I know in some parts of the United States, it’s already quickly turning into summer. Here in upstate New York, we’re just getting our first reliable taste of spring weather. A week spent learning about flowers, plants, and seeds may seem a little late for most of you, but the timing is perfect for my son. Keep reading to see how we spent our first day of the week learning about flowers together.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through a link in this post, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. 

LEARNING ABOUT FLOWERS, PLANTS, + SEEDS:  WEEK 2 dAY 1

Flowers, Plants, and Seeds: Day 1 Ideas

Letter of the day:

F is for flower. I created a simple free printable ‘F is for Flower’ page on Twisty Noodle. My son used colorful flower stickers to decorate his F.

Word of the day: 

Instead of working on his name, my kiddo wrote ‘flower’ with 4 different writing instruments. (I grabbed that printable page from First And Kinder Blue SKies on Teachers Pay Teachers!)

Book of the day: 

National Geographic Kids: Seed To Plant. by Kristin Baird Rattini

Journal prompt of the day: 

These are 3 things plants need to grow…

Activities and play we enjoyed: 

My 4 year old is very into singing, so we spent some time singing a fun song together while learning about flowers. We added in some movement, and had the baby play too, to make it more fun.

We worked on a ‘Parts Of A Flower’ science notebook page together. My kiddo is a bit delayed with fine motor skills, so he gets crabby if he colors or writes for too long at a time. As a compromise, we both colored parts of the notebook page, and I did the cutting. (Scissor skills are a work in progress right now!) He helped tape the pieces down with double sided tape. (We used markers for our page because if he’s reluctant to write or draw, markers are usually the key to draw him in.)

I also printed some flower shape Play-Doh mats for him to use, since we don’t use Play-Doh nearly enough around here! He used his fingers and some assorted tools to work on shaping the dough into the shapes of the flowers’ centers and leaves. I slid the pages into plastic sleeves before letting him loose with the dough, so we’ll be able to re-use the pages in the future. (Laminating would also work!)

YOU MAY NEED THESE FOR LEARNING ABOUT FLOWERS, PLANTS, + SEEDS…

colored pencils / crayons / markers / transparent tape / pens / scissors / pencils / double sided tape / composition notebook / index cards / plastic sheet protectors / play-doh / play-doh tools / laminating sheets

But PLEASE Remember…

This is what is working for us during the pandemic, for the time being. It may seem overwhelming to your family to attempt anything like this. Or if you’re like me, you may welcome a little structure in your days. It’s important for you to consider the needs, emotional health, and learning styles of your entire family, and make adjustments as needed. The goal is NEVER more stress, more comparisons, or more guilt.

Keeping the above in mind, here’s a little bit more about our process…

1. We’re aiming for about an hour of ‘school-ish’ work a day. This might included coloring, painting, writing, drawing, stickers, and more. My 4 year old is used to attending UPK for two and a half hours a day, 5 days a week, so 1 hour seemed like a good starting point at home.
2. I build a ton of breaks and flexibility into our days and weeks. I plan 5 days of ‘school’ each week, and we generally accomplish all the activities by stretching them out over 7 total days. Some Wednesdays, we just can’t do school. So we’ll make it up later, if we can. Again, the goal isn’t stress or pressure, so flexibility is key.
3. Variety is helpful for my kiddo. His attention span is short, so most of what I plan is quick, and we change styles of learning often. You know what will work best for your own families.
4. Our journal is simply a basic notebook. Every day, I provide a prompt, and my child draws a picture on a blank index card. I tape that into the notebook, and write most of the prompt. At least one or two words are written larger, in dots, so my son can trace them.
5. I have a pretty well stocked supply of craft and learning materials already, and know that may not be the case for you. Be creative, be flexible, and be open to compromise! We also have a large home library for the kids, which is very helpful right now!

Is it more spring or summer where you live?

We’re finishing up our first full week of simple preschool at home! For the final day of our week inspired by rocks, we turned to a topic my mess-making kiddo particularly likes. Read on to see how we incorporated rocks, dirt, digging into our last day of home preschool for the week.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through a link in this post, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. 

rOCKS, DIRT, DIGGING:  WEEK 1 dAY 5

Rocks, Dirt, Digging: Day 5 Ideas

Letter of the day:

D is dirt. I created a simple free printable ‘D is for Dirt’ page on Twisty Noodle. First, my son colored the D with a brown crayon to represent dirt. Next, he used some bright pink gel pens to add worms through out his D. (He reallllly wants a pet worm, so this was the highlight of his letter page today!)

