Literature and literacy-based activities are the foundation for the learning we do at home during preschool…and anytime really.  I find that no matter how busy life can be, the challenges we face, and unexpectants that creep in, we can’t afford to give up the book-time and learning with the kiddos.

Thus, I’m recommitting to sharing what we call our kiddo daily delights.  I’ll admit that I became overwhelmed and burnt out when sharing them each day…mostly the time it takes to write up our experiences, but once a week seems to be a good balance.

So if you’re interested, please stop by on Wednesday…when others are wordless…we’ll be wordy and engaged.  🙂

This morning we shared preschool with our friends Amanda and Laurel.  Amanda is an amazing friend and mom, and though she asked for a “tutorial”, she sure doesn’t need one!  Such is the case with most of us out there.  Sometimes we feel we aren’t qualified or have the patience to teach our kiddos all they need.

Don’t tell yourself that.  You can do it.  Start simply, and enjoy that time together.

Today we focused on gardens, becoming gardeners, preparing during Winter, and starting our seeds early. The Curious Garden, written and illustrated by Peter Brown is a wonderful introduction or even reminder when teaching a love of gardening.

Truly a keeper for home’s library.  The story is warm, inviting, and has beautiful illustrations with a unique perspective on rooftop gardens and city dwellers in search of a garden to tend.

Related activities:

• each kiddo drew their own view of their garden they would love to tend
• we played a letter search…looking for the letters in the word GARDEN.  {Nothing too complicated here, a large piece of paper with a grid of letters…very simple, for older kids, have them make a word search or crossword for their friend/sibling to solve made up of garden vocabulary}
• we planted seeds in glass jars so that we can see our plants’ progress {we also found that droppers were great as the kiddos can water to their hearts content without over-watering, and they are great for making holes in the soil for the tiny seeds and to cover them}
• Little Seeds Lie Fast Asleep is a perfect song to sing and act out with them while learning about planting and gardening