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| Homeschooling Preschool Teaching Tips & Ideas |
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A Homeschool Curriculum for Preschool and Kindergarten |
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Lillian Jones |
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"Can anyone recommend a curriculum for pre-K and kindergarten? This is a frequent question homeschooling bulletin boards and email lists. It's a perfectly reasonable question, but some of the responses can be confusing to new homeschoolers.
We all come into homeschooling with some common preconceptions of what the program should be - but many who have been at it for a while or raised homeschool grads are likely to strongly suggest not setting up a structured study program for young children. This is where some misunderstanding can come into play.
Saying that a structured study program for a young child is inappropriate is not at all the same as saying that learning is unimportant during the early years. It's simply that many experienced homeschoolers and other educators feel there are certain kinds of activities that are much more important and appropriate in early childhood than studying the 3 R's - and that to establish a structure that emphasizes the 3 R's at that age can actually be detrimental. If a child is asking to learn to read, of course, that's a whole different matter - but it's simply a question of helping that child learn to read, which is very different thing from setting up a curriculum. |
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Kindergarten Math |
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Simple approaches to teaching math for preschoolers and kindergarteners in the home environment. |
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Math for Preschoolers: More Than Just Counting |
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Jen Sherwin |
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Preschool-age children are ready to explore more than one might think! Parents often focus on counting from one to ten, but there are many other skills that children are ready and able to investigate.
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Math Play: How Young Children Approach Math |
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Douglas H. Clements, PhD, and Julie Sarama, PhD |
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Mathematical experiences for very young children should build largely upon their play and the natural relationships between learning and life in their daily activities, interests, and questions.
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Pre-K Smarties |
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Pre-K Smarties is a preschool education resource for parents teaching preschoolers with tips for early reading using phonics, parenting articles, family freebies, and deals on the best educational toys. |
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Preschool Math |
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There are many natural ways to teach preschool math. Everyday activities, like cooking and grocery shopping involve mathematical concepts.
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Preschool Math: All Sorts of Sorting |
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Traci Geiser |
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Parents may think counting and recognizing numbers are the nuts and bolts of preschool math. While these are important skills for young mathematicians to master, building a foundation for complex mathematical thinking begins in the early childhood years. Sorting and classifying objects helps children begin to notice how items are alike and different, and creates an awareness that is vital for math learning.
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Preschool Math: Mastering Number Recognition and Counting |
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Traci Geiser |
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Learning about numbers is a preschooler’s first step toward becoming a budding young mathematician. And in preschool, math learning is all about counting, number recognition, and one-to-one correspondence. If a child doesn’t ace these seemingly simple skills in a timely manner, don’t fret: even math whizzes need time to blossom. But with age appropriate techniques, helping your child to master these math milestones will be as easy as 1, 2, 3!
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Preschool Practice: Shapes and Colors |
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Traci Geiser |
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Learning shapes and colors may well be a young child’s first educational endeavor. Although recognizing objects as red or blue, round or square might seem like child’s play, it’s actually integral to a young child’s cognitive development, and sets the stage for math concepts from sorting and patterning to geometry, and beyond!
What can you as a parent do to help your young learner master these academic milestones? You may not have to look beyond the backdrop of your life for the perfect learning tools. Try a few of these fun activities to help your child master colors and shapes. |
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Readiness |
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Vicky Williams |
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This article takes a look at one mother's coming to terms with her daughter's readiness, or lack thereof, to learn to read. |
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Tips for Frazzled Homeschool Moms |
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Scott Stroud |
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Any homeschooling family with more than one child knows the challenge of keeping “Baby Kong” from tearing apart the house during school time. These tips help with how to deal with those unruly toddlers and make it through this difficult and often exhausting stage of homeschool life. |
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Why Preschool Shouldn't Be Like School |
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Alison Gopnik |
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houldn't very young children be allowed to explore, inquire, play, and discover? Perhaps direct instruction can help children learn specific facts and skills, but what about curiosity and creativity—abilities that are even more important for learning in the long run? hile learning from a teacher may help children get to a specific answer more quickly, it also makes them less likely to discover new information about a problem and to create a new and unexpected solution. |
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5 Great Pre-K Math Activities |
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Giving children a foundation to build number sense is very important. Learning might as well be fun to help kids build a great outlook on math, as they grow older. Here are five fun Pre-K math activities that build number recognition and counting skills.