Word of the day: 

Instead of working on his name, my kiddo wrote ‘dirt’ with 4 different writing instruments. (I grabbed that printable page from First And Kinder Blue SKies on Teachers Pay Teachers!)

Book of the day: 

Rocks! Rocks! Rocks! By Nancy Elizabeth Wallace.

Journal prompt of the day: 

I dug in the dirt and I was surprised to find…

Activities and play we enjoyed: 

We pulled out the bin of stones we used on Day 1, and the plastic gems we used on Day 3. I hid the gems through out the bin of stones. My son had a lot of fun digging through the stones to find all the gems. It was a super simple, low-prep sensory activity. You could add basic math practice in by rolling a die to determine how many gems to find on each turn. Or hide small letters for a fun literacy idea.

No week of rocks, dirt, digging would be complete without a dig of your own! The boys had a lot of fun with this rock dig kit by Smithsonian. Digs like this are a great opportunity to work on both fine motor control and sensory exposure. After all the treasures have been excavated, soapy water and a spare toothbrush make a great ‘cleaning station’ to keep the fun going. Don’t forget to sort your gems and stones into the rock collection box from Day 1!

YOU MAY NEED THESE TO LEARN ABOUT ROCKS, DIRT, DIGGING…

colored pencils / crayons / markers / transparent tape / pens / scissors / pencils / double sided tape / composition notebook / index cards / stones / dig kit

But PLEASE Remember…

This is what is working for us during the pandemic, for the time being. It may seem overwhelming to your family to attempt anything like this. Or if you’re like me, you may welcome a little structure in your days. It’s important for you to consider the needs, emotional health, and learning styles of your entire family, and make adjustments as needed. The goal is NEVER more stress, more comparisons, or more guilt.

Keeping the above in mind, here’s a little bit more about our process…

1. We’re aiming for about an hour of ‘school-ish’ work a day. This might included coloring, painting, writing, drawing, stickers, and more. My 4 year old is used to attending UPK for two and a half hours a day, 5 days a week, so 1 hour seemed like a good starting point at home.
2. I build a ton of breaks and flexibility into our days and weeks. I plan 5 days of ‘school’ each week, and we generally accomplish all the activities by stretching them out over 7 total days. Some Wednesdays, we just can’t do school. So we’ll make it up later, if we can. Again, the goal isn’t stress or pressure, so flexibility is key.
3. Variety is helpful for my kiddo. His attention span is short, so most of what I plan is quick, and we change styles of learning often. You know what will work best for your own families.
4. Our journal is simply a basic notebook. Every day, I provide a prompt, and my child draws a picture on a blank index card. I tape that into the notebook, and write most of the prompt. At least one or two words are written larger, in dots, so my son can trace them.
5. I have a pretty well stocked supply of craft and learning materials already, and know that may not be the case for you. Be creative, be flexible, and be open to compromise! We also have a large home library for the kids, which is very helpful right now!

What sort of learning did your family do this week?

For Day 4 of our week of crystals, gems, rocks in home preschool, we kept things shiny by focusing on crystals. We mainly focused on fine motor work, but also added in a little bit of fun science today. Keep reading this post to see how we kept busy and learned at home today.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through a link in this post, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. 

CRYSTALS, GEMS, ROCKS:  WEEK 1 dAY 4

Crystals, Gems, Rocks: Day 4 Ideas

Letter of the day:

C is for crystal. I created a simple free printable ‘C is for Crystal’ page on Twisty Noodle. I cut up a few holographic paper straws from Target (linked below) into pieces about half an inch long. Then I cut the straw pieces open, and we smooshed them flat, so we could easily attach them to our C page.

Word of the day: 

Instead of working on his name, my kiddo wrote ‘crystal’ with 4 different writing instruments. (I grabbed that printable page from First And Kinder Blue SKies on Teachers Pay Teachers!)

Book of the day: 

National Geographic Kids Rocks and Minerals. By Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld. (We pretty much love EVERYTHING from National Geographic Kids books.)

Journal prompt of the day: 

The prettiest crystals I’ve seen look like…

Activities and play we enjoyed: 

I printed out a really cool crystal coloring page and my son chose to use colored pencils with it. This provided some practice with his pencil grasp, and also a bit of a simple creative outlet.

