Practice Preschool - Making Music Week 1

My life's goal is to run a successful preschool in my home. Current major setbacks: COVID pandemic still ongoing, no home of our own. In the meantime, I've decided to "homeschool preschool" my nearly-three-year-old son, Rowan. While I had a few reservations, I ultimately decided I'd be doing him a disservice if I didn't go through with it. 

I'm sharing my our experience here both to look back on and as a resource who would also like to do the same. I plan to enroll Rowan in preschool this fall for the social aspect and to gain understanding from a teacher who is not also his mom, haha!

This month's theme will be: MUSIC. Rowan has loved music since the womb, I daresay; he would often do flips when I would be listening to music while pregnant. We've sung to him daily since he was born and it's so fun now to hear him sing! He's memorized countless songs, requests various topics to be put to song, and loves listening to songs over and over again. As a result, his favorite songs are constantly on an endless track in my mind. It only makes sense to start with music. 

The culmination of all these lessons will be: Old Macdonald Had a Band, at the end of the month. My plan is to do preschool twice a week for an hour at a time. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I've incorporated church lessons as well since Rowan hasn't had a ton of exposure to primary due to COVID. My plan is to do a church lesson the first day during the week (I'm doing Tuesday/Thursday) and a STEAM lesson the second day of the week. Each week will be a different aspect of STEAM. Since this month's theme is music, there will be no "Arts" lesson for STEAM. However, art will be incorporated throughout the lessons.

Feel free to take/leave any parts of the lessons! The structure I envision is 15 minute lesson time where Rowan will sit on his carpet spot (picture below, braided placemat from Walmart), 5 minute snack (counting, sensory, and other fine motor skills included where applicable), and 40 minutes of free play/one-on-one time with mom/field trip. Times are approximate.

Week 1

Day 1

• Sunbeam Lesson 1 (see picture) "I am a Child of God" (5 min)

Sing, "I am a Child of God" and talk about living with God prior to coming to Earth. Talk about our spirits and our bodies. Make boy (or girl) paper doll. 

• Quiet/Loud Game (picture below) (5 min)

Sort small, household objects into quiet or loud categories. Put small objects in a metal tin and predict if htey will be quiet or loud. Shake and see! Place them in egg cartons with labels "quiet" and "loud" (print awareness). 

• Make an instrument for culminating lesson - Easter Egg Shaker (5 min)

*Materials:

-Plastic egg(s), rice or dried beans, funnel, tape

Fill eggs with rice/beans using funnel. Secure with tape. 

Optional: Sing a few songs to get used to using the shaker! Great ideas found at: https://jbrary.com/give-storytime-shake/ 

My favorite were: 

1. "If you're happy and you know it, give a shake!" Rowan is already familiar with this song, so that's a plus. 

2. Shake Your Shaker Song (Shake your shaker, shake shake shake - to the tune of London Bridges. Verse 2: Shake your shaker, high high high Verse 3: Shake your shaker, low low low.) 

3. 1, 2, Shake it on your shoe. 3, 4, Shake it on the floor. 5, 6, stir and mix. 7, 8, stand it up straight. 9, 10, wave to your friends. 

• Snack (5 min) 

Today's tip: Incorporate choice. Toddlers feel empowered when they get to choose. Offer three items for a snack and let your child choose. 

• Free Play (20 min)

Read books about music (from the library, around the house, or on YouTube when all else fails!), practice conducting music, play Dance & Freeze (play a song on a CD player/phone/computer and dance to the music! Freeze when the music stops. Or any other fun toys around the house! Ask your child open ended questions throughout. 

Images:

1. Preschool area (doesn't need to be fancy! Mine certainly isn't!)

2. Rowan's rug spot (braided placemat from Walmart) Could also use any type of rug, small chair, etc. Hand for size reference.  

3. Quiet/Loud Game

4. Sunbeam Lesson Manual

5. Activity organization in order of lesson plan. Lesson plan booklet.

Day 2

• STEAM Lesson (Science) "Fishing With a Magnet" (5 min)

Read a book about magnets. I'm using, "What Makes a Magnet" by Franklyn M. Branley. Next, go fishing with a magnet to figure out which items are magnetic and which items are not.

*Materials:

-Pencil, string, magnet

-Combination of metal/non-metal objects: coins, twig, tacks/pins, paper clip, pieces of aluminum foil, rubber band, pieces of paper, safety pin, screw, etc. Place these in a box.

Tie string to one end of the pencil, tie other end to a magnet. This is your fishing pole.

Go fishing in the box. Put the things you "catch" in a pile. The others will stay in the box.

