My Favorites for Preschool: Activities and games

Games and songs are two of the best ways to help your child learn something. This week I will be sharing my favorite games and activities that have helped my son learn shapes, numbers, thinking skills, or motor skills.

Games

Warning: If you buy this game you WILL have to play it over, and over, and over again! My son loves The Cat's Pajamas and still requests to play it often. It helps with learning shapes and colors, as well as numbers 1-3 on a simple dice. It's a board game that makes them feel grown up, and formatted in such a way that everyone gets a fair shot at winning. 

Other games like Chutes and Ladders, and Candy Land are a great way to teach counting and colors. I don't have these games, but Little Man has played these at my mom's and has enjoyed them!

Another game that we love around here is memory match. It's always educational to improve their memory.  I think my son might be better at this game than me! haha We have the Spider-man version of this game, but this one is very similar.


Activities
There are so many activities we love. From sensory play to fine tuning motor skills, we normally do some sort of activity each day. Here are just a few of my favorites!
Lacing and Beading:
Not only are these great for preschool, but I love to bring them on trips as well. They are quiet enough for church, and my son can do these on his own, so it's something that I can leave him to do while I clean the house. I don't have this specific set, but mine is very similar.



There is another activity that I want to show you, but I believe they no longer sell it. I love this bug color and counting activity set. My son loves the colorful bugs, and the activity cards range from finding all of a certain color, to patterns, to simple addition. I found something similar in these bear activity cards, and I'm also sending a link to the bugs activity itself, but it doesn't look like it's sold through amazon, and it's very expensive!



There are many more activities I could talk about, but that may have to be left for another day. If you follow me on Facebook, you will know that I am now on the Timberdoodle blog team! There are a few activities that I would love to talk about and review for you, that I hope I get to do soon!
If you AREN'T following me on social media, go follow me on Instagram and Facebook. I would love to hear feedback from you!

Review of Peaceful Preschool Curriculum

As the school year winds down, I wanted to take this time and talk about how amazing the preschool curriculum is that my son has used! If you have been here long, you know that this is what I used for my Pre-K3 curriculum. My main goal was learning through fun, and I think The Peaceful Preschool from The Peaceful Press has been a great transition. It had more focused learning, but still so, so fun!

Peaceful Preschool is perfect for ages 3-5 and covers everything you need to know before Kindergarten. If your child finds something a little over their heads, I found it easy to switch out an activity and replace it with something else (however, I normally would try it their way first, and . It is easily customizable, but at the same time, you don't have to lesson plan (someone shout amen!) as everything is laid out each day.

Each week you get a supply list with books, things from the store, and things from around the house that you will need for the week. Each day you will find that day's assignment and it will tell you exactly what to do for: Reading, Phonics, Math, Large and Fine Motor Skills, Life Skills(my personal favorite! Your child learns how to do chores around the house!), and Art. The only thing I have added is Bible. However, this curriculum is from a Christian perspective, and many times Scripture is a part of their reading. On those weeks I normally make that our memory work.

A couple of negatives: There aren't many, but I do want to talk about a couple of things. First, N-P were Christmas themed lessons and another letter was Valentines themed. This is fine if you are following their plan exactly (which they really don't have a calendar plan), but since we took off for my daughter's birth, it wasn't Christmas any more when we got to those letters. I had to create my own lessons for those weeks. Not the end of the world, but I did want to give you a heads up.
Also-There was only one book I didn't care for (and there are a lot of books!). The Runaway Bunny. Many people like this story, but it just didn't sit well with me. To each their own! These are the only 'cons' but not enough for me to dissuade you from trying out this curriculum!

Books: There are a lot of books you go through!! We have used the library, friends, our own library and YouTube. Yes, YouTube! I would spend a fortune if I purchased every book, so when I couldn't get my hands on a book, I just looked it up and we listened to it there. The only downside to that, was if we needed a picture from the book to paint.

Nature: One of my favorite things about this curriculum is how often you are NOT at the table or indoors, but outside exploring. As I type this, one of the activities we will be doing is a nature walk, where we count plants, gather things we find on our walk and make an art piece out of it. Love it!

