Fall Apple Lesson Ideas for “Apple Farmer Annie”

The fall book Apple Farmer Annie is a fun starting point for KWL charts, creative writing, art projects, and field trips for kindergarten and first grade students.

Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington [Puffin Books, 2001] is the delightful story of Annie, a young woman who owns an apple farm and sells her products at the farmer’s market in the city. The book has bright, colorful illustrations that appeal to younger children as well as simple text making it an ideal read aloud. The story teaches children what an apple farmer does and some of the ways apples can be used, all in the context of the charming illustrations.

Apple Farmer Annie Synopsis

Annie is an apple farmer with a large orchard of various kinds of apples. Each fall she picks her apples, sorts them, and then uses them for various purposes. She makes cider, applesauce, muffins, cakes and pies with her apples. She saves the most beautiful apples to sell.

Annie loads her apples and apple products into her truck and drives to the city’s farmer’s market. She sets up her stand and is busy all day long selling her apples and the other things she made. At the end of the day, she packs up and goes home. Annie is very tired at the end of day when she gets home and puts on her pajamas, but she is happy because she enjoys having her own apple farm.

After the story, there are three recipes for Applesauce, Apple Muffins, and Applesauce Cake with Butter Frosting.

Apple Farm or Orchard KWL

The best way to learn about apples is to visit an apple orchard. Before going, read aloud Apple Farmer Annie as well as Apple Cider-Making Days to acquaint students with the workings of an apple farm and/or cider mill. A field trip also lends itself well to a KWL exercise.

Make a large chart with three columns and label them from left to right: Know, Want, Learn. Before reading the books, ask the students what they know and make a list of facts they already know about apples, apple farms and apple products. Then ask the students what they want to learn on the trip. After the field trip, complete the last part of the chart, making a list of what the students Learned.

Apple Taste Testing

If there isn’t an apple farm nearby for a field trip, it is still possible to give students a small taste of the farm! Bring in a variety of apples for a tasting party. Make a few different dips to go with them and enjoy trying apples of different colors, textures and tastes.

Apple Farmer Annie Writing Prompts

Students can write stories about Annie using these writing prompts.

  • Annie’s Applesauce Accident
  • Too Many Apples for Annie
  • Annie’s Apple Pie Contest
  • The Mystery of Annie’s Disappearing Apples

Colorful Graphic Apple Art Project

Apple Farmer Annie is illustrated in a bright graphic style. Provide students with die cuts of apples, trees, pies, trucks and other items from the story. Have them make a picture about Annie using both the die cuts (glued on) as well as their own hand-drawn illustrations. Students may either dictate a sentence about the picture for the teacher to write on the picture or write it themselves (if able).

Enjoying the fall season with kindergarten and first grade apple units, apple activities and apple-themed books is a great way to give students hands-on experiences. By preparing easy lessons and crafts based on the book Apple Farmer Annie, students can be prepared for a field trip to an apple orchard and make the most of the learning experience. For more ideas, see my post Kindergarten and First Grade Apple Unit Ideas, Crafts and Books.

Don’t miss some of my apple themed teaching materials!  Apple Fact Cards for Calendar Pocket Charts are a fun extension for any study of apples!

SB-Apple-Pocket-Fact-Cards-SAMPLE-050413

 

And don’t miss some of my favorite apple books!

 

 

Posted in Books, Crafts, Early Elementary, Fall/Autumn, First Grade, Kindergarten, Nature | 1 Comment

Kindergarten and First Grade Scarecrow Ideas, Books and Crafts

Scarecrows are a fun part of fall, and kindergarten and first grade children will find a special unit featuring them along with barns and animals to be enjoyable. Primary aged children will enjoy themed read alouds and writing about the books by using creative writing prompts and other project ideas.

Barn Dance Read Aloud Book
Barn Dance! by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault is the delightful story of a young boy who sneaks out to the barn in the middle of the night when he hears the animals and scarecrow head out there for a hoedown. The scarecrow leads the way with his fiddle playing and the animals join in with a wild dance in the barn. This Reading Rainbow Book has fun language and entertaining illustrations that will appeal to young children.