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Adding Fun |
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With just a few inexpensive supplies, you can make this simple adding activity for your preschooler. |
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Coin Poems |
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These fun printables feature poems to help young children learn the value of coins. |
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Easy Preschool Activities for busy Moms and Teachers |
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We all have busy lives, yet we want the most productive preschool activities for our children with as little fuss as possible. Here you'll find activities to stimulate gross motor skills, preschool songs, activities to develop visual perception, numeracy, and mathematical concepts, language building activities, and children's bible lessons and faith building activities. |
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JumpStart Math Activities |
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When it comes to math, a good foundation is essential. With these fun math activities for kids, numbers become friends and the basic foundation for the subject is established at an early age. Different math activities for kids of different age groups can be effective in teaching them basic but essential math concepts.
Here are some interesting grade-based math activities that parents and teachers can use to make math a whole lot of fun! |
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Math Songs |
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These cute math songs help young children learn about addition, money, time, and skip counting. |
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Models of 3-D Solids |
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These printable 3-D models are easy to use. They are pdf files that can be printed out to construct prisms, pyramids, platonic solids, polyhedra, and more. |
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Sort and Count Bottles |
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Use old bottles and pom poms for simple counting and sorting maths games and motor skills fun! With lots of ways to play and learn, these are a great addition to the maths area at home or school.
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Sort the Mail: Pretend Play and Number Recognition |
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Allison McDonald |
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Kids love to pretend and test their limits within boundaries of make believe. Combining pretend play with math is a great way to challenge your kids without making them feel like it’s a test. Pretending to be a postal worker gives the task of sorting meaning and with that meaning their learning is deeper and better retained. |
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ABC Mouse Homeschool Early Learning Academy |
The ABCmouse.com Homeschool Early Learning Academy offers these features:
- More than 5,000 learning activities in Reading, Math, Beginning Science, Social Studies, Art, and Music
- A full online preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten curriculum
- A Step-by-Step Learning Path that guides your child through the curriculum at his or her own pace
- Our powerful Lesson Builder tool that allows you to create your own lessons for your child
ABCmouse.com’s curriculum focuses on the important educational basics, helping children establish a foundation of knowledge that they can build upon with confidence and success. Because ABCmouse.com Early Learning Academy offers a curriculum carefully designed in collaboration with nationally recognized childhood education experts, you can be sure that, while homeschooling, your child will be learning all of the important basics.
ABCMouse.com offers a First Month Free Subscription Offer . |
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Everyday Mathematics |
Everyday Mathematics is a comprehensive Pre-K through 6th grade mathematics curriculum developed by the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project and published by McGraw-Hill Education. Everyday Mathematics is a research-based and field-tested curriculum that focuses on developing children’s understandings and skills in ways that produce life-long mathematical power. The Everyday Mathematics curriculum emphasizes:
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Use of concrete, real-life examples that are meaningful and memorable as an introduction to key mathematical concepts.
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Repeated exposures to mathematical concepts and skills to develop children’s ability to recall knowledge from long-term memory.
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Frequent practice of basic computation skills to build mastery of procedures and quick recall of facts, often through games and verbal exercises.
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Use of multiple methods and problem-solving strategies to foster true proficiency and accommodate different learning styles.
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JumpStart Free Math Curriculum |
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Homeschooling parents will find that when it comes to choosing the curriculum for math, there is a huge variety available. In fact, the number of math curriculums available to choose from may make choosing the right one difficult. These supplemental math activities for grades K-5 are fun ways to incorporate more math into your homeschooling. |
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JumpStart Free Preschool Curriculum |
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Preschool is a time of rapid growth and development. While the preschool curriculum is designed keeping in mind the physical and intellectual developmental characteristics of 2 – 5 year olds, there are certain milestones that most preschoolers should achieve before they begin kindergarten.
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Life of Fred |
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This set of books is unlike any other textbooks. Each text is written in the style of a novel with a humorous story line. Each section tells part of the life of Fred Gauss and how, in the course of his life, he encounters the need for the math and then learns the methods. Tons of solved examples. Each hardcover textbook contains ALL of the material – more than most instructors cover in traditional classroom settings. Includes tons of proofs.
Written by Dr. Stanley Schmidt with the intent to make math come alive with lots of humour, clear explanations, and silly illustrations that stick in the mind. The student will learn to think mathematically.
Completion of this series prepares student for third year college math. |
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Living Math |
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Early exposure to real mathematics in natural settings, without requiring mastery of arithmetic on a set timetable is a key to the ease with which kids attain mastery when the time is right for them. Math literature and history humanizes math, makes it come alive, and provides a context to enjoy and retain learning. This wonderful site offers a literature-based approach to math learning, with book lists, lesson plans, and more. |
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Math on the Level |
Math on the Level is a flexible, maturation-based, homeschool math curriculum with a very effective review system. It's unique approach is designed to turn your home environment into a rich, real-life learning experience and make math education meaningful and fun for your whole family.
