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Letter D Preschool Unit

Letter D Preschool Unit

nourishedchildren 2 Comments

I’m so thankful I get to spend time with my children for their preschool years. First, I share our curriculum choices and why we use them. Keep reading to find out how we explored the Letter A. Finally, at the bottom, we list our favorite supplies for the preschool years.

Letter D Preschool Unit
Letter D Preschool Unit

PRESCHOOL CURRICULUM

SUPPORTS AMPLE NATURE TIME

  • The Peaceful Preschool – The schedule is amazing because it sets aside one day per week for field trips
  • Exploring Nature with Children – This works well for my family because it is centered around being outdoors
  • The Abundant Gardener – We are learning more about gardening together so this will naturally provide chances to visit gardens, plant stores, and be outside on our land

THE PEACEFUL PRESCHOOL

We currently follow the Peaceful Preschool curriculum by Jennifer Pepito and we love it! The content is full of rich literature, therefore it is a perfect fit for my book-loving family.  We read through many rich, classic stories. We also complete playful projects to go with the literature theme or letter. Download Unit A for free to try it out with your littles in order to see if you like it.

The community she has created is such a beautiful resource and I’m grateful to be a part of it. Jennifer has included a wonderful preschool e-book which helps you prepare to guide your child in early learning. We have found her curriculum perfect for our homeschool preschool. The curriculum is comprised of Read Aloud, Phonics, Counting Skills, Fine Motor Skills, Large Motor Skills, Practical Life Skills, and Art Skills. Also, here is how we enjoyed the letter E unit.

Letter D Preschool Unit
Letter D Preschool Unit

LETTER D REVIEW

We loved the letter D unit! The focus was on ducks and doughnuts. We began by creating our glitter glue alphabet letters and read through Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey. The Peaceful Preschool recommends glitter glue in order to create the finishing touches on sensory, textured alphabet flashcards. We have used them with all of the letters so far. It it is really one of my children’s favorite parts.

My boys also added these yellow sprinkles to their letter D template. We choose yellow sprinkles since they reminded us of yellow ducklings and doughnuts. My youngest son enjoyed completing the letter D duck project by Simply Learning Kids because it was simple and and adorable. He remained so focused.

Simply Learning Kids Duck Craft Letter D
Simply Learning Kids Duck Craft Letter D

I found a life cycle of a duck template on Pinterest. My oldest son determined the sequence, cut the pieces and glued them on. I love to see my son’s hands at work, especially when he is so interested in the activity.

life cycle duck
life cycle duck

D IS FOR DOUGHNUT

Perhaps the most fun part of the unit was baking and eating homemade doughnuts! Find my healthy Paleo doughnut recipe here. My boys helped gather ingredients, stir the batter, fill the doughnut pan, spread the icing, and add sprinkles.

letter D doughnuts
letter D doughnuts

We also made healthy apple “doughnuts” and topped them with nut butter, cream cheese and rainbow sprinkles for a delicious snack. My children loved to spread the nut butter and cream cheese on the apple slices and I loved it because they are learning great kitchen skills.

apple slices with cream cheese doughnuts
Next, apple slices with cream cheese doughnuts
Healthy Snack Ideas
Healthy Snack Ideas

We shaped doughnuts out of homemade play dough and reviewed the letters of the alphabet. My oldest child also played with a moveable Montessori alphabet. Next, he matched letter pairs together.

play dough alphabet review
finally, play dough alphabet review

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES 

I have created a Preschool Letter Unit for each letter on Pinterest. Pinterest provides a wealth of inspiration for extension ideas to go along with the Peaceful Preschool. We also use Simply Learning Kids to add additional learning activities.

Simple learning. Preschool homeschool.
Simply learning kids with Preschool homeschool
Preschool Planning
Preschool Planning for Mama

In conclusion, the boys painted some recycled cardboard doughnuts. We enjoy these watercolors from Amazon, however, you can find some at Target. I’m so thankful for the Peaceful Preschool curriculum because it provides the boys with many skills they need. Most of all, we are having a blast while we are learning.