For some more fine motor practice, I provided chenille stems and ‘crystal beads’ that were more of the shiny paper straws cut into varying lengths. My kiddo had a great time making fancy bracelets for the entire family to wear!

You can’t talk about crystals without trying to grow some! It’s a perfect way to incorporate a little bit of science into our home preschool day. Crystal growing kits are available at most craft and toy stores, but I found these small ones at our local Dollar Tree.

YOU MAY NEED THESE TO LEARN ABOUT CRYSTALS, GEMS, ROCKS…

colored pencils / crayons / marker/ transparent tape / pens / scissors / pencils / double sided tape / composition notebook / index cards / crystal growing kit / shiny paper straws / chenille pipe cleaners

But PLEASE Remember…

This is what is working for us during the pandemic, for the time being. It may seem overwhelming to your family to attempt anything like this. Or if you’re like me, you may welcome a little structure in your days. It’s important for you to consider the needs, emotional health, and learning styles of your entire family, and make adjustments as needed. The goal is NEVER more stress, more comparisons, or more guilt.

Keeping the above in mind, here’s a little bit more about our process…

1. We’re aiming for about an hour of ‘school-ish’ work a day. This might included coloring, painting, writing, drawing, stickers, and more. My 4 year old is used to attending UPK for two and a half hours a day, 5 days a week, so 1 hour seemed like a good starting point at home.
2. I build a ton of breaks and flexibility into our days and weeks. I plan 5 days of ‘school’ each week, and we generally accomplish all the activities by stretching them out over 7 total days. Some Wednesdays, we just can’t do school. So we’ll make it up later, if we can. Again, the goal isn’t stress or pressure, so flexibility is key.
3. Variety is helpful for my kiddo. His attention span is short, so most of what I plan is quick, and we change styles of learning often. You know what will work best for your own families.
4. Our journal is simply a basic notebook. Every day, I provide a prompt, and my child draws a picture on a blank index card. I tape that into the notebook, and write most of the prompt. At least one or two words are written larger, in dots, so my son can trace them.
5. I have a pretty well stocked supply of craft and learning materials already, and know that may not be the case for you. Be creative, be flexible, and be open to compromise! We also have a large home library for the kids, which is very helpful right now!

How have you been incorporating simple science into your home preschool play?

Our rock study got a bit sparklier on day 3! My son was happy to change things up a bit, and change our focus to gemstones. We focused mainly on art/fine motor, and a little bit of math today. Read on to see what Day 3 of our gems, crystals, rocks learning at home looked like!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through a link in this post, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. 

GEMS, CRYSTALS, ROCKS:  WEEK 1 dAY 3

Gems, Crystals, Rocks: Day 3 Ideas

Letter of the day:

G is for gem. I created a simple free printable ‘G is for Gem’ page on Twisty Noodle. My son added gemstone stickers I picked up on an essential grocery run to embellish his letter.

Word of the day: 

Instead of working on his name, my kiddo wrote ‘gem’ with 4 different writing instruments. (I grabbed that printable page from First And Kinder Blue SKies on Teachers Pay Teachers!)

Book of the day: 

Stone Crazy. By Tracy Gallup.

Journal prompt of the day: 

I wish I could find a gem made out of…

[Dad joke alert… geminems! My hubs is a cheeseball.]

Activities and play we enjoyed: 

I printed a free gemstone coloring page from Crayola’s website, and paired it with some of their glitter crayons. This gave my kiddo a chance to work on fine motor (coloring) as we talked about gemstones a bit. The glitter crayons add some gem-appropriate sparkle, and novelty to a basic task for a young child.

For a little math work, I pulled out a small tray I picked up at Target this past fall. I added a ten-frame sticker (also a fall 2019 Target find), and a space for dry erase writing. By cutting up a number poster from the Dollar Tree, I made some basic number cards to choose from. I added a jar of plastic ‘gems’ that I grabbed from the Dollar Tree as well. My 4 year old pulled a card, identified the number, and filled the 10 frame with the appropriate number of gems. He was a crab, so I didn’t make him write the number, but it’s always an option to add on a better day.

YOU MAY NEED THESE TO LEARN ABOUT GEMS, CRYSTALS, ROCKS…

colored pencils / crayons / marker/ transparent tape / pens / scissors / pencils / double sided tape / composition notebook / index cards / fancy crayons / gems / tray

But PLEASE Remember…

This is what is working for us during the pandemic, for the time being. It may seem overwhelming to your family to attempt anything like this. Or if you’re like me, you may welcome a little structure in your days. It’s important for you to consider the needs, emotional health, and learning styles of your entire family, and make adjustments as needed. The goal is NEVER more stress, more comparisons, or more guilt.

