5 Common Mistakes Parents Make When Teaching Reading

I was watching an Instagram story the other day. It was a 30-second peek into a preschool reading lesson. The screen showed a little four or five-ish girl sifting through alphabet cards that were haphazardly laid out in front of her.

She picked up the letter G card and with all the pluck and moxie of a firstborn, shouted out, "Gu!" Next came H. "Hu!" she declared.

She was confident. She was determined. This was her moment. She was reading and she wanted those of us behind the screen to know it.

Top Picks for a Vintage Home Preschool

Not too long ago, I was approached by a very popular curriculum company offering to shell out big bucks if I would partner with them to promote their "early learning academy," a rigorous online, digital preschool for kids as young as two. They had a well-developed marketing plan and high hopes that I would jump on their crazy train. It would have meant a substantial contract and a big fat check every month for yours truly. But I turned them down.

The Case for the Vintage Home Preschool

I got a message from a new-to-homeschooling mother a few months ago asking for suggestions. She was starting her oldest child in preschool and was desperate for direction. He message went a little something like this:

"Jamie, I'm heading to a local homeschool convention. I've got money in my pocket and preschool on my mind. What should I buy? What are your top preschool curriculum choices?"

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I imagined her crouched over her computer screen, pen and paper in hand, ready to jot down all my sage suggestions. I taught preschool in a traditional classroom for three years and had homeschooled all five of my own kids through the early years, after all. Certainly, I'd be able to point her to a perfectly-selected, Cathy Duffy approved curriculum -- some pretty boxed set of this or that. Right?

Preschool Homeschool Curriculum Choices

I'm launching into my fifth and final round of preschool. After this year, I'll have no PRE...just school. And that sad reality, like all of life's lasts, makes me pause and reflect.

The first time around the preschool block found me ordering all the stuff and checking all the boxes. Like most first-time homeschool moms, I wanted preschool to feel REAL. I wanted it to mirror the "school" that I was used to. I found validation in "formal."

But with each preschooler, I slowly tossed all the fluff and started gathering the things that really mattered. You'll find no printable worksheets here because I'm not after a cut-and-paste education. On my fifth time around, my list of great resources has grown. And yet, QUALITY always rules out over QUANTITY.

Preschool Art Class: Milk Painting

Preschool art projects should always be three things: 

process-oriented

The process of actually DOING the art should be the motive, not the end project. Preschoolers should be encouraged to use many different art mediums in many different ways.

open-ended

A child should be able to use his/her own creative expression to create a unique work of art. The opposite of this would be an art project that has specific step-by-step directions leading to a specific, one-size-fits-all end result.

large motor-skill driven 

Expecting a preschooler to glue tiny pieces and parts onto something or to use small motor skills to create an intricate design will only cultivate frustration and feelings of failure...in you and them. The larger the canvas, tools, and space to create, the better. 

Here is a simple afternoon art project that definitely meets those goals and one that can easily be squeezed into the harried homeschool day.

Gentle Pre-K Homeschool Curriculum

To call my selection of books for my three-year-old a "curriculum" would be laughable at best. The "C" word makes it sound all formal and structured...rigid.

Nothing could be further from the truth.
He's three.
T-H-R-E-E.

At three, he doesn't need worksheets and lesson plans. He doesn't need time in a desk with a pre-packaged box of learning. 

25+ Board Games for Preschoolers {You've Probably Never Heard Of}

When baby #1 began to toddle and needed some CONstructive play, I plunked down some money and purchased some preschool games that our little family of three could enjoy together. Those were the days of Candyland and Hi Ho Cherry-O, of Memory and Hungry, Hungry Hippos. We played them on sunny days. We played them on snowy days. We played them when she woke up. We played them just before she went to bed. We played them in the house. We played them with a mouse. We played them here and there. We played them everywhere! (Sorry. I didn't mean to go all Green Eggs and Ham on you...)

Book Club Unit: The Duchess Bakes a Cake

What do you get when you combine a delightful children's classic about a baking project gone awry, a marshmallow catapult, and four adorable little boys?

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My favorite book club meeting of the entire year!

This past month, it was my turn to lead the Littles in their bi-weekly book club.

 
I was given the task of designing a unit around the Virginia Kahl classic, The Duchess Bakes a Cake, and to be honest, I wasn't all that thrilled to be assigned to a book about baking...knowing that I'd be teaching a pack of boys.

BUT...

The BEST Emergent Readers for Phonics-Based Reading

Last week, when I confessed my opinions of those popular emergent readers that we all see gracing the shelves of the library and the bookstore, I think I hit a raw nerve with so many mommas. 

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Emergent Readers???!  

...we've all been asking ourselves while scratching our heads in confusion.  

NOPE.  

Choosing the Right Readers for Your Emergent Reader

A few days ago, I whipped out the family celebration plate. We were having a little dinner-time party.
I made a big deal of it because it WAS a big deal!

My little Greased Lightning, read his first book!  

