Preschool Corner/Week in Review

As I have mentioned before we are so close to completing all of Selena’s preschool curriculum. She is performing the work in her workbook with such independence now and hardly even needs me to tell her the instructions. It is hard to believe that we only have 3 more sections and it will be totally completed. We will work through some of the supplemental work, until our new curriculum comes in. I doubt we will really start that until after our vacation.

Reading: High Five Puzzle Buzz Review

Yesterday Selena received her free Highlights Summer pack. I debated over this for sometime before deciding to go on ahead and get it for her. I know how can you pass up something for free? Is it really free? No, it is an introduction subscription to these fun puzzle magazines from Highlights. I do believe we will keep the subscription at $4.95 per activity book.

 

Selena had fun doing the hidden pictures. They are a little more difficult then those found in the High Five magazines she gets, but she still did them with ease. There is also some that call for stickers to be placed where you find the item. One page is black and white and the child puts the colored sticker over the item they find.

Then there is one that is split into two pages. One picture is the complete picture, the other one is missing items. The child is suppose to find the items pictured on the stickers on the one page then find the correct placement on the other page.

I liked the challenges in these puzzle books. The pictures are busy but they really challenge the child to be observant. They are not too busy that they become frustrating, but they are not as simple as those found in the High Five magazines.

What I didn’t like about these were the mazes. They are geared for an older child. I can live with that though, as now I can put these up for future fun, when Selena is ready for the more complex mazes.

This was the page that Selena had the most fun with. The stickers are in the shape of a jigsaw puzzle. She had to look at the picture and decide what was missing, find the right puzzle piece from the stickers, and then place it in place to finish that section of the picture. This is a little harder then it sounds, and calls for more fine motor skills then a normal jigsaw puzzle, but she did really well. She didn’t get all the pieces neatly in their place, but she gave it a good try and had fun doing it.

I highly recommend these fun packed Highlight puzzle books for any child. In my opinion these would be appropriate for an older 3 year old on up. Selena loved the carrying bag that came with them too.

Geography/History:

Selena had a great time with the State of Wisconsin. She has now fell in love with the Laura Ingals Wilder books, we just brought home more from the library, which takes us out of the Big Woods, to the Prairie. After a few weeks off, Selena was so excited to get her scrapbook out and do another page.

She now calls the postcards, “State cards”, which I think is cute and really tells me she is making the distinction that while we are studying and living in the US, that there are unique and different States within the one Country.

Other:

Selena went to a birthday party on Saturday, and as usual had a blast. She was the youngest one there, but that didn’t bother her any. She gets along with all children no matter their ages. It seems other children, even those a few years older, are able to accept Selena and enjoy having her around. That is good thing to see, as it tells me that Selena is developing the social skills she is going to need the rest of her life.

Our weather has been back and forth, the forecast will call for clouds and rain, then we get up to a beautiful sunny day. So we have been taking as much advantage of that as we can. Too bad Wednesday when it was one of the nicest summer days we have had we had to waist so much time going to the Occupational Therapist. We did walk to the library when we got home though.

We are not returning to the OT. Selena has formed a perception that the activities done in the office has given her all right to destroy, tear up, squish, literally make a mess out of the food on her plate, so long as she tries a bite of something new. This technique she used might work great for the younger child, or one with Developmental problems but from my perspective when working with a bright child, they see it differently. We will get over this situation just like any other situation we face, but I doubt we will search any more advice from an OT. That is not to say that I do not approve of what OT’s do, as I have worked with many over the years with my daughter. To read more of our experience you can read it here.

I am linking up to Homeschool Creations, hop on over and see what others are doing in their preschools.