Keeping the above in mind, here’s a little bit more about our process…

1. We’re aiming for about an hour of ‘school-ish’ work a day. This might included coloring, painting, writing, drawing, stickers, and more. My 4 year old is used to attending UPK for two and a half hours a day, 5 days a week, so 1 hour seemed like a good starting point at home.
2. I build a ton of breaks and flexibility into our days and weeks. I plan 5 days of ‘school’ each week, and we generally accomplish all the activities by stretching them out over 7 total days. Some Wednesdays, we just can’t do school. So we’ll make it up later, if we can. Again, the goal isn’t stress or pressure, so flexibility is key.
3. Variety is helpful for my kiddo. His attention span is short, so most of what I plan is quick, and we change styles of learning often. You know what will work best for your own families.
4. Our journal is simply a basic notebook. Every day, I provide a prompt, and my child draws a picture on a blank index card. I tape that into the notebook, and write most of the prompt. At least one or two words are written larger, in dots, so my son can trace them.
5. I have a pretty well stocked supply of craft and learning materials already, and know that may not be the case for you. Be creative, be flexible, and be open to compromise! We also have a large home library for the kids, which is very helpful right now!

How have you been incorporating basic math into your home preschool play?

We’ve been continuing our first week of simple preschool at home, quarantine-style. We kept day 2 fairly low key, making sure to include some basic math in our learning. Once the ‘real’ school work was finished, my boys had plenty of time for more open ended, low-tech outdoor play that provided new opportunities for learning about rocks, stones, pebbles together. Keep reading to see what we did on day 2!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through a link in this post, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. 

rOCKS, STONES, PEBBLES:  WEEK 1 dAY 2

Rocks, Stones, Pebbles: Day 2 Ideas

Letter of the day:

P is for pebble. I created a simple free printable ‘P is for Pebble’ page on Twisty Noodle. My son used stamp pads and his fingers to cover the letter with little stamped ‘pebbles’.

Word of the day: 

Instead of working on his name, my kiddo wrote ‘pebble’ with 4 different writing instruments. (I grabbed that printable page from First And Kinder Blue SKies on Teachers Pay Teachers!)

Book of the day: 

Love You When… By Linda Kranz.

Journal prompt of the day: 

If I smashed open a geode, I would hope to find… [inspired by geode smashing on Day 1]

Activities and play we enjoyed: 

I printed these free rock counting cards, and pulled out our dot dabbers. My son loved counting the stones on each card and ‘dotting’ the correct number.

My 4 year and his big brother both loved the opportunity to try stone stacking. I had grabbed 2 sets of 7 fairly flat stones in ascending size from our local lakefront the other evening. They happily stacked their own set, then decided to combine sets for a bigger challenge. After that, they began hunting down other rocks from our yard, and added chalk, acorns, and other accessories to a creative city they put together. The play is a great opportunity for problem solving, creative thinking, and early STEM work. This open ended play opportunity has gone on for several days, and they want to go get more rocks from the lake soon, so I’m calling it a major success!

YOU MAY NEED THESE TO LEARN ABOUT ROCKS, STONES, PEBBLES…

colored pencils / crayons / markers / transparent tape / pens / scissors / pencils / double sided tape / composition notebook / index cards / stamp pads / chalk

But PLEASE Remember…

This is what is working for us during the pandemic, for the time being. It may seem overwhelming to your family to attempt anything like this. Or if you’re like me, you may welcome a little structure in your days. It’s important for you to consider the needs, emotional health, and learning styles of your entire family, and make adjustments as needed. The goal is NEVER more stress, more comparisons, or more guilt.