Inside a Barn in the Country Fall Themed Rebus Story
Inside a Barn in the Country: A Rebus Read-along Story by Alyssa Satin Capucilli is a funny rebus story that allows even non-readers to participate in telling the story. Disaster strikes in the barn when the cat scares the mouse, who wakes up the horse, who wakes up the cow and so on. What does the farmer think of it all? One can only imagine he’s not terribly happy with the chaos in his barn. Young children will enjoy this predictable, humorously illustrated story.

Story Sequence Activity
Have students retell the most important parts of Barn Dance! in a story sequence activity. Provide each student with a large piece of white paper folded into four sections. In the first section, have them draw a picture and write a sentence about something that happened at the beginning of the story. In the second section, have them tell about something that happened in the middle of the story. In the third section have them tell what happened at the end. In the last section, have them tell their favorite part of the story.

Students can write their own sentences or dictate to an adult if they are unable to write. Prior to writing the story, create a word bank on the board or a large sheet of chart paper so students can find the words they need.

Create a Rebus Story
After reading Inside a Barn in the Country: A Rebus Read-along Story, have students create their own rebus story. Have them select five characters that will be drawn as pictures and then write a story to share with the class.

Scarecrow Writing Prompts

  • The Day Our Scarecrow Came to Life
  • The Mystery of the Unstuffed Scarecrow
  • If I Were a Scarecrow
  • Why Scarecrows Have Patched Clothing
  • The Scarecrow Family Moves to the Big City

Barn and Animal Writing Prompts

  • A Secret Barn Hideout
  • Enjoying Fall in the Barn
  • The Haunted Barn
  • The Best Way to Use a Barn
  • Barn Sweet Barn

Fun read alouds, interesting writing prompts, and creative writing projects can be easy to prepare for kindergarten and first grade students. With a theme like scarecrows, barns and animals, the subject matter is sure to be a hit during the busy fall season. I have more easy ideas available on topics such as Apple Unit Ideas, Pumpkin Unit Ideas, Fall Unit Ideas, and October and Fall Classroom Ideas.

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Posted in Books, Crafts, Early Elementary, Fall/Autumn, First Grade, Kindergarten, Nature | 1 Comment

Kindergarten and First Grade Fall Unit Ideas, Crafts and Books

Preparing to teach an elementary fall-themed unit can be easy. These autumn themed lesson ideas and read aloud suggestions are quick and easy and work well in September and October.

Sorting Nuts, Leaves and Pine Cones

If possible, have students participate in collecting a variety of nuts, leaves and pine cones from outdoors. If no suitable place is available, then bring in a variety of these fall objects and have students use them in sorting exercises. Nuts can be sorted by shape, colors or sizes as can the leaves. Pine cones can be sorted by size as well.

Leaf Rubbings

Take students on a walk to collect fall leaves. Students then make leaf rubbings using peeled crayons and white paper. Students place the leaf under the paper and then rub the side of the crayon over the hidden leaf. The leaf’s texture will show through the paper.

Five Fall Senses

Prepare a small book for each student with pages that say, “My favorite fall smell is ______.” and so on, with one page for each of the five senses. Help the students fill in the blank and draw a picture to accompany the sentence. If desired, brainstorm a list of possible words to use and put them in a word bank on a piece of chart paper or on the blackboard.

I Know It’s Autumn Book

I Know It’s Autumn by Eileen Spinelli is the fun story of young girl who shares all the ways she knows that autumn has arrived. The signs of the season include everything from Daddy getting her jacket out of the storage box to making zucchini bread with an elderly neighbor. The book has large illustrations and simple text, making it an excellent read-aloud.

Apple and Pumpkins Read Aloud

Apples and Pumpkins by Anne Rockwell tells the story of a young girl who picks apples and pumpkins with her mother and father. After they arrive home, they carve jack-o-lanterns and enjoy trick or treating. The colorful illustrations and simple text make it a great read-aloud for kindergarten and first grade students who are learning about fun fall activities.

Apple Farmer Annie

Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington is a brightly illustrated book with cheerful pictures and simple text. Annie is an apple farmer and the book follows her through her fall activities of collecting the apples from her orchards, making apple goods, and selling everything at the farmer’s market in the city. This book lends itself to starting many different fall activities.

