Homeschool Helper with Charisse Van Horn

This is another game that uses both upper and lower case letters of the alphabet and index cards.  If you read the previous post, you’ll see that I love to make learning games with index cards and you can find them in a number of colors.  You can cut the cards in half to make smaller flashcards/games and store them in ziplog baggies- cheap, cheap, cheap!  When it comes to homeschooling, I love cheap!

Ok, for this game, create a set of index cards (you can cut them in half if you like) only make a complete set of the alphabet in capital letters and another set of the alphabet in lower case. Since you will have a total of 52 cards, you might want to write UC (upper case) on the back of the upper case cards, and LC(lower case) on the back of the lower case cards.  I like to write the leters on the blank side of the cards (I think this is easier for the children to see).  To make the game manageable (since there are 52 cards) layout five of the upper and lower case cards in a match game style.  Have the child match both upper and lower case cards.  Add more cards as the child is ready.

I love index cards. They are so easy to use and make great learning tools.  Whether you are using them to create flashcards write words, draw pictures, or glue items you can create a number of different learning tools and games with index cards.  They also come in a wide assortment of colors.  You can select basic white or even flourescent colors.

For this game, all you need is a pack of index cards and a marker.  Write a capital letter on one side of the card and the lower case letter on the other side.  Place the cards on a table, capital side up, and call out a letter.  Have your child find the card.  When your child can identify all of the capital letters, flip the cards and play with the lower case letters.

This is a great game that will help children with their letter recognition as well as develops their phonetic skills. For this activity you will need a number of brown bags (lunch type) and mark each bag with a letter of the Alphabet.  Have an assortment of small toys or items that start with each letter of the alphabet.  If you can’t find enough toys or items you can cut out pictures from magazines and paste them onto cardstock.  If you would like to make them more durable laminate them.  Have the child match the toy or card to the right bag.  This is a great way to reinforce the sounds of letters with children.  You can easily adapt this game by using buckets instead of paper bags, etc. 

Visit this site and read the classic story, “The Little Red Hen” to your child.  Make sure that your child is participating in the reading of the story and make sure that you emphasize the story’s title.  Discuss the different characters in the story and have children predict what they think will happen.  This story is a great resource for discussing issues such as cooperation with children.  Here are some more resources that you can use with The Little Red Hen.

The Little Red Hen Crafts and Lesson Plan Activities for Preschool

Chicken Craft | Little Red Hen | Spring | Easter | Farm Theme

Lesson Exchange: The Little Red Hen Activities: Kindergarten

 Here is a great project that will help children determine the different types of properties that are inherent in objects.  Place a variety of different objects on a table and let children hold and examine each one.  It doesn’t matter how old your child is as long as he or she is able to speak you can perform this activity.  Ask the child to describe how the object feels, looks, etc.  While you engage the child in discussion, he or she will be developing awareness that different objects have different properties.  It doesn’t matter whether or not your child can describe the object accurately; just engage in conversation with your child, describing the different aspects of each item.

This is a fun experiment that you can do with young children.  Get some brown paper bags, and put different objects in each bag.  Take the bag and have your child place his or her hand inside.  You can have the child try to guess what object is inside the bag.  This is a great experiment for developing their sense and recognition that each object has different properties and characteristics.  You can also develop your child’s vocabulary skills by having him or her come up with several words to describe what they feel.  For instance, if you put a stuffed animal in one bag, they can describe the feeling such as fluffy, soft, etc.  If you put a rock in one bag, they might describe it as smooth or rough, cold, depending upon the shape of the object. 

Did you know that every week you can get a free curriculum sample, typically in the form of an Ebook, at Currclick?  You can visit the site by follwing the linke on my other homeschooling page here: Homeschool Mate, and see this week’s freebies.  This week, it is a 42 page free Unit Study on butterflies.  It has wonderful color graphics, activities, links, printables and more.  I was talking with my husband the other day about ordering that butterfly kit on tv.  Right now the name of it escapes me, but they’ll send you caterpillars and a little housing tent.  You can watch the caterpillars make a chrysallis and turn into butterflies.  I know my two youngest would love that.  They are obsessed with butterflies, moths, and dragonflies.  Here in Florida they are plentiful.  But this unit study would go perfectly with that activity.

I’ve been working on a new blog.  It’s called Mother Stories and features the two classic books, “Mother Stories from the Old Testament” and “Mother Stories from the New Testament.”  If you’d like to read the stories to your children, you can view the blog here: Mother Stories I am working on it as much as I can, but so far, haven’t posted but 7 posts.  It can be quite hard managing blogging time with homeschooling, but it’s worth it.  The stories are wholesome, have questions so they encourage reading comprehension skills and have nice pictures as well. The kids love the stories and it is an excellent way to introduce them to the stories from the Bible.