Learning About the Phases of the Moon for Preschoolers

The boys had a blast learning about the phases of the moon last week.  We worked on this during our Goodnight Moon Unit and even though this was mainly for Vito, I decided to include Mavi as well.  With this, I prepared two sets of learning materials:  one for a preschooler and the other is for older kids (elementary).  This post is on how you can introduce the moon and its phases to kids from 3years and older.

Before FIAR: Goodnight Moon Unit

My boys love Goodnight Moon (Amazon US) (Book Depository) and we have read it numerous times already. You can see our previous activity of the book from here, Goodnight Moon Storytelling Basket.  Now that Vito is a lot older, I assembled these activity trays for him to work on as a book extension.  I don’t have a guide for Before FIAR, so all of these activities are either sourced from the internet or invented by yours truly.

 

Note:   All of the printables here are homemade and you can find them in my shop:

• Goodnight Moon & Bedtime Themed Math Activities Learning Pack
• Goodnight Moon & Bedtime Themed Early Literacy Learning Pack
• Goodnight Moon & Bedtime Themed Bundled Learning Pack

Montessori Coloured Beads: How We Use It At Home

It’s starting to get chilly in our side of the world and though we prefer walking in the fields and in the forest during this beautiful season, the weather doesn’t seem to be in line with my plans.  So last week, I introduced Vito to the Montessori colored beads which I have for 3 years now.  But the thing about siblings, they just wanted to do what the other is doing.  Mavi insisted that I should give him some work with the beads as well, not just Vito.  In this post, I’m sharing how I made the boys work independently, but still supervising them as they work.

Writing Practise for Preschoolers

Vito had a sudden interest on tracing and writing letters last week.  I didn’t see it coming.  He knows all his letter sounds, but is not ecstatic over letter (phonics) activities like sorting objects according to beginning letters. So I’m shelving those activities at the moment.  Right now, he just wanted to trace and attempt (or pretend) to write letters.

Introducing Montessori Hundred Board for Preschoolers

I know that Montessori math should be introduced later on (language/reading should come first) but with Vito I just couldn’t resist introducing him to some traditional Montessori math materials as early as 35 months old!  You see, currently he just wanted to count.  Whenever we read books, he wanted to count the images first before allowing me to start reading.  If I ask him to make letter sounds, he would say “no, let’s count first” referring to counting the letters in a word rather than reading it.  We’ve done a lot of counting,  but he seems pretty bored lately.

So the other day, I was tidying up my storage shelf and Vito saw our Hundred Board.  He immediately took it out and excitedly said “Oh numbers! Let’s count!” and that’s what we basically did for the past few days. 

Preschool Letter B

A long overdue post of our letter B activities.  Vito is currently sick so I barely have  time to post.  We are not doing any “homeschool” activities except for reading books and play with his farm set.  Below are some ideas for learning letter B sound and prewriting activities. 

Life Cycle of a Pumpkin (Preschool Edition)

We are seeing a lot of pumpkins and though we may not be able to visit a pumpkin patch, we brought home a couple of pumpkins for exploration. I would like to share this very beautiful layered puzzle that I purchased in Amazon.  It’s the Life Cycle of a Pumpkin, beautifully crafted and illustrated.  There’s a guide for each layer on the left side so the child will know what comes next.

Activities for Toddlers (12-18 Months)

I’m often asked by my readers and fellow Moms for the activities suitable for certain ages.  So I decided to sum up Vito’s favourite activities since 12 months old.  First in the series, I’m sharing activities that Vito enjoyed when he was between 12-18 months old.   (Always supervise your child in each of these activities)

Basic Montessori Math Materials for Introducing Numbers

IT’s the 12 Month of Montessori Series for October and I would like to share the top 4 Montessori Math materials in teaching numbers to preschoolers.  I love sharing math activities because I love math, and Mavi is now appreciating mathematics because he can see its application to real life. 

I am absolutely a believer of the Montessori approach in mathematics, especially to younger kids as it provides a strong foundation in understanding numbers and quantity.  The use of tactile materials make it even more engaging to young children. And the best part of this, you can absolutely make a “poor man’s version” of the materials.

Without further ado, I’d like to introduce to you some of the Montessori materials that introduces the units of quantity from 0 to 10.

Halloween Preschool Unit

I’d like to share Vito’s top picks of activities for October.  These are the trays that he would select more often for “play”.    Links to the materials are provided, and feel free to ask questions as well.

Playdough Monster Faces

I managed to create a pitch black playdough and the boys had so much fun making “scary” monster faces with it! 

Introducing the Human Skeleton to Preschoolers

Vito is 34 months old.

It’s that time of the year when my kids get to see a lot of human skeletons hanging everywhere!  No wonder October is the best time to introduce the human skeleton to your kids.  Vito is in the “what’s that” stage and he’s been asking me a lot of questions lately about these “funny” costumes and the hanging bones.  So I gathered a few old and new learning materials for him so I can introduce these amazing body system.

Preschool Animal Habitats using Sensorial Materials

We were reading a lot of animal books lately that I decided to introduce Vito to animal habitats.  I have no idea how to do it first, but then I realised that I have kinetic sand, some synthetic grass and unused ice in the fridge… enough materials to present three animal habitats of the world.  Take note that there was no serious “lesson” in here.  Everything was spontaneous, like a storytelling of animal homes.  The concept was introduced as Vito and I played along.  Much of the time was spent playing pretend, feeling and touching the grass, sand and ice!