Fall is such a wonderful time to teach kindergarten and first grade students. They thoroughly enjoy the various autumn activities, including bringing pieces of nature into the classroom. Preparing an autumn themed unit can be fun and easy by including just a few of these activities and a variety of apple themed books for read alouds. Students of this age also enjoy scarecrow units, pumpkin units, apple units and meeting Miss Suzy, a sweet gray squirrel who enjoys collecting acorns and fireflies for her lamps.

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Posted in Crafts, Early Elementary, Fall/Autumn, First Grade, Kindergarten, Nature, Seasons | 2 Comments

Simple Classroom Activities for the First Day of School

Back to School Prep Series Pins4The first few days of school set the tone for the entire year. Getting started with fun, informative and relationship-building activities is essential. Overpreparing for the first few days is also important since activities can move along more quickly than anticipated. Here is a list of simple to prepare activities that work well on the first day or days of school.

All About Teacher
Make a book about yourself. It can be done in a premade book or sheets in a three-ring binder slipped into page protectors. Read it to the students and leave it out so they can look at it. Include pictures of your family and pets which students find especially interesting.

Teacher in a Bag
Another way to introduce yourself to the class is to do the teacher in a bag. Assemble a group of items that tell about your life and put them in an opaque bag. Pull the items out one at a time and share a sentence or two about each one.

Q&A Time
Give the students the opportunity to ask questions. This is especially good to do at the end of the morning after you have covered a lot of ground, but haven’t covered everything. If a student has a burning question on his mind, he has the opportunity to have it answered. It is also wise to let the students know they can come to you privately with their question if they don’t want to ask it in front of the class.

Something Quiet
The first day is full of emotions and information. It is also the first day of getting back into the school groove. Give the students some down time to read, color, draw, etc. without any pressure. The introverts in your class will love you for it.

Decorate a Desk Nametag
Have names already written out on tags. Give students the opportunity to personalize it with crayons, markers, colored pencils or stickers. Use precut strips of clear shelf paper to attach them to the desks when the students are done.

Read Aloud
Choose an appropriate book to read aloud. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Voist is a great book for this at almost any grade level. Even though many students may already be familiar with the book, it makes a good discussion starter regarding the fact that everyone has a bad day at times. Tell the students that if they are having a bad day at some point during the year, they should tell you. And, likewise, tell the students that if you are ever having a bad day, you will tell them. It opens the doors of communication in the future and it also makes the teacher a real person.

Procedures, Procedures, Procedures
Procedures will make or break a classroom. The first hour of the first day of school is the time to let the students know that this is a classroom with procedures. They will find it comforting to know that the classroom functions in a predictable way.

Abbreviated Morning Meeting or Circle Time
Most classrooms have a morning time that consists of going through the same information each day such as the date, weather, counting, thematic information, etc. This can start the very first day of school, if only in an abbreviated fashion.

Room Rules
Let the students know what is expected and the consequences for not meeting those expectations. Show them where the room rules are clearly posted. Keep the rule list short and positive. Ask for questions to find out if any of the students need something clarified.

Pass the Paper Roll
Pass a roll of toilet paper around the classroom and instruct the students to take off however many pieces they would like for the next activity. When everyone has some, instruct them to pass their piece to the person on the left. And then pass it to the next person to the left. And then to the person on the right. And then two people to the left. When they are done passing, each student counts how many squares of toilet paper they have. They must tell that many facts about themselves. Since some students might be familiar with this activity and only take one piece, the passing element eliminates students trying to outwit the teacher and adds a bit of fun as they realize they’ve been had!

There are so many great ways to get the school year off on a positive note. Carefully preparing your classroom, thinking through your classroom management procedures, and carefully planning your first day of school will all make a big difference in feeling confident the first day. Use some or all of these easy activities to prepare for a great first day of school!

Posted in Back to School, Classroom, Early Elementary, Organization, Planning, Teacher Resources, Teaching, Upper Elementary | 1 Comment

Teacher Tips for a Successful First Day of School

Back to School Prep Series Pins3The first day of school brings with it a wide range of emotions for a new teacher.  No matter how much time a person has spent student teaching and substitute teaching, nothing fully prepares a teacher for the first day in her own classroom.

