Imagine for a moment...a dough containing ingredients you are familiar with. A dough that takes forever to dry out and is easier to clean up than a popular commercial brand.
Seriously, I've tried my hand at a number of dough recipes ...and I'm not the "leave well enough alone" kinda girl, so I had to tweak it. You don't have to tweak it to my standard, but I also added a few drops of essential oils and even ground the salt in our Magic Bullet before hand to make it a less grainy product. Don't get me wrong, you can avoid these steps all together and get a great dough, but I had to experiment. You can also divide the mixture into several pans and make different colors. Ingredients: 1 cup flour 2 teaspoons cream of tartar 1/3 cup salt 1 cup of water 1 tablespoon vegetable oil Optional: Food Coloring : We use a a few drops, but you can make the color as intense as you would like. Essential Oils: We used 3-4 drops of Lavender In a 2 quart sauce pan, combine the ingredients above. The mixture should be smooth with a few lumps, so don't worry. You can get the lumps out during the kneading process at the end or when you form it into a ball. Heat the mixture on low to medium and continue to stir. The mixture will start to get sticky and lumpy. Continue to stir, removing the thicker parts of the mixture from the bottom and rotate to the the top. Once the mixture thickens it will start to release from the bottom of the pan when you lift it out with a spoon. When it's evenly thickened, remove the dough from the pan and place it on a heat safe surface to cool. Once it is cool to the touch, try your hand at kneading it! This recipe is great for tactile learners like I have and it makes the house smell great.
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![]() Okay, I'm just going tell you how it is...whether you want to read it or not! Anyone, I mean ANYONE, can teach preschool at home. Because you care enough to research for "The Perfect Preschool Curriculum," you are most likely already implementing the right strategies and have the passion to make it happen. Relax... You can do this! Just in case you don't believe me, I've come up with a list of skills most children have acquired when their parents or caregivers create a nurturing environment at home without the use of worksheets and charts. In fact, most of you own the "tools" and "curriculum" already. Living SkillsWhether you have an intellectually brilliant child or a child with special needs, living skills are required for a child to be successful academically, whether or not you intend to homeschool or enroll them in public school. 1. Character Training The best way to bring out the best character in your child is to model it yourself. By actively listening, showing compassion, and respecting others you instill a lot of your own values in your children. Go further by reading books that show empathy and kindness. 2. "Please" and "Thank you" Teaching your children manners may seem obvious, but you would be surprised how many parents forget to teach their children these simple words. Intentionally modeling behavior you expect from your own children may sound like: "Please pass the butter." or "Thank you for handing me your spoon." 3. Using a Quiet Voice There will be times when you want your child to use their quiet voice. You know...when you are standing behind someone in the grocery store and they pass gas and you have to evacuate quietly. (A wink wink nudge nudge kinda of opportunity.) Try carrying on an entire conversation using your quiet voice. You may be surprised how much better they "listen" when you whisper. Some other places or times this skill might be handy: Church, library, and when you don't want to wake the baby. 4. Washing Hands with Soap If you read my blog about Instilling a Love For Music, you would assume our family loves to sing. We are constantly making up new lyrics to classics. When washing our hands, we sing to the tune Are you Sleeping, using "Tops and bottom, tops and bottoms, in between, in between." Sounds fun, literally. But our preschooler learns an important skill in keeping herself healthy. 5. What's your name, address, and phone number? People often ask our children, "How old are you?," expecting to see them raise their little fingers and announce how they old they are. But most importantly, they should know their name (first and last), address, and phone number. In case of emergency, your child may need to know this information and who they can give this information to. They should be able to spell their name as well. This could take several days or several months to master. We personally have a last name that could stretch across a hockey player's entire back, so our daughter had to master it in chunks. Several letters at time. We even made up a rhyme to help her remember better. 