I love having little preschoolers in our midst.  I wouldn't trade it one bit.  Homeschooling along with managing them, however, can be a challenge.  I was very intimidated early on at the thought of continuing homeschooling while continuing to have children!  It was "easy" to enrich the life of one little preschooler and get him launched into learning.  But what about him AND consecutive ones.  It seemed like a puzzle.  One thing that I failed to factor in, during those early fears, was the truth that my oldest would be reading fluently and learning quite independently in many areas.  So that has helped on the big kid side.  Still, my brain often feels like it's splitting in half managing both to challenge the elders and govern the youngers simultaneously. 

At one point I tried saving all of our homeschooling until their afternoon naptime so I wouldn't have to deal with homeschooling and monitoring the littles.  But I realized I relished that later time as rest for me too after a busy morning...at least some of it.  My energy usually diminishes somewhat.  So I reckoned we would continue our 9 o'clock school starting time.  We manage to get most or all done in the morning.  Usually we have some to do for the first bit during naptime, like history read-alouds etc. 

I've discovered that one key to our day working well is to begin with some special preschool time designated just for those little tykes.  Sometimes I just get to hoping they aren't disruptive without intentionally meeting them!  So, today we started off with a short Bible story from the Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes, by Kenneth Taylor. We have the 1956 edition, but this is the new one available today: 

( I so recommend this for ages 2-5.  It was around when I was a little girl and has such vivid pictures with very short questions at the end of each story.)  Then we had a little song time on the carpet in a "circle" (triangle?)  singing songs such as "I may never march in the infantry", "This Little Light of Mine," "1,2,3 Jesus Loves Me."   By now my seven year old is begging to be allowed to take a break from her handwriting and come "assist."  After songs, I led them to the kitchen table for play-dough time, and we made snaky numbers and rolled up little "eggs," the quantities of which would match each number we formed.  I kept this controlled and short and stayed there the whole 10 minutes.  Then I gave them color wonder markers and a sheet of paper for drawing.  That was our preschool half hour for today!  Easy.  At that point, they were happy to get down and play quietly in their room, with legos, or personal toys.  Spending just some dedicated time on them really helped smooth the morning as I was then able to turn my attention to helping the others with tougher subjects, while allowing them to get out activities they could do alone or with the help of a sibling. 

I'd love to glean some insights from my readers on great preschool activities that are easy to prep and would be fun to rotate in to our time. 

Here are some other favorites we have:

• Corn Meal Letters (pour a cup of yellow corn meal into a lipped cookie sheet and form letters with the finger)
• Peanut Butter play-dough (mix powdered sugar and peanut butter for an edible treat after making your alphabet letters or numbers) 
• Shape cutting. (mom draws shapes on paper and little ones cut around them with children's scissors)

What are or were some of yours?  Add to my list here, and I'll compile the complete list for a future entry that can be a resource to all of us.  Include songs and/or activities that could be done alone or with supervision or with parental involvement.  Meeting our preschoolers needs is key to the rest of our homeschooling running smoothly.  And those of you whose kids are all preschool, you'll be here before you know it! 

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Posted by Dechertimes2

Hi, I just discovered your blog! And, I enjoyed my visit. I esp. enjoyed your post today as I just began homeschooling again this school year (my 12-yr-old daughter is in 6th Grade) and I have a 2-yr-old son, and learning to homeschool in the midst has adjustments. :) A couple of ideas are Write 'N Wipe books, also peg board puzzles. I think, this is great that you are compiling this list. I am going to add you to my friends list and look forward to checking out more. :) Have a blessed day! :)

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Posted by eclecticeducation

Thanks for writing this. I have a ten year old and a 4 year old so I know what you mean about trying to do work with both. One thing that is a big hit in our household is the little one loves stickers and with scrapbooking being so popular the type of stickers are endless. They are also great for fine motor skills.

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Posted by mrssulli

I am so happy you are doing this list! I've had this on my mind lately with the new baby on the way. Right now, we switch school time with the big kids so one can play with the toddler, but I think I'll have to start doing activities with her before the baby arrives to give her something special. How are you enjoying the warmth?

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Posted by Dana

Watercolor paints (this week we painted letter E)
I am currently using Storytime from A to Z from The Mailbox. A book an easy activity and some ideas for phonics. Easy.