- Teach when it is easy for your child to learn
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Use everyday activities to make math real
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Review for long term retention without busywork
One curriculum purchase covers your math needs for the whole family from pre-K through pre-algebra. |
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Math-U-See Primer |
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In the Primer level your child will learn not only how to write numerals but also addition and subtraction, basic counting, skip counting, geometric shapes, telling time, and they will be introduced to the manipulative block system. It’s a gentle introduction to "doing math."
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Numbers Plus - Preschool Mathematics Curriculum |
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The Numbers Plus Preschool Mathematics Curriculum is a comprehensive set of detailed plans for small- and large-group early childhood mathematics activities, with ideas for extending learning throughout the program day. What’s special about Numbers Plus is that children’s mathematical learning is sequenced within activities — each activity has a built-in progression so children of different developmental and ability levels can participate together and have a positive and meaningful learning experience. By actively engaging young children with materials and ideas, Numbers Plus builds on the latest knowledge from research and practice about early mathematics learning and how adults support it.
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Singapore Math |
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Singapore Math books are clear, logical, and sequential. There is a strong focus on mental math. Word problems and geometry are integrated throughtout the series. Singapore Math® books are a popular choice of homeschool families and for parents looking for math activity books to support what their child is learning in school. There are also titles to help home educators understand the foundations of Singapore Math® methodology, giving you tools to help your student be successful and have fun.They offer math texts from pre-K to 12th grades. This series challenges children to think through and understand mathematical concepts instead of simply memorizing facts and algorithms. One of the benefits of using this program is its affordability. The textbooks are inexpensive and are reusable. The consumable workbooks are priced so that even families with multiple children using this program will find it affordable.
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Sonlight Homeschool Preschool Curriculum |
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Finding the right homeschool preschool curriculum is important. For many children, this will be their first introduction to organized learning. Giving your child the right introduction to the world of knowledge can help them become life-long learners. To learn how to choose the right homeschool preschool curriculum for your child, consult the resources offered at Sonlight. |
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Time4Learning |
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The Time4Learning preschool program combines technology, animated characters, original stories and fun music to inspire a love of learning in the littlest e-learners. Ed Mouse and his friends guide children through more than forty topics such as numbers, letters, rhymes, self, time, music and colors. |
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TouchMath |
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This pre-K homeschool math unit download includes an implementation guide, module guides with instructional strategies, student activity sheets, answer keys, progress monitoring, and vocabulary. Designed for ages 3-4, it covers counting and number sense, comparing and classifying, sorting, graphing, patterning, 2-D and 3-D shapes, coins, and representing quantities and shapes. |
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Free Printable Preschool Worksheets |
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Free printable preschool worksheets for learning to write the alphabet, numbers and bible memory verses, plus free printable colouring pages and more!
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Free Printable Ten Frame Cards |
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Learn 10s with these free printable cards that offer a fun way to practice. Read about different ways to use the cards for enjoyable math games to teach this concept. |
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Lego Challenge Math Activity-Free Printable |
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Practicing math skills like spatial awareness and geometry can be fun, especially when the math activity involves Legos! Here’s a free printable math challenge for kids using Lego or Duplo bricks!
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Making Learning Fun |
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This early childhood education website is filled with free printables designed to make learning fun. |
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Preschool Math Printables |
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Homeschool Creations |
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These printables are free and help provide extra support for teaching preschool math. You'll find calendars, number tracing cards, number mats, patterns, and more. |
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Preschool Math Worksheets and Printables |
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Education.com |
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Preschool math worksheets help your young learner develop essential early math skills. From number recognition to counting to addition, preschoolers learn a lot about numbers in one year. Our collection of preschool math worksheets is designed for kids who want to build skills that will prepare them for kindergarten and beyond. These preschool math worksheets help present new number topics to kids in a way that's fun and easy to understand. Help foster a culture of learning by doing these preschool math worksheets with your child.
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Stack the durable, brightly colored wooden beads on 5 hardwood dowels in sequence to match the design on one of the pattern cards. Builds complex reasoning skills as well as sorting and coordination. Includes over 45 brilliantly colored beads, 5 dowels, and 10 patterns that increase in difficulty. |
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Bob Books are organized into sets that progress in level as your child learns. They have cute stories and darling illustrations. These books are perfect for children ages 4 to 8.