There are simple steps to take that will ensure not only a smooth first day, but a smooth day every day.

Write Everything Down

Although many things will become automatic in the months and years to come, the first week of teaching is not the time to fly by the seat of your pants.  Write everything down.  Make detailed lists of what you need to do.  Since you have no way of knowing what your students will be like, don’t leave anything to chance.  If it is written down, you can’t forget it.

Lesson Plans

Lesson plans should be written in detail, including all of the necessary supplies, books, handouts, etc.  Write down the important questions that go with the lesson. Have in mind ways you can quickly expand the lesson if it is too simple for your class.  Think through how you will salvage the lesson if it is too hard.  Although teachers always need to be prepared for adapting lessons on the fly, this is even more important as you are getting to know your students at the beginning of the year and you haven’t had time to fully assess their abilities.

Overplan

It is critical to overplan during the first week of school.  Again, since you don’t fully know what to expect of your students at this point, you can’t accurately gauge how long any particular activity might last.  Even if you used the same activity during student teaching, it will not play out the same way with a different set of students.  Overplan for the day with the idea that if you don’t get to something you’ve planned, you can just move it forward to the next day. It is much easier to move something forward then scramble to find something else for the students to do at the last minute while they are all watching you.

Mentally Walk Through the Day

Sit down the night before and/or the morning of the first day of school and walk step-by-step through your plans. How will you distribute materials? Do you have everything you need and is it carefully organized?  Don’t assume anything! Think through each step and what you will say and how you will act.  By doing this, it will feel familiar when you are actually in the midst of it with the students.

Arrive Early

Arriving early every day is one of the keys to a successful first year of teaching.  Take the time to walk through the day, check all of your materials, etc.  Then take a few minutes and sit down by yourself and do something that will encourage and inspire you.  Read a book that you find meaningful, listen to music, write in a journal or ponder the quote on your daily teacher calendar.  Whatever it is, take five minutes to exhale and focus on what is ahead.

Starting out as a new teacher can be incredibly overwhelming, especially during the first week of school.  But if you carefully think through your classroom management procedures, thoroughly prepare your classroom and think through the first day details, you will help ensure yourself the possibility of a great start!

Posted in Back to School, Classroom, Early Elementary, Summer, Teacher Resources, Teaching, Upper Elementary | 3 Comments

Christmas Fact Cards for Calendar Pocket Charts – Unit Extension Activity

SB-Christmas-Pocket-Fact-Cards-PREVIEW-060513Christmas Fact Cards for Calendar Pocket Charts are a fun, colorful and easy way to extend your study of Christmas.

You will receive 30 cards, each with an interesting fact about Christmas. The facts take you beyond the basics to intriguing tidbits that will spark the interest of your students and generate additional conversation.

The 3×3 cards easily slide behind your date cards on the monthly calendar pocket chart. Each day during calendar time, you can either remove the card yourself or have a student take it out to discover the fact of the day.

The cards are unnumbered so they can be used in any month and in any sequence. You can use the Christmas cards all December or you can use half of them for two weeks and then use another set of fact cards relevant to the month (such as Tree Fact Cards) for the other two weeks. This provides maximum flexibility for the teacher and her schedule.

Also included is a hyperlinked list of the relevant websites where the facts were located.

These are just one in a series of fact cards for calendar pocket charts that you can use all year long! Click here to see all of the topics currently available with more being added regularly!

Christmas Fact Cards for Calendar Pocket Charts - Unit Extension Activity
Christmas Fact Cards for Calendar Pocket Charts - Unit Extension Activity
30 Christmas Fact Cards for Calendar Pocket Charts
Price: $3.00
Posted in Calendar, Christmas, Early Elementary, Fact Cards for Calendar Pocket Charts, First Grade, Holidays, Home Education, Kindergarten, Math, My Store, Printables, Seasons, Second Grade, Third Grade, Winter | Leave a comment

Classroom Management Strategies for New Teachers and the New School Year

Back to School Prep Series Pins2Many new teachers go into teaching because they love the subject matter, working with children and making a difference in the lives of others. But classroom management is also a significant part of being a successful teacher. Carefully planning classroom management strategies such as procedures and expectations makes the start of a new year easier for new teachers and students and helps ensure a smooth-running learning environment. A classroom functioning well means the teacher can focus on teaching and the students can focus on learning.

