Schooling Our Newly Home Little Man

So what does homeschool preschool look like with our little man? Hands on, hands on, and more hands on activities.  Puzzles, learning toys, matching, reading, art, gluing anything, tons of playing and some tracing.  Eli Lan Chang is three years old, turning four very soon.  He has been home for three and half months and is not yet talking.  His attention span is extra short, but he's PreK age in the fall with lots of ground to make up. 

 

One thing we've realized is that he is super smart and LOVES "school" time.  When the girls start doing  their work, he points at his little chest with one finger to ask if he gets some too.

 Melt my heart. 

 

To help the newly adoptive mommas that I've been chatting with, here's a glimpse of his preschool.

Sorting is an important skill for his little brain, and it is super easy.  I pull together a bowl of items and he sorts like it is his job.  We've done beans, noodles, cars, crayons, and pom poms.  Here he is using rubber counters handed down to us, which are great for sorting by color as well. 

 



We learned about Hot Dots, Jr. from my buddy Sharon at Growing Whole Hearts.  Thanks to strategic Christmas listing, both he and Claire have learning games using this handheld little pup who barks learning feedback.  Thank you, grandparents! 

 

These Leapfrog letter magnets adorn the side of our fridge.  This whole alphabet activity was a bit hard at first for him, so we started with his name and will also do the names of the whole family with a picture.  Extra bonus?  If he is making me bonkers during meal prep, I send him over to match. 

Thank you to cousin Madeline for the hand-me-down that keeps on giving!

Our Melissa and Doug Shape Sorter was a gift received long ago that I thankfully held on to.  It keeps him busy, for at least three minutes.  :)



more daily sorting

This foam letter puzzle was a thrift store find years ago, and it has been used 3,678 times.  It really helps my tiny people develop an understanding of letter shapes, and is great, much needed fine motor practice. 

 



As I shared about here, Eli traces his name daily.  When we first started, it was evident that he had never held a pencil or crayon.  Now, he's a tracing star!  Here we were using a sheet protector and dry erase marker.

 



Shape tracing using dry erase are fun as well.  Once all over the place, he now stays on the lines. 



 

Another strategic Christmas list item from long ago, was this Melissa and Doug Tangram Puzzle.  This is crazy good fine motor practice, as the shapes don't lock in.  It would have driven him bonkers when first home, but he now will sit and do every single tile.  

 

Since he had no control of his crayon when first home, I had him stick stickers on paper and then circle them.  It gave him a specific task, and this little man with a plan loved that.  

Play doh.  Lots of play doh.  Sticking penne noodles into it is a cheap and fun little add in. 

One of the fave of all our learning/creative toys are the stacker pegs and peg board.  Between he and Evie, this gets played with at least once a day.  It's a great one for little people to work on during schooling or meal prep.  

 

Just home, scissors became his obsession, so I made thin strips with lines (sometimes stickers) on them for him to cut.  He's way over it now, but used to do it with intense concentration.  

Pom poms, cheap trays and tongs are good fine motor practice. 

They get transferred back and forth over and over.

Santa brings learning games as well, and this old one is Eli's favorite. 

We have the Melissa and Doug Button Puzzle and the Animal Pattern Blocks.  

Found somewhere online, little mounds of play doh, spaghetti noodles and Cheerios is another fine motor activity. 

When Sophia was a baby, I found this beautiful matching set at a TJ Maxx and it has been well loved ever since.  The matching is fun and provides language expansion in an non-flash card way.  

 

 Another favored Melissa and Doug toy are these Water Wow sets.  Thanks again to the grandparents and Aunt Janie, these are perfect for entertaining little ones at our steady flow of doctors appointments.  They are way cool, way easy and have held up well. 

Since our little student wants to be like his sibs, he gets a sheet every day too.  He traces and then is learning to color by filling in the shapes. 

 

Teaching and working with his little brain is a hard joy.  With three siblings, I just don't have the one on one time with him that I'd love to have, but thankfully, he learns quickly and is growing in independence. I'm learning to release my expectations, and am standing back in awe at how much his siblings teach him, without me even being in the room.  In just a short time, his skills and mind have advanced so much.  These combined with heart, trust and attachment growth are a beautiful blossoming.  So grateful for the front row seat.  

A few more learning/creative toys we have:

 Melissa and Doug Sequence Sorting Set

Lacing Beads

puzzles

weekly library books

block set

Mr. Potato Head (fine motor and parts of face)

counting bears with cups (sorting & colors)



I've posted here about homeschooling our Pre-K age daughter.