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Explode The Code provides a sequential, systematic approach to phonics in which students blend sounds to build vocabulary and read words, phrases, sentences, and stories. Frequent review of previously learned concepts helps increase retention. Each workbook in this series contains exercises that incorporate reading, writing, matching and copying. The consistent format of the books helps facilitate independent work. This series includes primers—Get Ready for The Code, Get Set for The Code, and Go for The Code—which introduce initial consonant sounds. In addition, Beyond The Code provides a comprehension component introducing basic comprehension skills with phonetically controlled stories. You'll find product information here.
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Five in a Row provides a step-by-step, instructional guide using outstanding children's literature for children ages 4-8. Unit studies are built around each chosen book. There is a series for preschoolers called "Before Five in a Row," along with other volumes for older children. |
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If you've wondered how to help your preschooler get a head start on learning, Nancy Chupp has the answer. With practical, easy-to-implement activities, you can teach your child a solid base of skills necessary to enter the educational system with confidence. This book carefully weaves the basic tenets of learning theory into a playful, stimulating daily experience for preschool children. Give your preschooler a head start ... read this book! |
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Happy Phonics uses games to teach early reading skills. Simple yet entertaining and educational, these phonics games are printed on colorful, sturdy cardstock ready to cut out. Included is a mother-friendly guidebook which contains details on how to teach phonics and reading, how to pronounce and teach the phonics sounds, how to make your own simple beginning readers, and step-by-step teaching information for each phonics sound. Happy Phonics covers beginning to advanced phonics. |
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JumpStart Toddlers Introduces a World of Learning and Discovery! JumpStart Advanced Toddler has more fun and enriching learning activities than ever in its new 3-CD set designed especially for your Toddlers early learning and developmental needs. |
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Ready to read and rarin' to go? Hopsalot the rabbit has a whole basket of carrot-shaped stickers for preschoolers and kindergartners who complete this 32-page, full-color workbook featuring the animal characters from the bestselling JumpStart children's software program. The activities in this book focus on beginning and ending sounds, short and long vowel sounds, and rhyming words. Each activity is different, so an adult will need to explain the directions. "Hints from Hopsalot" appears at the top of many pages, with helpful ideas on reading skills for adults to share with young readers. A sheet of reward stickers picturing all the JumpStart characters is included, along with a certificate to fill in and color after completing the workbook. (Ages 3 to 6) --Marcie Bovetz |
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Learning means fun with the curriculum-linked, classroom-proven workbook series from Scholastic and JumpStart, creators of the popular educational software for children. Playful animal characters guide prekindergarten-age kids through the exciting new world of letters, numbers, shapes, colors, and sizes. The 320-page workbook contains an entire year's worth of exercises, with three different skill levels for "jumping" ahead. Every page has a new, sequenced challenge for the young learner, from tracing and writing uppercase letters to completing nursery rhymes to matching shapes and colors. Full-color art and lively games and activities make education an adventure, while reward stickers and Certificates of Completion reinforce children's sense of accomplishment as they complete each section. Helpful Eleanor the elephant is on hand to provide learning tips and offer support (and stickers!) to students. What could be more important than giving kids a jump-start in learning? The book includes answer keys and 120 full-color reward stickers. (Ages 3 to 5) --Emilie Coulter |
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Preschoolers who are learning their letters can follow Eleanor the elephant and her friends in this 32-page workbook with brightly colored illustrations, a sheet of reward stickers, and a certificate of completion on the back cover. The worksheets provide a preschooler with practice in tracing uppercase letters and writing them independently, drawing curved and straight lines, recognizing beginning sounds, and grouping sequences of letters. "Tips from Eleanor" (for an adult to read to the child) is included on many pages, along with a complete answer sheet on the last page. The Scholastic JumpStart workbooks feature the same characters as JumpStart, a leading educational software package for young children. (Ages 3 to 5) --Marcie Bovetz |
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A child who is just learning how to write numbers will be ready for this 32-page workbook offering a wide variety of full-color worksheets, a sheet of reward stickers, and a certificate for a job well done. The beginning pages cover identifying and writing numbers from 1 to 10, and the remaining pages concentrate on the correlation between numerals and groups of objects. The activities include beginning math concepts such as counting, grouping, estimating, and determining more or less. An adult will need to work along with the child to explain the different directions for the worksheets. Eleanor the elephant and the other animal characters featured in this workbook are also the stars of JumpStart, a leading software program for children. (Ages 3 to 5) --Marcie Bovetz |
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JumpStart Advanced Preschool has more fun and enriching learning activities than ever in its new travel themed 3-CD set designed to prepare your child for Preschool and beyond. With premium features and extensive content JumpStart Advanced keeps kids engaged and learning for hours and that can bring out the best in your child. |
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This set of 10 simply designed colorful wooden blocks and pattern boards includes 100 blocks in six different shapes and colors. They help develop shape recognition and spatial relationship skills. The contents store neatly in a durable wooden case. This games was awarded the Scholastic Parent & Child's 2004 "Top 22 Toys that Make Kids Think" award.