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Posted by WaitingontheLord

Congratulations!! I saw your baby-gaga at the top.
We love whipped cream letters also. Messy and yummy!
Uncooked rice makes a good indoor sandbox.
Fingerpainting.
Butcher paper rolled out on the floor so everyone can color together.
Look at Photo Albums - we took pictures of everything for ours: zoo animals, cars driving by, trees, clouds, airplanes, balloons, family and friends, squirrels, our house, kids as babies, ducks on pond, etc. The kids look at it quietly for quite a while.

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Posted by amada

Christa,
Hey! Congratulations, I don't remember if I knew that you were pregnant! But, I noticed in that picture on the boat the cute tummy! So fun!!
I'm sorry that you must not have heard (I think it happened in the midst of all our travels and then your travels afterward), but our 5th baby went to be with Jesus. He died at 17weeks. We were very sad. He would have been born 2 weeks ago, January 1st. I think that is part of the reason that I haven't been blogging lately. I was dragging a little bit over the New Year just knowing that our baby would've been born. But, we are confident that the Lord knows what He's doing :)
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/amada/178800/The+Lord+knows+the+plans+he+has+for+us....html

I loveed reading your updates and seeing the pictures.

Amy

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Posted by Anonymous

Yes, I am in the midst of learning to manage a new homeschooler, a four year old, and a toddler and need some fresh ideas for balancing all their needs. Of course some days are good and some do not run so smoothly. I think though you have reminded me of the key: one-on-one time in a directed activity helps relieve their demand for our attention. Some days I just respond and am not proactive in planning their time. So ideas I've used in the past: water play at the sink or in the high chair with bubbly water, simple table top games ( i.e. Discovery Toys' Busy Bugs), fun finger plays, pull out the pop tent and tunnel. Here was a fun one: we converted our play area into a pond using a blue blanket for water, stuffed animal fish, frogs, ducks for pond life, throw pillows for rocks to jump between, and a card board box for a boat, a play fishing pool to fish with.
I look forward to more ideas, thanks again Christa,
KIM U

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Posted by EEEEMommy

I try to incorporate my pre-schooler as much as possible in our Bible, Science, and History times (which are mostly reading/notebooking). I look for coloring pages for them on the Internet that correspond to what we're learning/reading in each of those subjects.



I also try to incorporate them in the teaching time of Math. I give them the same Math Manipulatives that the older kids are using and allow them to "play" and even give them instructions on their level of what to do with them.



After lunch, before quiet time, I read picture books with my pre-schooler.



I have a plastic box full of pre-school manipulatives that they can work on while I'm focusing on the older siblings. It includes lacing shapes, pegs, large wooden beads to lace, Lauri foam puzzles, etc. Our newest addition to the box is a Wedgits set.



Magnetic Dress-up dolls have been a big hit!



Refrigerator Magnets (alphabet, numbers, animals)



Puzzles



I use a highlighter to write large letters, and numbers, or draw shapes or simple pictures which they can then trace. They also like to draw on the dry erase board, but that isn't always a good thing.

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Posted by Anonymous

So..plopping Josie in front of the TV isn't the right thing to do? Ha! Kidding, of course. I look forward to the post of tips! I like the playdough snake idea. We play with it all the time, but haven't done anything "educational" with it!
BTW, I bought Bette's comforter at Walmart online and scored Josie's from Dana C. They are cheap, but cute and easily washed!

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Posted by JustGiveMeStarbucks

Congratulations on your pregnancy! How exciting! I'm jealous, of course, but our house is full and busy (14 y.o., 12 y.o., 11 y.o, and one that will be 1 y.o. next month). I love the ticker -- it's the same kind I put in my emails when we were expecting our little girl. :-)

Sally

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Posted by CountryMomof4

I so remember those days. My youngest is almost 5, but I'm trying to convince my husband to let me have more babies, so who knows, maybe I'll be there again. Anyway, I got a lot of use out of the Busy Book For Toddlers, and the one for preschoolers that goes by the same name. It's a big fat book filled with great ideas and well worth the $10 bucks I paid for it. Also, if you like Kenneth Taylor, he has a great book called Right Choices. It was a huge hit with all four of my kids, and I used it as Bible curriculum when they were preschoolers! Hope this helps. Blessings ~Karlie

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