Water Color Art Donut Craft
Finally, a Water Color Art Donut Craft

SUPPLIES

Make Way For Ducklings
Glitter Glue
Yellow Sprinkles
Rainbow Sprinkles
Doughnut Pan
Play Dough
Watercolors
Moveable Alphabet
Recycled Cardboard

Please let me know if you have any questions. Finally, we hope you enjoy nourishing your children! 

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Also, here is how we enjoyed the letter E unit. I can’t wait to show you the next letter we are working on because we are enjoying it so much!

Letter E Preschool Unit

Letter E Preschool Unit

nourishedchildren 4 Comments

I’m so thankful I get to spend time with my children for their preschool years. First, I share our curriculum choices and why we use them. Keep reading to find out how we explored the Letter A. Finally, at the bottom, we list our favorite supplies for the preschool years.

Letter E Preschool Unit
Letter E Preschool Unit

PRESCHOOL CURRICULUM

SUPPORTS AMPLE NATURE TIME

  • The Peaceful Preschool – The schedule is amazing because it sets aside one day per week for field trips
  • Exploring Nature with Children – This works well for my family because it is centered around being outdoors
  • The Abundant Gardener – We are learning more about gardening together so this will naturally provide chances to visit gardens, plant stores, and be outside on our land

THE PEACEFUL PRESCHOOL

We currently follow the Peaceful Preschool curriculum by Jennifer Pepito and we love it! The content is full of rich literature, therefore it is a perfect fit for my book-loving family.  We read through many rich, classic stories. We also complete playful projects to go with the literature theme or letter. Download Unit A for free to try it out with your littles in order to see if you like it.

The community she has created is such a beautiful resource and I’m grateful to be a part of it. Jennifer has included a wonderful preschool e-book which helps you prepare to guide your child in early learning. We have found her curriculum perfect for our homeschool preschool. The curriculum is comprised of Read Aloud, Phonics, Counting Skills, Fine Motor Skills, Large Motor Skills, Practical Life Skills, and Art Skills. Here is how we schedule our days.

community
Boys Preschool Hands

LETTER E REVIEW

We loved the letter E unit! The focus was on eggs and that is one thing we love. Eggs are a great superfood so this Mama was happy to introduce a unit focusing on them. We began by creating our glitter glue alphabet letters and read through Rechenka’s Eggs. We had fun creating bird’s nests out of natural play dough and making miniature play dough eggs for the nest. It was such a joy since I got to see my sons get creative in forming the nest and eggs.

The Peaceful Preschool recommends glitter glue in order to create the finishing touches on sensory, textured alphabet flashcards. We have used them with all of the letters so far, and it is really one of my children’s favorite parts. They added birdseed to their letter E template and we also added bird seed to our bird feeder out in the front!

Brothers Art Letter E
Brothers Art Letter E

E IS FOR EGG

We made hard boiled eggs together and dyed them with natural dye. My boys participated in collecting ice so we could cool down the eggs in an ice bath. They also love dipping the eggs in the natural dye we created out of blueberries, turmeric, and spinach. I typically have brown eggs on hand and they don’t work as well as white eggs in absorbing the color!

We counted and sorted a dozen wooden eggs. The boys made muffins and cookies with their pretend blender set and they used their wooden eggs in their pretend play.

Colored Egg Play. Boys helping in the kitchen.
Colored Egg Play. Boys helping in the kitchen.

I have created a Preschool Letter Unit for each letter on Pinterest. Pinterest provides a wealth of inspiration for extension ideas to go along with the Peaceful Preschool. We also use Simply Learning Kids to add additional learning activities. My boys took turns cutting various egg cracks and matching them back together in order to practice fine motor skills and work with patterns.

Cutting Eggs with Scissors
Cutting Eggs with Scissors

Then, we used some wooden buttons to complete an egg shape. My older son also had more scissor practice as he cut out the egg shapes and matched them together.