Now, granted, the storyline was simple, the words were repetitive, the pictures told more of the plot than the few letters on the page. But, HE READ IT! He read it and then smiled. It was the kind of smile that only comes when the mystery of words is unlocked...when the black-and-white gives way to color and the 2-dimensional takes on life...when a written story becomes a solo adventure. His eyes bulged large as he turned the last page and realized that he had just crossed over the great divide that separates those who can read and those who can't. He was a READER!

Pinterest Flips & Flops: Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

It's the second Monday of the month, and that means it's time for my monthly Pinterest Flips and Flops Link-Up.  I've been busy reorganizing many of my Pinterest boards to make them more useable.  (No sense being a "pin" collector.  I actually hope to DO the projects I have pinned.  Emphasis on "hope"!)

DIY Phonics Manipulatives with Duplo® Blocks

Got a Lego® lover at home like I do?  

A few years ago, while perusing an edition of Family Fun Magazine, I came upon an article about using Legos® or other building bricks to encourage creative writing.  The picture showed dozens of bricks with handwritten words on them.  These words were rearranged and stacked together to make silly sentences and short stories.  

How I Teach My Preschooler the ABCs

26...only 26!

There are only 26 letters in our English language and yet, when combined they form thousands...perhaps millions of words. WORDS...glorious words...that can be woven together to create a lifetime collection of literary adventures.

But, no matter how epic the novel, how fantastical the tale, how perplexing the mystery, every great story is shaped by the same 26 letters.

Small Tweaks to Our 2013-2014 Curriculum

Although I toil for months each summer to put together the "perfect" curriculum plan for my school year, rarely does my plan remain un-edited once fall arrives.  I think it is always a good idea to evaluate the success and use-ability of my chosen curriculum a few weeks into the school year.  By the end of September, I use a few key questions to assess the materials I've purchased/borrowed and make adjustments accordingly.  (This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for full details.)

This year, after sensing a definite deficiency in my PLAN, I added in two new elements to our 2013-2014 curriculum.  

Free Lower Case Alphabet Book Pintables

After coming across my original Preschool Alphabet Book printables and corresponding art activities, several readers wrote asking if I could produce a lower case edition.

Why didn't I think of that??

After all, lower case letters are ALWAYS my preferred method for teaching the ABCs.

So, here ya' go.

Preschool Homeschool Curriculum 2013-2014

My days are always much more colorful with a preschooler to homeschool.  Preschoolers have a natural curiosity about EVERYTHING and veraciously soak up every little scrap of knowledge they can.

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I know that my Greased Lightning, with his bursting enthusiasm for just about everything and everyone, will be more than eager to start DISCOVERING along with his older sibs.  

Tips to Starting a Preschool Homeschool Co-op: Creating a Schedule and Assigning Jobs

Pheewww! We've come to our final day in a five-day-long series about Starting a Preschool Homeschool Co-op. If you've been keeping up with me, you have partnered with a few other families, secured a place and time for your group, and have begun planning some fascinating and age-appropriate classes.

You are just about ready to welcome eager little preschoolers to their very first day of co-operative learning. But first, you have to determine a workable order of events (schedule) for your co-op meeting and assign responsibilities to each of the participating mothers.

Tips to Starting a Preschool Homeschool Co-op: Planning Age Appropriate Class Topics

We've come to Day 4 in a five-day-long series about Starting a Preschool Homeschool Co-op. I trust that you have prayerfully considered inviting other eager homeschool mommas to join your group and that you have secured the perfect location for your co-op meetings. (This post contains affiliate links.)

Next on your TO DO list is to tuck the kids into bed, give the Hubs a big goodbye smooch, and head to the local coffee house to meet with the other co-op hopefuls in order to brainstorm co-operative class topics.

First on the agenda is to decide if you will be a non-formal or a formal group.

Tips to Starting a Preschool Homeschool Co-op: Partnering With Other Families

I'm assuming that if you've joined me for Part 2 in my five-day long series on Starting a Preschool Co-op, that you are seriously considering launching a group. Not to state the obvious, but a co-op is not a co-op if you and your children are the only participants. In order to co-operate with other families, you have to FIND other families to join you. And although the number of families who choose the unconventional route of homeschooling continues to climb throughout the US and abroad, finding co-operative participants is perhaps the biggest hurdle to establishing a new preschool group.

How To Begin Read Alouds With Your Young Learner

As a closet librarian, I want all of my children to devour the written word through the pages of a good book. Although I understand that part of that passion has to come naturally...a child has to develop a personal desire to read...I also believe that a reading passion can be ignited and cultivated by simply enjoying great read-alouds together. (I realize that by definition a READ ALOUD is any book that is read out loud, including picture books. But for the purpose of this discussion, I will be referring to chapter books.)

While this sounds like an easy undertaking, introducing a chapter-style read-aloud to a young child can sometimes feel like a daunting task. For some children, moving from picture books to chapter books is a natural evolution. But for others, sitting for an extended period of time to listen to a book with no pictures can seem next to impossible.