Art Activity- Paint with water and chalk

Materials needed: 


Black construction paper, Chalk, water in a jar lid or small cup or bowl, sponge or paint brushes 

Directions- 

1. Have child "paint" the black paper with water (mine thought that pouring the water on the paper was the way to go)

2. After the paper is wet, have the child draw with the colored chalk.  This makes wonderful and bright colored markings!  

Note- Don't stress to much about this activity if the child is more interested in the painting than the drawing portion.  My son was more into dropping the chalk into the cup of water and my daughter just wanted to soak herself with the water.  Remember- they are still learning and exploring even if they don't do it exactly as you'd planned :)  Also, I choose to do this outside so I wouldn't go nutso when someone spilled water or started coloring the walls but you could also do this as an indoor activity on a cookie sheet with less water.

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A year at a glance- Monthly curriculum

School will start for us after labor day.  This year, I will be working with my oldest (almost 4) three days a week since he will be attending preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I will also be working with my youngest (19 months) three days a week as well.

I am such a planner and need to have everything scheduled out and planned or let's just face it, it doesn't get done.  This summer, after moving into a new home, our schedule got turned upside down and if I'm being honest,  my intention was to have "school" 4 days a week and we just barely had a "throw something random together and the last minute" activity maybe once or twice a week at most!  I am vowing to really make "school" a priority this year in our home.  Every month that goes by, these kids are soaking up new information.  My goal is to help make their learning as rich and full as possible.

Currently, I am in the middle of planning out our year at a glance.  Basically, just a list of very basic goals/themes that I want to cover each month.

For example: September will look something like this...

3 year old- 
Letters- (I-Q) covering 2 letter sounds a week.  (We will also being reading a few small words)
Math- Recognizing #'s 1-12 when written, review all shapes and focus on octagon, learn time to the hour, learn to count to 20 (he has been stuck at 14 for over a year now!)
Colors- review all and practice mixing to create new colors
Theme- Friends, All about Me, Five Senses, Apples
Bible- We usually go along with the stories/verses his church class does


1 year old- 
Letters- learn ABC song and start introducing Letters threw books and magnet letters
Math- Learn to count to 10 (she can do 2-7 currently)
Colors- Red and Green
Theme- Body Parts, Five Senses, Apples 
Bible- We usually go along with the stories/verses his church class does

Here are some other great sites and examples that can help you create monthly goals for your child(ren)

Mother Goose Time 

Preschool Palace 

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