Sing: Once I Caught a Fish Alive while you're fishing :)

• Play Name that Tune! (5 min)

Whistle, hum, drum, or sing the beginning of a song for your child to guess. Try to choose songs your toddler is familiar with. When they guess the song, sing it together. Bonus points: Choose songs that also get their wiggles out (Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes, Hokey Pokey, etc.)

• Make an instrument for culminating lesson - Drum (5 min)

Find a round container or two from your pantry that has a lid (oatmeal canister, infant formula can, Nesquik, Pringles, Hot Chocolate, etc). Cover container with blank colored paper and have your child decorate it. This is their drum. If you're crafted out, use pots and pans as drums instead :)

Optional: Sing a few songs to get used to the drum! Spoons or ladles work great as drumsticks!  

My favorite are: 

1. Can You Play the Drums? (practice body parts) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppuQF_2LqAw

2. Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb by Al Perkins 

• Snack (5 min)

Today's Tip: With small food objects such as goldfish crackers, have toddler practice counting. One-to-one correspondence is a crucial foundational math skill! The earlier they grasp the concept, the better!

• Free Play (20 min)

Sing songs together! Try singing "Down by the Bay" to practice rhyming. Play "Hot" or "Cold": Have your toddler stand outside the door for a quick second, hide an object. Bring your toddler back in and sing a song to help them find the object: sing loud when they are close, and quiet when they are far away. Sing a song different ways using emotions: grumpy, happy, sad, silly, etc.

Cleaning out Cobwebs

Adjusting to Adulting

Whoa. Just like that it's been two years! I thought I knew what it was like to be an adult...turns out it's way busier than I thought. I've been through my first year of teaching -- nearly my second as well--my husband is just about 2/3 done with law school, and we almost have a one-year-old baby boy! Life just picked up speed and took off before I was able to fully catch my breath. I feel like I'm just now getting used to the new normal of having a baby and something else is bound to come along and hit me in the face. But I may as well make the best of it since I have to live through it either way!

Pumpkin Procrastination

To those of you on the edge of your seat waiting for a pumpkin recipe, I'm sorry I let you down. I completely forgot about posting on here until I saw the tab for it on my home page. No excuses, but for the record, we did just get wifi for our apartment. Here is a super yummy pumpkin recipe from one of our Pumpkin Potlucks :) I keep an album with pictures of recipes on my phone for easy access.

Pumpkin Alfredo
1 pkg. frozen cheese ravioli
1/2 Tbsp. butter
1/4 c. chopped onion
2 Tbsp. chicken broth
1 tsp. dried sage
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 c. canned pumpkin
Alfredo Sauce (see recipe below)

Alfredo Sauce
1 c. milk
2 oz. cream cheese
1 Tbsp. flour
1 Tbsp. butter
1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. salt
Garlic to taste
In a blender, combine milk, cream cheese, flour, salt, and blend until smooth. In a saucepan, melt butter, add blender mixture. Stir occasionally and cook until simmering. Simmer about six minutes. Set aside and cover for ten minutes, sauce will continue to thicken.

Cook the ravioli according to package directions. In a separate saucepan, melt the butter on medium heat. Add onion and saute until translucent. Add chicken broth and herbs. Add pumpkin and whisk to combine. Combine with Alfredo Sauce. Pour over pasta and serve.

I'll try to be better at updating my blog! No promises though ;)

Planning Parties

Those who know me well know I love to host parties :) While the actual party is always fun, I especially love the planning that goes into it and the anticipation leading up to the event. I think parties should occur more often! There are so many reasons to celebrate :) Even if you don't feel like you're a people person, parties can help you come out of your shell and warm up to the idea of being around others. You may not feel like you're a party planner either, but someone has to host them :) Parties have a reputation of being expensive. Here are a few affordable party ideas that I love:

Recipe Exchange Parties:
For a series of months, I hosted a party each featuring a different dish: Soups, Salads, Desserts, Breads, etc. I had each guest RSVP by emailing me their recipe. I then printed out a copy of the compiled recipes for each guest. At the party, each guest brought their dish for sampling. We enjoyed good food, good company, and good conversation. It was a fun way to try new recipes!

A Favorite Things Party:
This was one of my favorites ;) Haha! For the party I had each guest fill out a questionnaire of their favorite things (document can be found here). When everyone had filled it out, we treated it like Scattergories (unbeknownst to them) and I gave the person deemed "most unique" a prize. I also had each guest bring three of one of their favorite items, individually wrapped. I put everyone's name in a bowl three times and each of us drew three pieces of paper. We went around the circle, one name at a time, exchanging gifts. I had each share why they chose what they did. Finally, at the end of the party, we had ice cream! Each guest had also brought their favorite ice cream topping :) It turned out great! 

Dinner Group:
My husband and I created a dinner group for ourselves and three other couples. We had dinner together once a week and alternated hosting the group. We would usually play a board game together afterwards. It was a great way to strengthen friendships and it was nice to have a break from cooking!