6. Know your Community Helpers and Neighbors I often ask my oldest, "Who would you go to if I was hurt and you needed help?" I can't stress how important it is for your children to know who they can go to in the event of an emergency. If your 3-year old can turn on your phone, find an app they would like to play and play it.. They can dial 911. Enough said. Here are some Community Helpers they should know: Firemen, Policemen, Librarians, Trusted Neighbors, Nurses, Veterinarians, Doctors, and Dentists. I highly recommend scheduling a tour with your local police, fire station, veterinarian, and/or dentist office. They provide great first hand experiences. 7. Make eye contact Modeling good social skills, such as making eye contact, are a part of a healthy social life. Now some teenagers with their eyes glued to their phones (instead of carrying on a conversation with those they are with), probably wouldn't agree with me. But attentiveness is an important skill that shows others how important they are. In all honesty, I'm still working on this skill with my nine year old and from my research...I'm not alone. 8. Let your kids lose. A recent study concluded: "In the real world, when children experience a great deal of success on a task -- mom or dad always letting them win at a game, for example -- they may become less aware of important information that they could use to learn about the world, because they see it as less relevant to their future success."-Palmquist We live in a society where upon entering kindergarten we are handed a "My child is Terrific at blah blah Elementary." Let's give our kids a dose of reality early on, and teach them that we all have specific skills God wishes us to use. Chances are, your child will not be a professional athlete. So, let's all be realistic and challenge our children to a game of skill. Learning how to lose is just as important as winning. 9. Water Safety According to the Florida Department of Children and Families," Florida loses more children under the age of five to drowning than any other state in the nation. These deaths were 100 percent preventable." Check their site for swimming programs in your area. Whether you live in Florida or not, being able to swim is an emergency preparedness skill they should have experience in. Just practice holding their breath while water covers their head is an important first step. While I gave my newborn a bath, I counted to three then poured a large cup of water over her head. Some people believe the counting isn't necessary, but I preferred to give her a heads up. I still find myself counting, even though she is two, and she doesn't care if water is covering her head. Academic SkillsAhhhh... The moment you've all been waiting for. Academic Skills. To be honest, there is criticism as to whether or not preschoolers even need to learn these skills before they enter kindergarten. Many people believe children at the preschool age should just be kids without a structured curriculum or course outline. None the less, many school districts ask parents to provide their children with some type of Kindergarten Readiness training. If you decide to enroll your child into a particular district or school, I recommend you research online to see if they have specific suggestions or checklists. Leap Frog also has an enormous Kindergarten Readiness checklist broken down into categories I recommend, but it could be a bit overwhelming. With that said, I created a basic list of Kindergarten Readiness skills most districts suggest with examples on how some moms are helping their children master them. The Kindergarten Readiness List
Keep in mind...Some of these skills can be mastered with an "Interest Led", or unit approach. For example, my daughter loved dinosaurs when she was three. We drew dinosaurs, counted dinosaur figures (manipulatives), read about dinosaurs, sang songs about dinosaurs, sorted our dinosaurs by color, studied the letter "D" in terms of sound and shape, drew the letter "D" in the mud using a dinosaur figure, made dinosaur eggs (Oat Meal) for breakfast, etc. You get the point, right? I strongly urge you to use your child's interests!We learn more when we are passionate about what we are learning. And that's what makes your curriculum "Perfect" for you. You decide what is most important for them to know, or be able to do. Every child is different. It's okay to experiment and see what works best for your child.
