Posted in My Homeschool FAQs
mamaduso asks?
1. Send her on a treasure hunt! Give her a bag and send her around the house looking for (5 or 6 or 7, etc.) items that start with a certain letter. (Example: for "A" she might bring you an apple, ape, etc.) This can also works for things with a certain number in them. (Like tell her the number 6 and she can bring back a tea towel with 6 flowers on it, a key chain with 6 keys, etc...) Be sure to make putting things back as part of the game! This is a very good activity when Mom is busy and needs the kiddos to keep themselves busy! (I remember doing this with my oldest son when I was exhausted and pregnant with number 2 while I napped on the sofa! LOL)
2. Jump rope! - Get out the jump rope and have her recite while she jumps! ABC's, phonic sounds, additon, subtraction, skip counting, poems, Bible verses. If she can't jump rope yet just lay the rope on the floor and wiggle it as she jumps around it.
3. Have a busy box - Keep a box of odds and ends handy. Little kiddo toys, keys, paper clips, whatever. Have her pick one (or 2 or 3) items out and make up a story about them. You can also have her find like items. Things that are shiny, things that are round, things that start with a certain letter etc. Have her find all the items of one color and add them up for some fun math. (Again this is a good activity when Mom is busy or tired!)
4 Make up a story - Have her dictate a story to you and then have her illustrate it and make it into a book. I find the little elcheapo file folders with the clear acetate front make for spiffy homemade books. I usually type the story up on the computer and then put a sentence or 2 at the top of the page for my daughter to illlustrate that page below the words.
5. Take pictures - If you have a digital camera give it to your daughter and send her around the house to take pictures. Give her a topic. Things that move, things that have fur, things with words, things with the a certain letter in them. (Or let her take random pictures and then make up a story that links them all together.) Then you can print out the pictures and make a book together with all the pictures she took.
6. Check out books on tape - Check out books at the Library on tape and let her listen to them when she is getting bored with the other things you are doing. This way she can learn and play at the same time.
7. Lapbook! - Don't forget about lapbooking. You can either make up your own or purchase one from Hands of a Child. ready to assemble. Right now their free lapbook is Sports History which is probably not that interesting to a 5 yo girl! LOL But, they change it every few months if you want to try a free download. Live and Learn Press also has 2 free downloads right now that are perfect for a 5 year old. One is about Apples and the other is a Book About Me. Click here to download them.
7. Make up a song - We make up songs for everything. Learn your address, phone number, bible verses, poems, math facts. Anything we need to memorize we just make up a hoaky song! LOL The kids don't care how bad the song is...Just sing!!!
9. Learn with Music - If you are not comfortable making up your own songs there are tons of great CD's available to help them learn. For phonics we use Sing, Spell, Read and Write. (The Leap Frog DVD's are also excellent. My kids LOVE them!) For learning multipication we use Skip Counting CD's. We have used History Songs, Geography Songs, Wee Sing Songs for learning Patriotic Songs and facts about Dinosaurs. We have memorized the Books of the Bible and Bible Verses. We love Lyrical Life Science and if those are not enough suggestions...Check out this site! I had no idea so many concepts had been set to music! The really cool thing about this site is that the lyrics are posted for the songs. The great thing about learning with music is little busy bodies can DANCE away some energy while they learn!
10. Act out a story - Read a story to your kids and then let them tell it back to you by acting out the story. You might have to be the Director until they get the hang of this one, but the will catch on fast and LOVE it!
11. Make a Math version of the ABC Stomp game - Cut out 10 circles (or more!) and write 0-9 on them with a Sharpie. Write the same number on both sides. (This will help when they flip over during the game.) Lay them out on the floor in a circle and call out simple Math problems. 1+3= She will have to find ther right number and step on it. You can use this for addition, subraction, multiplication, division. Make as many numbers as you want as she gets into higher Math. You can also use this to add together several numbers. 1+3+3+2= .
Well, that is what I can think of off the top of my head. Hope that helps! Have fun!
Jamin
Posted by 
Posted by 
Posted by 
Posted by 