Pumpkin Potluck
This year will be our 3rd annual Pumpkin Potluck. I love everything pumpkin :) I attended a pumpkin potluck when I was on a mission in Portland, Oregon. I loved it so much that I adopted the idea :) We provide the main dish and the guests bring a myriad of pumpkin dishes. We've had everything from pumpkin salad dressing to decadent pumpkin desserts. I'll be revisiting this party idea this coming fall so stay tuned for various pumpkin recipes!

Go party! 

Traveling to the Temple

Ever since Jared and I were engaged, we've had a goal to visit every LDS temple in the United States. At each temple we attend, we pick up a temple schedule and complete ordinance work. It's been neat to see the unique characteristics of each temple and feel the spirit as a result of the act of service. I'm compiling a scrapbook as we go, with pictures and unique paper for each page. My sister-in-law, Becky, created the art work for the front page (see below) and I laminated it afterwards, along with a black back. There are 81 temples (and counting) in the United States. Jared and I have visited 19 of them. We still have a long ways to go but we also have the rest of our lives :) 

Above is a sample page. The scrapbook dimensions are 7" by 8". There are two hole punches in the middle with large binder rings holding it together (very easy to open and close). It's a fun and easy way to document our temple trips!
Here is a list of all the temples in the United States (pdf document)
Temple List

King of the Kitchen

This summer I developed a borderline obsession with the TV show on Food Network entitled, "Chopped". It is a cooking show where four chefs compete for $10,000 as well as the title of Chopped Champion. Each episode has three rounds: appetizer, entree, and dessert. They are given a basket of four different mystery ingredients each round that they are to include in their dishes. The time allotment for the appetizer round is 20 minutes, and 30 for entree and dessert. The judges (professional food experts) taste and critique their food and determine who is eliminated from the round. 
In October, I had the idea to host a home edition of Chopped--as my family also loves watching the show. My maiden name is King so we decided to title our competition, "King of the Kitchen". I typed up a script, planned out the basket ingredients, and gathered various things to bring to the competition. For the prize, I embroidered a white apron. I love alliteration (as I'm sure you've noticed based on the titles of my blog posts) so I decided to theme each basket around a letter. 

Appetizer - T
Tuna
Tangerines
Tortillas
Tater Tots (we precooked them)

Entree - C
Chicken
Cream Cheese
Chickpeas
Crackers (Ritz)

Dessert - R
Rolos
Rice Krispies
Rambutan (a tropical fruit)
Reddi Whip

The competitors were my sisters, my brother, and my sister-in-law. The judges were my mom, my grandma, and my husband. We set up the pantry, created four stations, and brought out utensils/appliances for use. I informed the chefs of the rules and the competition began! I video recorded several portions of the competition and compiled them into one video. 
All in all, the competition turned out well! At the beginning we had two cooks in stations in the kitchen, and two stations set up on the table. As we went on, the stations at the table were eliminated. The kitchen was a little tight at times but things worked out. It was a great bonding experience and we hope to make it into a tradition. Try it out with your family! 
My sister-in-law, NaTasha, was deemed the "King of the Kitchen" :) Below are some pictures. Here is the link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyxDqNVgrGw

Lasting Love

"Never stop dating your spouse" is a common piece of advice given. Jared and I have a date box to help us perpetuate that. A coworker gave me the idea; she said she and her husband had a plastic container that they kept treats in to pull out when they watched a movie together. One summer before we were married, we made a date bucket list and put that in our date box. For our wedding, we received several gift cards for eating out and for other dates, so we put those in the box. Our Twelve Dates of Christmas that we brainstormed (see Christmas as a Couple post) were also in the box. Your date box can vary in size, shape, material, and contents. Our first date box was made of cardboard; we have since purchased a wooden box and currently use that. Having this date box in a place we always see it has reminded us to continually go on dates. 

Quick Quilt

For Christmas this year, my sister-in-law requested wall decor for her recently purchased apartment. She had talked about a scrapbook paper quilt she'd seen on Pinterest so I set out to make one. Keeping in mind her living room colors (red and brown) and using the picture as a reference, I ended up with the following:

Original

Mine

If you'd like detailed instructions, see the Paper Quilt tutorial. Otherwise, here's the simple version:

1. Cut four sheets of desired patterned paper into 2" squares (be meticulous about your cutting so you don't end up with narrow slits between each square in some places like I did in this attempt). 
2. Glue the squares onto some type of reinforcement (the tutorial suggests gluing them to illustration board but I just used sheets of cardstock).
3. Place in a frame (the rectangle frame I found was cheaper than the square one)

I copied the pattern shown in the original but plan to experiment with other patterns when I make the next one. 

Happy crafting!