Would you like to see more? Check out their website! There you will find a sample lesson, book list, and more. The cost is very little, and all you need is a 3 ring binder and a printer! Here are some of my favorite books from the year. Hope you check out this wonderful preschool curriculum!

Monday Motivation: Preschool Corner Cleanout

When Little Man started preschool, I was about 7 months pregnant. I had a great amount of motivation to get my daughter's nursery in order, but about 0 to clean out my son's preschool nook. fast forward to the end of the school year, and things were looking rough! I decided to tackle it this weekend, and I'm pretty happy with the results:

Yikes! Because a lot of my son's things did not fit in a container, it wound up looking tacky and messy. The solution-Simplifying. He did not need 20 puzzles, and 10 activities to teach the same thing. I simply figured out what we used the most, and kept that. It's hard to give away what someone has given you, but if your child is too old for it, or doesn't use it anymore, it's time for it to go!

I set out some puzzles and books in a basket for my son to have during quiet time, or when he thinks he is bored. Just rearranging and simplifying some things caused him to get out puzzles he hasn't played with in months! When he starts kindergarten, he will be having a basket with the books he will use for 'reading time'. I thought I would go ahead and try it a little bit now!

 There are some DIYs I am wanting to do in this corner before he starts kindergarten, but I am enjoying how simplified and neat this space is now!
I have more preschool posts you can check out here and here.
Let me know, where do you homeschool? Do you have a designated room, corner, or nook? Or do you spread out on the kitchen table or bedroom?  I would love to hear where you homeschool!

Motivation Monday: Loving my Non-Pinterest Worthy Laundry Room

What a way to sell my blog post, right? It's true, though! After 3 days of cleaning out, lowering shelves, and figuring out a new laundry system, I love walking into this space now. There may still be torn floor pieces and unpainted walls (Laundry room is an unfinished room in the house), but I now appreciate its function. 

How did this neglected room get a little love? Here are some tips for loving a non-Joanna Gaines room in your home.

1. Realize what is changeable/not changeable about the space

For me this was realizing that I needed to clean and simplify it, despite having a $0 budget to paint, or get it the way I want it. Sure, I would love new floors, fresh paint, and a more minimalist designed laundry room, but I did what I could with what I had around the house. 

2. Make the room functional for you. 

For me that was lowering the shelf that held the rod for hanging items. I am a short 4'10" girl, and I had a hard time hanging clothes. I also looked up new ways for doing laundry to help me be able to use the space more efficiently. I'll let you know at a future date if this system works for me!

3.  Create something for the space to help you want to spend time there.

Who wants to spend time in the laundry room, am I right?! However, I took down the old, broken blinds and let in beautiful natural light. Then I painted a canvas I already had here at the house, to bring in some color. It's still an unfinished room, but it's now bright and colorful!

4. Now go do it!

Now comes the part where you close your phone/computer and tackle that space that hasn't seen much love. Whether your budget is a thousand dollars or zero, there is always something we can do to love our space a little bit more. After all, it isn't about the house or the room itself, but about the people who live there. Maybe I would love some subway tile and a farmhouse sink, but I'm more thankful for the little people who live here!

Here are my non-uniform hampers. One day I would like to change this, but for now, it works just fine!

Dollar store baskets are perfect for taking clothes to different rooms!

Here are some things on my Amazon wish list for the Laundry room for the future! Perhaps your budget is bigger than mine 😉

Hope after Loss

March 19 marks the day, last year,  I saw two pink lines on a pregnancy test. Most get excited, nervous, shocked, but for me it meant that I was at a crossroad. This would end in either a baby, or a loss, as the last 3 had done. Emotions weren't as present as they had been before. Hardly even shock. The only think I could think was 'Lord, can I go through this again?!'

I called my mom, and let Little Man stay with her as I headed towards the doctor's office to get a lab test done. I had gone for infertility before, and was designated as high risk, since I had 3 losses. The last loss had seen me be put on progesterone, and it was imperative for me to get tested as quickly as possible to hopefully keep the little one.

I got the call back that afternoon telling me that my HCG was 12, only 1 more than it had been the last time, when I had lost the last one. My heart sank, with only a glimmer of hope being that my progesterone levels were normal.

