A Common Shepherdess

Recently our library was giving away a huge box of old National Geographic magazines. Every time we visited we would take a few home. I think we were the only ones who ever took any. We ended up with a big stack. Whenever I read a book to my daughter, we talk about the different animals we see in the book. Then we look through the magazines and cut out pictures of animals we saw. My daughter glues each of these pictures onto an index card and I write the name of the animal on the card. She loves getting these cards out and looking through them. Sometimes I ask her to sort them according to color or size, or whether or not the animal can fly, anything to get her thinking about their differences.

My daughter loves all the Disney princesses. The local dollar store has workbooks with the Disney princesses on them. These workbooks are geared for 1st or 2nd grade but she loves coloring in them all the same. She has a workbook for practicing her letters. (So she can only make an O and an I. Who cares?!) She also has her own math book. (She can draw a 0 and a 1--eerily similar to her O and I!) It makes her feel included and she likes to work in her math book while the boys work in theirs.

My kids have rediscovered the joy of books on CD. Not just preschoolers love these. My oldest boy loves the Hank the Cowdog series. The audio CDs are wonderful. The author does the reading and uses all kinds of different voices and makes the story come alive. All the kids have enjoyed Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle . My three-year-old's current favorites are We're Going On A Bear Hunt and a storybook version of the movie Lilo and Stitch . The We're Going On A Bear Hunt CD is so engaging. It contains music with the telling of the story. It also has an echo game and encourages play by asking the children to move with the music and act out the story. My daughter likes to retell the story as the music plays. All of my kids have enjoyed this CD. Lilo and Stitch isn't great literature but the reason my daughter likes the CD is because it comes with a picture book to follow along with the reading. She loves listening for the chime to tell her when to turn the page. We found ...

I found a 100 ounce bottle of Miracle Bubbles bubble solution at WalMart for $2.50. I also bought a package of different bubble blowing toys for less than $2.50. I like how the toys come with a wide, low-sided tray for holding bubble solution. That reduces the amount of spillage! This has entertained my three-year-old for hours. The boys take their books outside and I work with them while my daughter plays with bubbles. My 12-month-old loves watching the bubbles flying.

Currently our kids are 8, 5, 3 and 12 months. One of the biggest challenges I have faced in our adventure in homeschooling is how to occupy preschoolers while working with an older child. An occasional video or TV show is fine but I don't like my kids to sit in front of the television for hours. Besides, I have found that TV gets boring for my preschoolers. My kids like to be involved in whatever is happening. As I find something that works to entertain and educate my preschoolers, I will post it here.