Thursday, November 06, 2008

The Preschool Rotation...

I just compiled a list for a friend and decided to list it here for future reference. I've found many of these lists from different blogs and online friends. Also, I came up with some of these ideas on my own. :)

These are the activities, bins, websites, kid's sites, and different blogs that I frequent that help me to homeschool with preschoolers and toddlers in the house. They are my saving grace. I hope they help others and I may add to them when I have more time.

Here's the list of boxes...

The treasure box (it's full of polished stones and "gems", a magnifying glass, a pair of tweezers, and a tray to collect their "treasures")

The clothes line box (old fashioned clothes pins, a clothes line, and play clothes to hang up)

The clip box (full of chip clips, regular clothes pins, tongs, and little fuzzy balls to pick up)

Hammer and nails box (golf tees, styrofoam disks, styrofoam plates, and a toy hammer to "pound nails")
Look how happy that little guy is...


Pipe cleaners and fuzzy balls box (title says it all.lol)

Bead box (has beads and string for making necklaces)

Cowboys and Indians box (has little plastic pieces and Kapla blocks to play with)

Foam sheets, stickers, and sequins box (has glue and scissors to make things with)

A playdough box

A science box (has magnets, metal, seeds, and do-dads.)


There are a few blogs out there that I've found some good ideas on also.

http://1plus1plus1equals1.blogspot.com/ This one has great preschool lapbooks and some rotational ideas.

http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/ This one has GREAT preschool craft activities using things that are around the house.

http://chasingcheerios.blogspot.com/ This one has some nice Montessori ideas.

http://www.thebusybeebag.com/ This site has already made busy bags that are nice.


Here's some of our preschool rotation ideas and groupings...

Playtime:
Playmobile
legos
blocks and cars
games
leappad
dress-up
store
kitchen
puzzles
puppets
doll house
nuts and bolts
marble works
string beads
lace-ups
felt board
train set
dollies
race track
band instruments
little people sets
balls

Computer time:
www.starfall.com
http://www.storyplace.org/preschool/other.asp
http://www.letteroftheweek.com/ This is a great preschool curriculum!
www.nickjr.com
http://www.sproutonline.com/sprout/home/jump.aspx


Outside:
nature walk
play with toys
sand or water play
wheel play

Preschool time:
phonics
workbooks
painting (water, tempura, do-a-dots)
playdough
pan of rice or beans
pattern blocks
counting
coloring
drawing
stickers
tracing
dot-to-dot
reading time
stamps
cutting and gluing
measuring
sorting
nature notebook
calendar, time, seasons, weather
cooking
weighing

lapbooking:
http://www.homeschoolshare.com/ free lapbooks!!
http://www.mormonchic.com/crafty/filefolders.asp REALLY neat file folder games!
http://lapbooksbycarisa.homestead.com/TotBooks.html FREE lapbooks for preschoolers
www.enchantedlearning.com is a great site for printing out pages. It's $20 a year to join but you can get some things for free.
http://www.homeschoolhelperonline.com/units.htm free unit studies


http://www.thetoymaker.com/2Toys.html Here's a paper toy site.

Blessings,

7 comments:

Cynthia said...

That's an amazing list, Lisa.

Laura said...

Wow! That is fantastic! Makes me wish I had a preschooler. :)

Kathy - mom of many said...

Thanks Lisa, what a great resource this post is. I appreciate it sooo much! Hugs, Kathy

Amy said...

These are GREAT ideas! Thank you!!!!

Amy said...

Oh Gosh, this couldn't have come at a better time. I have a 9 year old son with special needs who is homeschooled, and a 3 year old baby girl who hasn't learned how to share mommy yet. I also have 8 year old, and 14 year old daughters in public school. So my mind is always in 4 completely different places at once. Thank you sooo much for posting this!! I can't wait to try some of these ideas out!

Amy
Texarkana, TX

Lisa in Jax said...

Thanks everyone! I had everything in different notebooks and favorite lists and finally decided that it was taking too much time to find things when I needed it. I'm glad to have things all in one place now.LOL

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Wow - what an amazing list, Lisa. I plan to come back here time and again until I have some sort of rotations set up......wonderful resource. THanks for taking the time to get it all in one post.