I waited 2 days, tested again, and had an agonizing day and a half wait for the results. The office had something going on, which prevented the nurse getting back with me. I was deep in prayer the entire time. I asked God for a 30 (numbers should double in 48 hrs) to give me relief that this pregnancy was 'It'. I asked, and asked, and asked. The day was the longest day ever! 4 pm on a Thursday, while teaching piano I got the call 'Your numbers are normal, you are good to go! We will see you at 9 weeks!' I could hardly contain myself in front of my student. 'What were my numbers?' I shakely asked. '48.' 48! My numbers had quadrupled in 48 hours!! For the first time, in the 2 years since we had been trying, it looked like we might have a baby!

Everything went smoothly. Both my pregnancy and delivery was very easy, especially compared to my son's! The first time I went for an ultrasound was the most emotionally joyful day I had in a long time. I saw a perfectly formed baby and I broke down. After 3 babies in heaven, I thanked the Lord for letting this one stay.

She's here now, and already 3 months old. She's beautiful, and perfect. Definitely worth the wait.

Is there something in your life where it feels as if God has stopped listening? I pray you will understand that He truly is. The timing may not be right, or it may be something He is saying 'no' to, and we must simply understand that we don't understand. I don't understand why I had to lose 3 pregnancies, but I do know this: God is good. Whether it looks like that or not.

Monday Motivation: Tackling the Kids' Bedroom

Kid's rooms are so difficult to keep clean and organized. As soon as you clean them, they are destroyed 5 minutes after the kid enters it again. I have tried to make sure my son cleans up after himself, but I had let it kind of go the last couple of weeks.

A fussy baby had me focusing on the front of my house and ignoring the 4 year old tornado blown room. When we decided to upgrade our son's bed to a twin size, it was time to tackle the beast.

This picture was taken about 20 minutes after starting and I was about ready to throw all his toys in a trash bag! Thankfully I had somewhat recently set up a cube organization system, and that helped with knowing what needed to go where so that everything could fit back in the room (neatly!) again.


Since Little Man's room is small, I knew some of the big toys had to go. We've decided the tool bench can be a playhouse toy, instead of an inside toy. A diaper box and a trash bag worth of donation toys later, and the room was finally looking better.

An empty room is so satisfying!! 

While looking for a new bed, my in-laws mentioned an old metal bed frame that was in storage. It had been in storage for many years, and I was nervous about it's condition. However, it was a beautiful painted red, and besides a few dings and scratches, in great shape! It was perfect for Little Man's superhero bedroom and perfect for our budget too!

Here is the bed with the cube units. Finally everything has a place, and everything is in its place. Once books or toys don't fit we take out that category and figure out what needs to be thrown away/donated. And when I say 'we' I mostly mean me. Sometimes I do get my 4 year old involved, so he knows how to sort through his own toys. If he was allowed to make all donation decisions, he would have an over crowded room, though!

Note: One of the cubbies was in the living room at the taking of this picture.

I really love my sons little superhero room. I love it even more now that more history has been added. Not only is the chifforobe from my mom, when she was little, but now this bed is my husband's uncle's when he was little. And to complete the history, are the two rocking chairs: one from my childhood, and the other my husband's grandmother's when she was little.

Hope this inspires you to organize your own kids room!

Remember:

Kids don't need every toy they've ever been given. 
Just keep the toys that they've played with in the last few months. 
Get storage that your child can keep up themselves!

Here are some of my favorite organizational pieces!

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Before I was a Mom

My son is going through teething, and a good nights sleep is becoming a distant memory. Sometimes I think about how it was before I was a mom...

Before I was a mom, my house was really clean. I didn't think it was, but it was!

Before I was a mom, a shower was a necessity, not a privilege.

Before I was a mom, laundry was never on the couch. I had made myself a rule that I would always have the front of the house free of laundry, now it's the best way for me to get it done.

Before I was a mom, what worried me at night was what I might do the next day, or perhaps what someone thought about me. Now I worry if my son is breathing, in pain, hot, cold, and ask myself if I am a bad mom because I do this, or that. 

Before I was a mom, I got 8 hours of sleep...8 hours!! Last night I had probably less than 4 broken hours.