Keeping the above in mind, here’s a little bit more about our process…

1. We’re aiming for about an hour of ‘school-ish’ work a day. This might included coloring, painting, writing, drawing, stickers, and more. My 4 year old is used to attending UPK for two and a half hours a day, 5 days a week, so 1 hour seemed like a good starting point at home.
2. I build a ton of breaks and flexibility into our days and weeks. I plan 5 days of ‘school’ each week, and we generally accomplish all the activities by stretching them out over 7 total days. Some Wednesdays, we just can’t do school. So we’ll make it up later, if we can. Again, the goal isn’t stress or pressure, so flexibility is key.
3. Variety is helpful for my kiddo. His attention span is short, so most of what I plan is quick, and we change styles of learning often. You know what will work best for your own families.
4. Our journal is simply a basic notebook. Every day, I provide a prompt, and my child draws a picture on a blank index card. I tape that into the notebook, and write most of the prompt. At least one or two words are written larger, in dots, so my son can trace them.
5. I have a pretty well stocked supply of craft and learning materials already, and know that may not be the case for you. Be creative, be flexible, and be open to compromise! We also have a large home library for the kids, which is very helpful right now!

What open ended, low tech outdoor activities do your kids enjoy? Have they tried stone stacking yet?!

So here we are guys… In the middle of this crazy, pandemic-style spring. I read recently that 43 of 50 states have officially cancelled school for the remainder of the year, which made me realize I better get my butt in gear with my pre-kindergarten kiddo. Our district has not officially cancelled the remainder of the year, but I’m worried it’s coming. And honestly, I’m very nervous about sending him off to kindergarten in the fall (assuming schools are open), after possibly being out of school for 6 months! While we try to develop a new normal for home learning, I thought I would share our journey with you here. Buckle up for a fun week learning about rocks, gems, crystals, and more in our home preschool!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through a link in this post, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. 

rOCKS, gEMS, cRYSTALS:  WEEK 1 dAY 1

Rocks, Gems, Crystals: Day 1 Ideas

Letter of the day:

R (and Q). I paired these simple printable pages from Living Montessori Now with some small rocks from our local Dollar Tree. My kiddo used training chopsticks to move rocks to fill each letter. (Fine motor work is a MUST for my son! Spoons or jumbo tweezers would also work.)

Word of the day: 

Instead of working on his name, my kiddo wrote ‘rock’ with 4 different writing instruments. (I grabbed that printable page from First And Kinder Blue SKies on Teachers Pay Teachers!)

Book of the day: 

I Am A Rock. Written by Jean Marzollo. Illustrated by Judith Moffatt.

Journal prompt of the day: 

The best thing I saw this weekend was…

Activities and play we enjoyed: 

I printed a free rock collection box top, and had my son color it. We cut it out and attached it to an empty egg carton with some double stick tape. He’s excited about filling his box with rocks, gems, crystals later this week!

Both my 9 year old and my 4 year old loved the opportunity to smash geodes on our driveway. We used a kit from Discover With Dr. Cool that I was lucky enough to find on sale for $4.99 at Hobby Lobby just before we went into quarantine.

YOU MAY NEED THESE TO LEARN ABOUT ROCKS, GEMS, CRYSTALS…

colored pencils / crayons / markers / transparent tape / pens / scissors / pencils / double sided tape / composition notebook / index cards / hammer / geode kit / rocks

But PLEASE Remember…

This is what is working for us during the pandemic, for the time being. It may seem overwhelming to your family to attempt anything like this. Or if you’re like me, you may welcome a little structure in your days. It’s important for you to consider the needs, emotional health, and learning styles of your entire family, and make adjustments as needed. The goal is NEVER more stress, more comparisons, or more guilt.

Keeping the above in mind, here’s a little bit more about our process…

1. We’re aiming for about an hour of ‘school-ish’ work a day. This might included coloring, painting, writing, drawing, stickers, and more. My 4 year old is used to attending UPK for two and a half hours a day, 5 days a week, so 1 hour seemed like a good starting point at home.
2. I build a ton of breaks and flexibility into our days and weeks. I plan 5 days of ‘school’ each week, and we generally accomplish all the activities by stretching them out over 7 total days. Some Wednesdays, we just can’t do school. So we’ll make it up later, if we can. Again, the goal isn’t stress or pressure, so flexibility is key.
3. Variety is helpful for my kiddo. His attention span is short, so most of what I plan is quick. We change styles of learning often. You know what will work best for your own families.
4. Our journal is simply a basic notebook. Every day, I provide a prompt, and my child draws a picture on a blank index card. I tape that into the notebook, and write most of the prompt. At least one or two words are written larger, in dots, so my son can trace them.
5. I have a pretty well stocked supply of craft and learning materials already, and know that may not be the case for you. Be creative, be flexible, and be open to compromise! We also have a large home library for the kids, which is very helpful right now!

Are you trying to homeschool in quarantine? What do your days at home look like?