Preschool.

I have been out of the classroom for 2 years now. While there are certainly parts of teaching I miss very much, I am thankful for the opportunity to be a mother/teacher to my own two (soon to be 3!!) during the toddler years.

With school starting again next month, I have been thinking a lot about preschool. Calla will be tested in the fall and if she qualifies for special services by the state she will be bussed to preschool and would start in November (a month before she is 3).  Her therapist is unsure if she will qualify based on her recent speech progress, but I'm curious to see what the testing will show.

I'm planning on keeping Ori home for preschool (the closest preschool is 20 min. away). We are both pretty excited about it. After talking with a friend at the library this week, I went ahead and ordered Heart of Dakota's Little Hands to Heaven and the corresponding Bible, devotional book, and CD. In my mind, preschool learning is through play and discovery, so we will continue to do what we already do at home; however, I like the fact that this simple curriculum is inexpensive (I bought it used), Biblically based, and will serve as a guide for introducing letters and other skills as well. Plus, I should be able to include the girls in the lessons as well since it is adjusted for ages 2-5. I'll let you know how it goes and if I recommend it after we begin.

One of my favorite parts of my day is doing some kind of activity with my kids. I saw this baked cotton ball activity on Play, Create, Explore and had to try it with Ori and Calla. We called them "Smash Balls."


Mix 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of water, divide the paste into 4 bowls, and add a little food coloring.

 
Dip cotton balls into the paste and place on a greased cookie sheet. If the cotton balls touch, they will bake together and you can make whatever shape/letter you desire. We made an "O" and a "C".


Calla Jayne loved this part of the activity. After dipping her last cotton ball into the paste, she turned around and said, "More?" (Ori did not like this part; he thought it was too messy! What?!)
After all the cotton balls are covered in paste, bake them at 300 degrees for 35 minutes or so. They will get really hard.


After the cotton balls are baked, take them outside and smash them! We tried using Ori's wooden tools, but mostly stomped and picked at them. The actual smashing wasn't quite as cool as I hoped, but the kids had fun exploring the balls and seeing the cotton inside. Pretty fun!