Here is a list of suggested themes or units: Trains Dinosaurs Farm Life Monster Trucks or Transportation Plants and Seeds Animals Insects Family Fairy Tales Bible Stories Weather and Seasons When my first born was young, I worked as a special needs educator. I had the pleasure of working with high school students that were labeled as having an "Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)." These students are often uncooperative, angry, and argue often with those in authority. In fact, most of the students I worked with, were already expelled from their "home" school or were recently released from jail for their behavior. And although my attempts to create a therapeutic environment (focusing on rewards for behavior modification) were often successful, at the end of the day I was grateful to send them back off to their parents. I even thought, "If I can handle these kids, I could handle anything my own children throw at me"...Was I wrong. It wasn't until my oldest was four that I realized I had to do something different. No behavior modication reward or trick was going to work for my children. She wasn't the child who cleared a restaurant or grocery store aisle with tantrums and screaming. In fact, she was a totally different child in public. She was shy and rarely made a fuss when we had to put a toy back on the shelf. But at home, she had an incredible amount of energy, was extremely passionate to do everything by herself all at once (all the time), and no desire to sleep. On several occasions, I feared the neighbors would call the police to our home. She would scream for help as if I was attempting to duct tape her to the ceiling. While in reality, I was just asking her to put her shirt back on or brush her hair. There was never a dull moment and as a parent I felt like a monster everyday. I then realized, I had a Strong-willed or Spirited child. I read everything I could find about strong-willed children and what made them tick. And you know what I did? I focused on her strengths and started working on her heart. "Man looks at the outward apperance, but the Lord look at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7 I figured out the hard way, I needed to make some changes. As a special needs educator, I focused on behavior with rewards and concequences. That's great for the short-term, but my problems at home were problems of the heart. I want my daughters to do what is right with postive internal motivation, not for a reward. So I started reading, The Christian Parenting Handbook. Finally...a book that is encouraging using biblical philosophy and it provides the tools to get straight to the heart of a child. Now, I will say...it's not a quick fix book. Afterall, we all want long-term results. It will take time. But I can honestly say, I'm really enjoying reading it and I'm starting to see results! I can't wait to share our heart work in future posts. What heart work have you done? Please share!A few years ago, I read an article about a family who only gives each child in their family three gifts on Christmas. Each gift represented one of the three gifts given to Jesus by the Magi. To be honest...At first, I thought it was a clever way to cut back on presents for the year, but it really got me thinking. What a wonderful way to highlight the main reason for Christmas. From then on, I was determined to implement this in our home. Giving the gift of gold, frankinsence, and myrrh, tells us the Magi knew exactly who Jesus was. In fact, at the time they were standard gifts given to honor a king or diety in the ancient world. And although their significance is still up for debate, some scholars believe gold represents His kingship, frankincense a symbol of His priestly role, and myrrh foreshadowing His death and embalming. For more info on their significance, check out gotquestions.org. So, how do we implement this at home? Gold represents something valuable. This could be the most expensive gift we buy, or in my toddler's case, the biggest present under the tree. A museum membership, guitar lessons, an ice cream maker, or a gift card to their favorite restaurant could work for Gold. Frankinsence was burned as a sacrifice or for worship. This could be a gift to improve our child's relationship with God. A bible, nativity set, a devotional, and a bible verse game are all great examples for Frankinsence. Myrrh symbolizes suffering and affliction as it was a spice used in embalming. The gift of service benefits the whole family and others. For Myrrh we may volunteer or donate to a local food pantry, pack a box for Operation Christmas Child, become a World Vision Partner, or help those in need right in our own neighborhood. Volunteering as a family has so many benefits and although it's not real suffering, it's giving to others using our own skills or funds. Do you have a family tradition?For 92% of Americans, the day after Thanksgiving kicks off the Christmas season filling homes with new decorations, gifts, and family traditions. This year, we decided to start a new tradition to celebrate Advent. Every sunday of Advent, we will light a candle at dinner and read a bible verse together. Although there are 44 messianic prophecies in the Old Testment, I narrowed the list down to four I feel are most appropriate for children at Christmas. As I read the bible verse, our Little People set helps the story of Jesus's birth come to life for our toddler. She just holds baby Jesus in her hands while the glow of the candle reflects off her sister's face. I just love it. Here are our favorite Advent verses for ChildrenA voice of one calling: "In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’ Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 40:3-5 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Zechariah 9:9 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” Micah 5:2 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14 What is your favorite Advent Verse?
Okay...before you assume our little house is without a mess, think again. By noon there is dirty laundry behind doors, books and toys on every flat surface, and food already stuck on the stove. But before Dad walks through the door, the place is looking pretty good.
Here are a few ways, I learned the hard way, in keeping our homeschool space organized.
Empower your children.
In Japan, children are encouraged to clean their own classrooms and clean up after themselves. This gives them self confidence and a sense of ownership of their classroom and education. Empowering young children can be easy. Toddlers love to pretend and copy what other family members do. Make it a game with your children, or ask older siblings to model behavior for little ones. With older children, cleaning, folding laundry, and caring for themselves are life skills. Some families have chore charts that carry incentives, or task cards that are on display they must complete everyday which is expected of them. See what works for you and your family.
Give your crap, I mean STUFF!.... a home.
By the end of the school day, your children should know that pencils belong in this jar, books on this bookshelf or in these boxes, etc. So there are no additional questions, go ahead and label them.... or better yet, put them in clear bins. We love shoebox sized clear bins for manipulatives and art supplies.
