Popper’s Penguins aloud together. The kids really loved the book and it was a relatively quick read (about 4 or 5 days for us). I wanted to touch on Antarctica again partly for ED since we’ve been going over the seven continents for her and partly because...

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Valentine’s Day Word Hunt Game

I came across a Valentine’s Boggle Game at Teacher’s Pay Teachers. I printed it out and much to my surprise both LD and DD loved it.  They did it both yesterday and today and then complained that it was too easy the second time. I promised the kids I’d make a new word hunt for them and just finished it this evening. My version is not as cute as the...

Facebook Too! 0

Facebook Too!

So yesterday I managed to get my Twitter account sorted out. I’m so excited to see 15 people following me already!  This evening I managed to sort out my new Facebook account too, though I’m not quite sure how to add the like button in. I’m so excited to start chatting there! I even posted my first question for y’all… do you manage to get time to yourself during your...

The Face Behind the Blog! 4

The Face Behind the Blog!

Hi! Nice to meet you! As you may know, we will be joining the Parent’s blog team pretty soon.  Our family decided we’d like to share a couple of photos of the family behind this blog.  Here’s my photo for what it’s worth! (Ugh… don’t mind the fly-away hair!) When we transfer over we’ll have a photo of me and the kids to share with you as well. Do you...

We’re Moving Soon! 8

We’re Moving Soon!

Not out of the house, we’re here to stay for a while yet… but the Homeschool Den blog will be moving. A couple of months ago one of the editors of Parents contacted me and asked if I would like to come under the Parents umbrella as one of their bloggers. I was honored and thrilled to join such a great team of people.  So in just a couple of...