Before I was a mom, I loved to do different things to my semi-long hair. Now I feel pretty dressed up in a ponytail. 

Before I was a mom, my husband and I went on a date night weekly. Now, we still do that, but with a 5 month old that may, or may not allow the said date night to be longer than 5 minutes.

This sounds depressing, I know. But let me tell you some more things about before I was a mom.

Before I was a mom, I never knew how happy I would be to see my son smile, laugh, sit up, etc. 

Before I was a mom, I never had someone raise their hands to me, because they wanted me, and only me. 

Before I was a mom, I never voluntarily stayed awake just to look at the sweet thing laying beside my bed.

Before I was a mom, I never knew how much I needed to trust God. To simply put things into His hands, because I have no control over the situation.

Before I was a mom, I never knew this strange new kind of love I have for my son. I look into his face, and I would do absolutely anything for him. It also made me realize just how much love God must have for us!

Before I was a mom, I never knew how much I would love being a mom! 

I am so thankful the Lord let me be a mom. Some days I wish I could just get one more hour of sleep, or that I had a half hour just to clean the bathroom, but I wouldn't trade these past 6 months for all the sleep, or the cleanest house in the world!

Wisdom From my Mom

Mother's Day is this Sunday, and I thought I would share some wisdom my mom has taught me over the years that I hope to use with my own little boy. Also as a youth pastor's wife who deals with teenagers/kids a lot I see just how important some of her wisdom is when it comes to parenting!
Note: I am in no way trying to tell you I have parenting figured out (because, I really don't have a clue!), nor am I saying I was raised perfectly. These are some things that I feel that my mom got right, and I believe she has done her very best.

Mom First, Friend Second

I am guessing this must be a hard thing to do, but I am so thankful that my mom used this motto with us. So many parents today want to be buddies with their kids instead of dealing with their behavior and being their mom. Because my mom didn't put up with some 'rebellious' actions of mine as a 13 year old, she and I have a great relationship today. She disciplined me then, so we could be friends as adults. I pray I do the same with my little one. I don't want to 'talk down' to him, but I also don't want to allow him to do wrong things because I just don't want to hurt his feelings.

Never Talk Bad About Your Kids in Front of Them

My mom would shake her head every time she heard a mother say things like 'He/She's impossible.' 'I can't wait until school starts again.', 'They just drive me insane!', etc. Mom always said that of course kids are going to act badly if that's all that's expected of them! Not saying you won't have challenging kids (I know I was a bit of one!), but my mom felt that tearing your kids down wasn't the answer, love and discipline was.

Teach Your Kids That Learning About God is a Pleasure, Not a Chore!

To be honest, this is not something I ever remember mom saying out loud, but she instilled in us a love for learning about God. To this day I enjoy discussing scripture and doctrine with people because my mom made Bible study not only a habit, but a joy. We would gather as a family about 3 times a day to either read Proverbs, a chapter we were doing for our Bible curriculum, and then in the evening before we went to bed. We didn't just listen to her read, but we got to take turns, listen to it being read by actors on CD, or sometimes just discuss what we read.

Lead by Example

Sometimes parents come to my husband and I and wonder why their kids are doing things that aren't right, when they themselves aren't living the life they should. You see, I knew that before (or maybe a little after) I got up in the morning my mom had Bible study and prayer. I knew this because we would sometimes catch her in the act. She didn't just expect us to spend time in the Word, she did herself! She was always willing to volunteer at the church, made sure that when we cleaned the church we did it out of love for the Lord not just for people's praise, or for money we made. You could tell she lived this out, because she would always think of extra things she could do to make it cleaner, more organized, etc. She also took on the church's youth even though she isn't being paid a dime.  I clearly saw by example, and I have to say that makes me a bit intimidated thinking that I am going to be under my own child's watchful eyes just as I watched my mom to see if she would 'walk the walk'.

Thank you mom, for being my mom first, and now my friend, for never talking bad about me in front of others, and never making me feel like you didn't want me around. Thank you for helping me develop a love for God, and showing me, not just telling me, when it came to doing things for God. I love you, Mom!

Feel free to comment nuggets of wisdom your own mother shared, or showed you!