Wooden Egg Buttons
Wooden Egg Buttons

 

Finally, to wrap up the letter E unit, we used watercolors to paint the Earth. You can purchase watercolor paints at Target, however, we really enjoy these from Amazon.

Painting the Earth
Finally, Painting the Earth

SUPPLIES 

Rechenka's Eggs
Glitter Glue
Natural Play Dough
Sunflower Bird Seed
Scissors
Wooden Eggs
Wood Mixer Toy Set
Wooden Buttons
Washable Tempera Paints
Watercolor Paper
Nature Anatomy Book

Please let me know if you have any questions. Finally, we hope you enjoy nourishing your children too! We can’t wait to share our next letter since we are having so much fun!

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Here is how we schedule our days.

Homemade Jars of Strawberry Jam

Simple Homemade Strawberry Jam

nourishedchildren 2 Comments

GRANDMOTHER’S HOUSE

My fondest memory of my Grandmother Tessie was how much she loved her family, and I also loved her homemade strawberry jam. While we visited my Grandmother each year, we were welcomed with a home-cooked breakfast. Each morning, we could wake up to count on: bacon, sausage, grits, homemade biscuits, butter, and homemade strawberry jelly. I have always loved food and am particularly fond of a big breakfast and the star of Grandmother Tessie’s breakfast was her strawberry jam.

STRAWBERRY JAM AND BUTTER

My Grandpa Ford showed me how to mix butter and strawberry jelly together in just the right amounts to make a delicious topping for anything. We would take a fork and mash together the two ingredients and although it didn’t look very pretty, it had a heavenly taste. I’m pretty sure my eyes rolled back in my head with delight each time we concocted it. When I was in middle school, I learned Grandmother’s delicious jelly actually was made with figs. Since I didn’t know anything about a fig, I was a little shocked and turned off by my new knowledge. My ignorance quickly faded and I maintained my reverence of her strawberry jam.

Superfoods Home Page Strawberry Plant Garden Hands
Home Page Strawberry Plant Garden Hands
Strawberry Jam Helping Hands
Strawberry Jam and Helping Hands

Grandmother Tessie lived to be 97. She lived a long, loving and loved life, filled with a large family, and homegrown and homemade foods.

CHILDREN IN THE KITCHEN

I knew just the thing to do when I discovered an abundance of strawberries in my refrigerator. I rounded up my boys and we made homemade strawberry jam. My boys are always so excited to help us out in the kitchen. Their faces lit up and they are so delighted to get their hands on the food and assist. I call my boys my great little helpers often – and they truly are. They wash berries in the sink, cut off the stems, place berries in a bowl, squeeze lemon to make fresh juice, and dump in sugar, and vanilla extract from my pre-measured spoons and cups. They also stir it all together before I place it on the cooktop to simmer.

When your children assist you in the kitchen, it may take longer for the task to be completed, and your kitchen may get dirty. Yet, I believe the benefits of including your children in cooking preparation far outweighs the negatives. We can help you discover tips on how to get your children more involved in the kitchen.

  • STRAWBERRY JAM: The recipe is super simple and super delicious! I hope you enjoy it as much as we all did.
SIMPLE, HOMEMADE STRAWBERRY JAM

Ingredients:

2 pounds strawberries, sliced and stems removed
Juice of one lemon
Zest of half a lemon
2 cups sugar (raw cane sugar or coconut sugar - I'm going to try honey next!)
2.5 teaspoons fig balsamic vinegar (or plain balsamic vinegar)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients into a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat and stir frequently. Reduce heat to a simmer and stir occasionally. 

Jam should be ready in about 60-90 minutes. It should be thick and jam-like.

I stored my jam in a mason jar in the refrigerator. It should keep for a month. However, I don't think it will last that long!

This recipe is adapted from a Completely Delicious recipe. I use fig balsamic vinegar because it reminds me so much of my Grandmother’s homemade version. I also add lemon zest for brightness since a little extra lemon is almost always a welcome addition! If you try this jam recipe, please comment! I would love to hear how it turns out for you! 

Finally, Boys in the kitchen strawberry jam

 

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