Create an art, math, literacy, or science station where particular resources and materials can be found. I find it easiest to store arts and crafts items in clear plastic tubs or stackable scrapbooking shelves, that way I don't have to label them. I can already see what's inside. We also created a special science resources and nature collection shelf near our front door, so we have access to it on our way outside.
Dedicate a space in your home to homeschooling stuff.
Not everyone can have their own homeschooling classroom within their home, but you can dedicate an area of your kitchen, dining room, or closet to just homeschool stuff. You may want to allow children to decide where their workspaces are. If so, ask them to draw a map and label where their supplies are. They gain some map making skills, and they will know everything has it's place. Dedicate space for each child to store their daily work or supplies they will need for the week. Our oldest has a wooden box that has all the work she needs for the week in it. Textbooks, notebooks, binders, etc., all in one box.
Keep portfolios and records accessible.
Depending on what state you live in, you may be required to keep a portfolio. I find it easiest to organize our porfolios in a portable plastic filing box. (One box per child.) My daughter labels each folder within the box with a subject and when she completes an assignment or fills a notebook, she files it. At the end of the year, I go through each subject and pick out 5-10 work examples from the entire year. If you live in Florida, Statue 1002.41(1)(b) details the requirements you need to know on portfolios and annual evaluations. Okay, so your state may not require a portfolio. But, what about the new homeschool family in the neighborhood just starting out, or the reluctant family member who loves to question whether or not your child is really learning at home. If you have the space for it, you never know when you might want to share them with others.
Repurpose items or furniture so they work for you. Assuming our children will work from a desk for 8 hours is also unrealistic. We have owned a vintage desk since our oldest entered Kindergarten. When we brought it home, she was excited to have her own learning space. But as she got older, she needed more manipualtives, books and (of course) more space to store them. I also didn't want my daughter to think that learning only occured while she sat at her desk. So I started repurposing furniture to create more learning stations. A sewing table turned into a craft/computer station. Wood crates became bookcases and kitchen cabinets became great personal study stations. Just another use for a book light!
What if your organization isn't working for you?
No biggie. Change it up. When our children get older, their needs change and sometimes we just need something else that works for us. Those perfect homeschooling classrooms with matching desks and cabinets are to droll over, but they are not for everyone. I have learned the it's okay to adjust to what works best for our family. What organization idea can you share?I have a confession to make... I'm a book-aholic.I purposely do not buy bookshelves (which I need), so I don't have space to fill with more books. So for now, I make clever arrangements not unlike Tetris on the shelves to get them all to fit. But..why do I go through all the trouble of carrying and storing books in the first place? After all, we are living in a digital world where thousands of titles could be at my fingertips without having to lug around a stack of books. I wouldn't be the first to write about how a book feels in your hands. How turning each page provides that level of suspense book lovers enjoy. Some may even go as far as the smell of a familiar book or how you hear the cracking of the binding as you open it up. But the plot thickens. Is reading an e-book really reading at all? E-books are becoming more interactive with videos, advertisements, and other moving imagery that can be distracting to the reader. Is this why in a study conducted with middle school children, they failed to grasp the information they read? Despite being more motivated than the "real" book readers, to read in the first place? Hmmm...interesting. It's so tempting to buy a device that will be less wasteful and more practical. But for us... we need the real thing. I don't want my children marketed to through pop-up advertisements and distracted with interactivity. We want our girls to get lost in a story using thier own imaganiations. Besides, I'd rather not worry about the battery life of their books. What are your thoughts on e-books?Although Character Building is a priority for our family, I'm not always as consistent as I'd like to be. That's why I like to keep a few great resources at my fingertips and at my little one's feet . Here are a few resources I like to use and how I use them. The Bible for Little Ones is a board book with amazing colorful illustrations that really keeps my one year old engaged. Some may criticize that the Bible, (specifically the story of Noah,) is often glamorized with happy people and animals in children's books. And this book is like that...But my daughter is almost two. She will eventually learn the context of the true story. At this point she makes animal sounds as I read the story and I don't have a problem with that at all. When available, I also pull out some plastic animal figures so she has something tangible in her hands while I read. She sometimes puts them on the colorful book pages, as if they are part of the story. The