Home Preschool: Discovering Leaves and Rocks

Last year we decided to start doing "Home preschool" with Lisa in addition to her regular preschool at Miss Kari's. When mom and dad were on the ball, Tuesday and Thursday morning would be our time to spend doing learning activities with her. This was especially fun for Ryan during the summer when he had a more open schedule. They did a lot of creative science activities. Now that Lisa is going to Head Start Preschool on Thursday and Friday only, it seemed like a good idea to keep doing some Home Preschool with her on the other days during the week. At Head Start the curriculum focuses on learning through play, so they have a lot of fun and creative play time opportunities. Playing in the kitchen area and building with the blocks are two of Lisa's favorites. This kind of learning is definitely very valuable for kids Lisa's age, but I think she also benefits from practicing writing skills, direct letter and number recognition and lessons involving critical thinking. Some of these things can be accomplished through play, but it seems to be more successful with one-on-one attention which isn't always possible when there are several children to interact with. So at Home Preschool I try to incorporate lessons that include writing and math skills to go along with fun activities and art projects.
This week we did some activities with leaves and then Lisa asked if we could also learn about how rocks are made. I found a couple of great lesson plans and project ideas online for both of these topics and we had fun exploring together. Of course, sitting still is not always the most fun thing for a five year old, so I try to be patient. I want this to be a fun time for her and I generally avoid using a drill-sergeant approach during our times together. Generally.  :)

For the leaf lessons we collected leaves outside, read a book about different leaves and made two leaf projects. For the rock lesson we looked at some pictures and diagrams online, and even learned a silly song about the different types of rocks.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehcshoYIIM4&feature=related
Ryan brought home some rock collections from his classroom and Lisa showed great interest in looking at each one under her magnifying glass. It ended up being quite a good lesson for me, too.
To top it all off, we made EDIBLE ROCKS! Definitely can't go wrong with any activity involving food. This is a definite repeat lesson. I'm sure Lisa will enjoy doing this again in a year, on a rainy afternoon perhaps. There may be some rough days, but I'm so glad I get to be at home with my girls and do fun things together.

Name those rocks! 

**The edible rocks were, from left to right: Sedimentary (made from stacking layers of ritz crackers and peanut butter), metamorphic (made by squishing pieces of salt water taffy together), and igneous (made by melting chocolate and pouring it into crinkled foil candy molds)