Tuesday, August 19, 2014

First Day of Homeschool Preschool with Sonlight and much more!


Our first day of preschool was yesterday! I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity to integrate God’s creation with Bugs education! We have chosen the Sonlight Preschool 4/5 program and I couldn’t more thrilled about all of the wonderful materials it contains.  I especially love how the teacher’s manual has a check box to show completion of each day.  I love how I do not feel pressured to come up with piecing together a curriculum because it includes all of the subjects that need to be covered.  However, I also love that I have time to add in fun extras as time permits!
 I chose Sonlight because I have read wonderful reviews about how the curriculum is challenging, fun, and interactive through all of the grade levels. I can’t wait to begin our journey! 

Of course, I am so excited about homeschooling that I had to supplement with some wonderful ideas I found from Pinterest.  So, our first day we supplemented the Sonlight pre-planned program, which included a plethora of exciting books with some fun books and activities.  

We started the first day of preschool by coloring and applying glitter to this cute first day of Pre-K hat I found at http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/First-Day-of-School-Crowns-FREEBIE-1335943 and this adorable free preschool printable at http://www.modernparentsmessykids.com/2014/08/free-printables-back-school.html
We read the "My First Hands on Bible-NLT" during breakfast which I highly recommend!  Each bible story ends with a prayer, related questions, and suggested activities for the preschool age group!  Bug and Little man both loved it!  Little man is 18 months so he is included in all of our fun!   

We also made a flower collage on a plate with contact paper after going on a fun nature walk
 I found this activity at this wonderful website:
http://artfulparent.com/2014/06/10-nature-art-projects-kids.html 











We also followed the first day of literacy activities for preschoolers from this wonderful FREE literacy program at this website: www.thisreadingmama.com and 
made a letter T book and practiced recognizing the sight word "a". 

We also had a wonderful time practicing writing the letter /Aa/ on the dry erase board with fun colors and using Do-A DOT markers to make the letter A which I found here: http://www.dltk-teach.com/alphabuddies/daubers/index.htm


We also made a foam and construction paper chick to go with the DAY 1 selection in our Sonlight curriculum book :"Animals, Animals" by Eric Carsle.
There are also a million ideas for cute little chick crafts here: http://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=chick%20craft
Our little chick has a sad face. Bug explained that she made a sad face because someone had stolen his shell!

Lastly, we did a fun letter A scavenger hunt!  I set the timer for 5 minutes and told Bug that whoever found the most items that started with the letter /A/ would win a prize!  Of course Bug won and was incredibly delighted!  I found a free Letter A scavenger hunt printable at a wonderful site called Confessions of a Homeschooler! You can find the link to the letter A materials here: http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/blog/2010/08/letter-for-apple-2.html.  I highly recommend you visit her website at Confessions of a homeschooler.  She has very educational and fun preschool and kindergarten sets that are available for only $15 each which is extremely affordable considering all that they include!  She also has a plethora of fun ideas and activities for homeschooler!

We had an amazing first day filled with laughter and joy!  I cannot wait for tomorrow!  We have apple stamping, making apple sauce and much more on the agenda!  Plus, lots of wonderful books and activities from our wonderful Sonlight program!

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