Tale of Three Trees is a folktale about three trees and their dreams for what they want to be, when they grow up. No spoiler alert here, but by the end you will be saying, "Wow." If you want to share the story of Jesus with your children in a creative way, get this book. The Book of Virtues by William J. Bennett is a compilation of literary works sourced from Ancient History, the Bible, Greek Mythology, English poetry, and more. This is my go to book when I feel my daughter's character needs a little development. Hey, we all have those days. It offers lessons in responsibility, honesty, compassion, persistence, friendship, and courage. We normally read a specific character trait depending on the teachable moment. When my oldest daughter started fourth grade, I thought she needed a more age appropriate devotional that made her think critically, not just a sweet story. For Girls Like You - A Devotional for Tweens worked really well to accomplish this. Every week I asked her to read a section, reflect (verbally) on the questions asked in the text, and write down the bible verse that pertained to that section. She really enjoyed reading about the author's experiences and I have to admit I did too. Illustrated Family Bible Stories is a gem found among the shelves at our local bookstore. I love how the material is presented and the illustrations are awesome. I personally learned so much reading this book. There are tidbits that give you a clearer understanding of the culture and time period. Highly recommended for the entire family to read together. We try to get in a page or two at breakfast time. Last, but never least..The Bible. Translation isn't as important for us (as it may be for some) because we often compare several at one time anyway. Whenever there is a teachable moment, we crack open the Bible and find the answer. If we can't find our answer directly, we search an online Bible and then go back to our real Bible. What resources do you recommend?(this post contains affiliate links.) Gifts for the Whole FamilyIt's that time of the year again. The time when balancing cultural traditions, your budget, and putting Jesus full front and center, becomes so much more important. With the media talking about children having an increasing sense of entitlement, it's even harder to give our children gifts without the guilt. So... I created a list of educational gifts my children have enjoyed and didn't immediately make it to the junk pile, or last summer's garage sale. I hope this gift list helps you get a sense of how we homeschool on a limited budget as well. I am always trying to stretch our dollar by modifying what we have or buy to make it more educational. Altering or adding to an existing toy will also help you target specific learning skills you want your child to have. Before I get to the list of material items, I feel the need to remind you that your time with your child is the biggest gift you can give them. If you are reading this blog, it may seem like a no brainer. But I have found the most memorable educational experiences are made outside of the home. Often when we complete service projects or while volunteering. Volunteering as a family can produce some awesome memories and strengthen the family bond through positive communication. Family service projects can also cultivate empathy and help children recognize how blessed they really are. I encourage you to start a new family tradition and volunteer! Here are just a few ideas:
Preschool Gifts we use and love...
School-aged GiftsEntertainment
STEM and Science
Musical
The Great Outdoors
Games
Literature
Visual and Performing Arts
Technology
Sporting Equipment
Stocking stuffers or Fairy Gifts I love to Give to Encourage Living Skills
* Make great stocking stuffers It's no surprise that my daughter loves to cook. For her birthday she asked for a cast iron skillet and several shiny kitchen gadgets. So, where did she get this love for cooking? Honestly, if it were not for episodes of Chopped or Good Eats, she would be burning water like her dear old mom. She just has a passion for cooking and I'm going to embrace it! By the time my daughter becomes an adult, I want my daughter to acquire particular living skills, she needs to care for herself. Being able to prepare several healthy meals using tools appropriately, is just one of the many living skills. (This is the special needs educator in me talking) Besides, there are so many benefits to cooking. Here are just a few of the many benefits:
What can you do to create that culinary spark?
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About me...Like many other moms I wear many hats. I am a sinner after God's heart, a wife to a wannabe Jedi Knight, and a blessed mom to two very different girls. Categories
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I participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and if you enter Amazon.com through my blog and then make a purchase, I will receive a small percentage of the sale. I will never recommend a product or resource just to be compensated financially. If I write that we use or love something, you can trust that we do. DisclosureAll content and photo images of this blog are protected under all applicable international, federal, state, and local Copyright laws. All rights reserved to Two Arrows Homeschool. You have my written permission to repost portions of this blog elsewhere as long as Two Arrows is cited within your post and a link is created to redirect your readers back to Two Arrows Homeschool.
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