We had such a great week to close off our year of homeschool preschool! I had intended to do several more stories, and use two weeks...but things got hectic toward the end of the school year. So we did four, and then engaged in some non-themed activities. Have a look!
The Three Little Pigs
First we read the story. This is the version we have in our collection.
Then I printed these sequencing cards from 3 Boys and a Dog and invited Sweet E to place the pictures in order.
She retold the entire story, using sequencing words such as first, then, and next.
Until she had told the entire story of the three little pigs! She was so proud, she retold it again later for her Daddy.
Next we did a stem activity. We gathered some straw, sticks, and bricks (blocks) to build our own houses. As she completed each house, she did a little wind experiment to test their strength.
To begin, Sweet E built the first piggy's house of straw.
Then she huffed and puffed and blew it down!
Not a very sturdy house!
Next up was piggy number 2's house of sticks.
She huffed and puffed and blew that house down too!
And finally, she built a house of bricks. She huffed and she puffed, and she puffed and she huffed...but the house stood firm!
Jack and the Beanstalk
The only version of this story we had in our collection came from a Disney-fied anthology. But it's a favorite, so I had to include it!
For our first activity, Sweet E laced up the magical harp, with a free printable I found at From ABCs to ACTs.
We took our activities outside today because it was such a beautiful day!
She did a terrific job!
Peek-a-boo!
Next we did a measurement activity, using our linking chains and an image of a beanstalk that I printed in different sizes.
She took the time to link the chains together...
and then count them all up!
We even compared them using words such as bigger, smaller, shortest, and tallest.
Finished!
For our next activity I brought out our sensory bin of beans, three of which I painted with sparkly gold paint.
I hid the three magic beans in the bucket, and Sweet E had to find them!
It was a fun sensory challenge!
She loved it so much, we did this activity about four times in a row, and then again later in the day!
The Three Bears
Next we read Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
Sweet E started out by sorting the pictures by size, using this free printable from Miniature Masterminds.
Next she took Goldilocks and retold the story!
I was so impressed with how many details she remembered.
Next we used a free printable from Love for Kindergarten to talk about opposites.
I started her off with a set of opposites directly from the story, and asked her to give me examples of something hard and soft. Then she drew pictures of them!
Then I let her try to come up with her own examples of opposites. And I just love what she came up with!
Next we did a craft! I gave her strips of brown paper with lines on them, for some cutting practice. Then we'd use the pieces.
She glued the pieces onto a paper plate.
Then glued on some other pieces that I had cut out.
Until she had made an adorable little bear!
The Little Red Hen
For our last story this week, we chose The Little Red Hen!
I created my own printables in Photoshop Elements, because I couldn't find any free ones that I liked. First we worked on rhymes! I used characters from the story such as pig, goose and hen. And I printed images of words that rhyme with them. We had touched on this a couple times this school year, without much success. But the concept was finally clicking for her!
Here they are completed. She did such a great job!
She even did them again the next morning!
I also printed out a hen, loaves of bread with letters on them, and an oven! I cut a hole in the oven door, and taped it to the top of an empty tissue box. And we worked on letter sounds!
Sweet E picked up a loaf of bread, identified the letter, then told me which sound that letter makes. I spoke as the hen of course, which she loves, and asked her to place the bread into the oven.
She loved this activity! Anything with pretend play is a favorite of hers!
She baked all of the bread letters, saying all of their sounds, and then did it again!
Finally, we donned our aprons and chef hats, and baked up some of our own bread...er, muffins.
She's a tremendous help in the kitchen, and loves baking with me!
The Little Red Hen had opened up a few conversations about kindness, and sharing. So when we were done I asked her if she would share the muffins with her brother and sister, even though they didn't help to make them. And she absolutely wanted to!
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As far as non-themed activities, we did a lot of puzzles and games this week! We also worked on tracing her name, with free, editable printables from Keeping My Kiddo Busy. I didn't include a picture though for privacy purposes. And we practiced writing all of our letters. I tried to vary the ways I offered for her to write letters, two examples are the chalkboard easel:
and on her doodle pad.
She also painted numbers with q-tips.
Since I didn't give her orange or purple, she made her own by mixing colors!
Then she wanted to do more, so I provided the numbers 11-20 for her to trace too.
And then her name and some hearts!
We did lots of upper and lowercase matching, here is one example on the dry erase board.
Visual discrimination with colored craft sticks! Free printable is from Keeping My Kiddo Busy.
She also used her drill to make patterns!
Connect-the-Dots on the chalkboard...great for gross motor, and "crossing the midline" as she had to go up and down and all around!
Following simple instructions: circle numbers in red, letters in blue.
All in all a successful year of homeschool preschool. We covered so many subjects and learned all sorts of skills...but most of all, we had FUN!
Next year Sweet E will go to preschool just two days per week. So perhaps we'll continue to do some themed activities together! Stay tuned!
