Shabbat Theme & My Five Senses Part 2

Our homeschool bookshelf and basket are stocked with favorites from home and some borrowed from the library that relate to our current themes. We incorporate reading formally and informally--both at set times and throughout the day as my son chooses books to be read aloud.

The night before a homeschool day, I pack a few of our special books and activity materials in my son's school bag. He was so excited to take it from the hook (at his level) and open it up to see what was inside waiting for us today!

Our folders also hold important materials for the day ahead.

Our big kick-off to Homeschool Preschool ended up happening with a bit less fanfare than I'd planned due to an unplanned and brief stint as substitute preschool teacher for myself and substitute preschool student for my son. Lack of planning and all, I think it was the perfect opportunity and transition for us. My son did beautifully in a "traditional" classroom setting, and I got to see (as a neurotic teacher-mommy) that he does indeed have the ability to adapt to classroom structure and routines even having been at home with me. When the time comes that he does enter a classroom environment I think we will both be more than OK! And as much as I love the structure and flow of a traditional classroom setting, I also love the ability to move at our own pace at home. School at home can happen in one large chunk of time or in smaller chunks throughout the day as we see fit. Working outside of the house for shorter hours allowed us time in the afternoon to engage in learning activities And today, on our first full day at home together, we were able to go through our morning routines and activities, break for the ever so important library visit and Story Time, return for some more learning and play and break again for some lunch and a nap. I love that my son had the idea today to bring a book outside. He was so excited to use his new homeschool bag that we made together a few weeks ago, he grabbed his board book copy of "Pete the Cat Wheels on the Bus," packed it inside and asked for help to carry his toy school bus and a few Fisher Price passengers! There are so many benefits from both the traditional early childhood classroom experience as well as the play at home experience. I'm so blessed to have had a glimpse into both worlds and I think both my son and I are eager to continue on our journey this year. Here's a peek at our next installment of our first Homeschool theme: Shabbat & My Five Senses. Wherever your day happens to take you, I wish you joyful learning and happy playing!

Our Sense of Hearing:

Here are a couple of books we used today to explore our sense of hearing. The Sounds of my Jewish Year is an old favorite of my son's and yet he was so excited to unpack it from his homeschool bag this morning--as though it were brand new! I brought along Hearing, one of a great set on The Five Senses we found at our local library. The photos and simple text were a great way to start conversation about the sense of hearing and explore/expand vocabulary. 

These homemade egg shakers (dollar store "easter eggs" filled with rice/beans/bells and duct taped shut) are a regular installment here when we daven together in the morning or do other music & movement activities. It's a fun and fabulous DIY project that will be sure to get a lot of use. Today they were a great tool to explore different sounds together.

I used a couple of bells threaded through a pipe cleaner and some duct tape to create our jingle brushes. It made painting (an already beloved activity here) even more fun!

We are working on a book together throughout this theme I've titled "My Shabbos Five Senses Book." In addition, we are using many of our senses to create some special crafts and materials to decorate our family Shabbos table. My son was so excited to get to paint his own set of Shabbos candlesticks--and even more excited to hear his painting in action with our homemade jingle brushes.

The finished product, plus a layer of Mod Podge and some added LED lights shaped like candles for play. These could also be used as a display item or used with real candles (obviously out of child reach).

"Where are your ears?"