You want your child to read. I understand.  Reading rocks!  Who wouldn’t want their child to read!? (Please remember:  Kids will read when they’re ready.  Pushing them won’t help them or you.) No, you can’t watch a video. No, Sesame Street won’t do it either. The most important thing you can do to teach your child... [read more ]

Got some time?  Count.  Count in the car.  Count on a walk.  Count making dinner.   By 1s, by 10s, by 2s, by 5s.  Counting is fun but takes repetition. Count by ones (1s) to one hundred (100). Count from one and see how high you can go! Count your fingers — make sure that you have ten. Hap Palmer music CD with the Number March song. Play... [read more ]

courtesy of Amazon.com If your child only reads fiction, it’s time to expand his or her reading horizons.  Try non-fiction this week.  Perhaps a magazine or a short book? As a teacher, I always encouraged students to read more non-fiction.  Non-fiction structure is different — table of contents, headers, captions and so on.   Familiarize... [read more ]

Have you seen or read Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett?  Wouldn’t that kind of weather be fun?!  Let’s learn about the weather using that story for inspiration! Find a window near your eating space, and christen it “the weather window”.  Now, dub your children junior meteorologists!  (Explain that meteorologists... [read more ]

Have you ever tried to make a volcano erupt?  We had a Volcano kit that contained  directions to make a volcano erupt, er, rather– bubble up. After learning the basic directions, my kids preferred to mix their own concoctions using the same principals – baking soda, vinegar and water. Here’s their basic plan.  It occupies hours... [read more ]

MAKE THE BOOK Do you have any paper?  Good, then you’re ready to make a counting book.  Fold paper, staple.  (Cut out into a cool shape for extra fun or go buy one at an educational supply store like I did.) Decorate the cover.  Give your book a title. NUMBER AND STICKER For preschoolers, you write the number from 1 to 10, one number per... [read more ]

My kids will eat melons IF they get to use the melon baller.  (Finally, I’ve found the answer!)  Last week, we bought a honeydew, a cantaloupe, and a watermelon.  Each girl got a melon baller and got to work “balling” the melons. After making the balls, the kids stuck the balls onto straws.  And inadvertently, we made patterned... [read more ]

Introduce grocery store words like deli, bakery, checker, stocker, and coupons. Save your grocery store ads.  Have your child cut out his or her favorite foods, paste them on a paper, and write the word.  If your child is young, help them figure out the beginning letter sound of the word. Shop in your pantry for the list. Buy your items from the... [read more ]

This week, preschool and kindergarten children ran around my backyard searching for nature’s treasures to add to their alphabet books.  What a blast! You can try it, too.  I order my books from Bare Books but you can always make your own book in a 3 ring binder or using the fold and staple technique. Write the alphabet in order, one letter... [read more ]

This is ridiculously simple – but once you show your kids, they can do this all on their own over and over again.  The beautiful part, they’ll be writing, creating, imagining AND doing so independently. My teacher soap box: Make sure you emphasize that the most important thing is to get their ideas on paper – not  to worry about... [read more ]

Sort, count, add and compare . . . with your food.  I suggest M&Ms, Chex Mix, Fruit Loops, jelly beans, or different shaped pretzels.  Yes, I’m writing this and getting hungry.  Or maybe I already was. Darling preschoolers Don’t you love this age?  They’re beginning to count so get them to COUNT as high as possible with... [read more ]

Write a list of words down the side of your paper of . . . Everything You See Somewhere Like The Park Or The Backyard Then add verbs to all those things.  What are those things doing? Grass grows Trees whisper Flowers bathe Voila!  You have written a poem! P.S.  You can subscribe to Imagination Soup – go to the top right corner. Click... [read more ]