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* Is your child halfway through first grade and still unable to read? * Is your preschooler bored with coloring and ready for reading? * Are you worried that your child will become lost in overcrowded classrooms? * Did you know that early readers hold an advantage over their peers throughout school? * Do you want to help your child read, but are afraid you'll do something wrong? SRAs DISTAR® is the most successful beginning reading program available to schools across the country. Research has proven that children taught by the DISTAR® method outperform their peers who receive instruction from other programs. Now for the first time, this program has been adapted for parent and child to use at home. Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons is a complete, step-by-step program that shows patents simply and clearly how to teach their children to read. Twenty minutes a day is all you need, and within 100 teaching days your child will be reading on a solid second-grade reading level. It's a sensible, easy-to-follow, and enjoyable way to help your child gain the essential skills of reading. Everything you need is here -- no paste, no scissors, no flash cards, no complicated directions -- just you and your child learning together. One hundred lessons, fully illustrated and color-coded for clarity, give your child the basic and more advanced skills needed to become a good reader. Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons will bring you and your child closer together, while giving your child the reading skills needed now, for a better chance at tomorrow. |
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The experts in child development now offer a way to help your child break free from an MTV attention span! |
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With its comprehensive curriculum providing a sound basis in the fundamentals of math, art, history, language arts, science, and technology, the phenomenally successful Core Knowledge series has become an esteemed tool for parents and teachers striving to better educate today's children. And since it is agreed that the first years of schooling are crucial to a child's lifetime educational achievements, it is no wonder that parents and teachers alike have been asking for a volume for kindergartners.
This primer for those just beginning their school careers was devised with the contributions of over 2,000 parents, educators and students, distilled into a user-friendly volume specifically designed for parents to use with their children. Eighty pages of four-color illustrations enliven the new, bold design of this latest title in a series adopted by hundreds of schools nationwide and appreciated by thousands of adults looking to instill in children a lifetime love of learning. |
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CharlotteMasonKindergarten |
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A group for Charlotte Mason Mom's using the curriculum outline suggested in Karen Andreola's summer of 93 Parent's Review titled, "A Formidable List of Attainments for a Child of Six", and also trying to complete the Kindergarten Skills list as described in Catherine Levison's book, A Literary Education. |
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CM4primaryyears |
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To discuss the Charlotte Mason method of homeschooling elementary age children, and to share the joys and concerns of everyday life. |
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Field Trips 101 |
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Vicki Bentley |
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Field trips can inspire your child to study a topic, give him further insights into his current studies, or provide closure to a completed unit. Is there somewhere you’d like to take your children to reinforce a topic this year? Or just want to visit because it would enrich their lives? If you let your support group (or even just a few other families) know that you are planning to go and they are welcome to tag along (think: group rate)—voila! You’re planning a field trip! |
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Homeschoolers Teaching Kindergarten |
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This discussion list is for homeschoolers teaching preschool and kindergarten. Topics include curriculum selection (whether necessary or not), teaching tips, creative learning ideas, time management, unit studies, homeschooling books, neat craft ideas, cooking tips for all occasions, support those who have homeschool burn out, or those who are just starting to homeschool. |
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Louisville Zoological Garden |
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The Louisville Zoo currently exhibits over 1,300 animals in naturalistic and mixed animal settings representing both geographical areas and biomes or habitats. These include: the ISLANDS, the African Veldt, Asian Plains, North and South American Panorama, Aquatics and the Australian Outback. The HerpAquarium features 100 species of reptiles, amphibians and fish from around the world exhibited amidst ecologically balanced habitats. And the new 4-acre Gorilla Forest Exhibit features Pygmy hippos and Western lowland gorillas.
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Newport Aquarium |
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Twelve themed galleries feature underwater life at the state-of-the art facility located across the river from downtown Cincinnati at Newport on the Levee. The Newport Aquarium is home to thousands of animals in a million gallons of water. |
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