Effective Teachers Teach Classroom Procedures

Effective classroom management includes clear instructions of classroom procedures starting on the first day of school. Classroom procedures include times and transitions such as:

  • Morning arrival
  • Turning in homework
  • Morning meeting time
  • Morning seatwork
  • Turning in papers
  • What to do when finished early
  • Unfinished work
  • Passing out materials
  • Lining up
  • Afternoon dismissal
  • Indoor recess

Each procedure must be clearly explained and practiced. Although it might seem excessive to practice each procedure over and over again during the first few weeks of school, the practice will pay great dividends the rest of the year when the procedures become second nature to the students. It also makes it clear to the students from the start that you are a teacher with high expectations.

Determining Classroom Management Strategies

Classroom procedures will be dependent on the grade level, curriculum, classroom layout and the number of students in the classroom. Curriculum that requires a full group instruction time will necessitate a classroom arrangement that makes it possible. The younger the students, the simpler the procedures will need to be and the more the students will need to practice as they adjust to school.

A new teacher should think through the different aspects of the day and determine the best layout for the furniture. Sometimes the arrangement of the furniture may be adjusted as a teacher starts to think through the practical procedures and flow of the day. It is fine to adjust, but thinking through any potential pitfalls before school starts is best as it means avoiding teaching students a new procedure when they have already learned a different one.

Wise New Teachers Learn from Successful Veterans

One of the best ways to develop classroom management strategies is to seek the advice and insight of a veteran teacher, preferably at the same grade level. This teacher will already be familiar with the curriculum and any special accommodations necessary. She will be able to offer suggestions regarding how to effectively implement the school’s overall discipline and management policies at that particular grade level.

Spending just an hour with a really good veteran teacher can save a new teacher hours of planning and many mistakes. Offer to take the veteran teacher out for lunch or coffee in exchange for gleaning information. Most teachers are more than happy to help a new teacher succeed.

Thinking through classroom management strategies is essential for new teachers as they prepare the classroom for the start of school. By planning ahead and carefully teaching students the classroom procedures, a teacher has a much greater chance of being successful, especially if planning carefully for the first day of school and utilizing these simple activities for the first day of school.

 

Posted in Back to School, Classroom, Early Elementary, Fall/Autumn, Planning, Summer, Teacher Resources, Teaching, Upper Elementary | 3 Comments

How to Prepare Your Classroom for the First Day of School

Back to School Prep Series PinsPreparing for the first day of school can leave new teachers feeling like they don’t know where to start. There are materials to organize, curriculum to prepare, bulletin boards to decorate, and a thousand other details. But by systematically approaching the tasks, it is possible to be ready for the first day and not end up exhausted!

After starting at four different schools in the span of eight years, I learned a great deal about getting organized when everything is new. For me it was new school, new grade and new curriculum each time.

Here is my number one tip and four lists I’ve compiled that will get you started with organizing your classroom. Use these lists as a launching point and then fill in more information that is relevant to your particular situation.

Number One Tip: Write Everything Down Immediately

One of the most important steps is to write everything down. Any time a task or question comes to mind, write it down. Keep a notebook on your desk and write everything in the same place. Don’t trust it to memory because there are too many things to keep track of during the hectic days before school starts. Take five seconds as soon as it comes to mind and write it down. By writing it down, it frees up mental space for other more important tasks than remembering five things to buy at the dollar store and three questions to ask the administrator.

Organize Your Paperwork

The first step is organizing your paperwork. Collect all the needed materials and supplies at once and get it done. This will include:

  • Enter names in gradebook and attendance book/software
  • Organize student portfolios
  • Write a welcome letter
  • Prepare a substitute teacher folder

Organize Curriculum Materials and Lesson Plans

Next, unpack and collect all textbooks, workbooks, reading materials, math manipulatives, science materials, etc. Decide how to store them in the most appropriate place for how they will be used. Other curriculum tasks include:

  • Write lesson plans for the first week, including overplanning lessons
  • Prepare all copies, handouts and center materials needed the first week
  • Prepare a plan for distributing materials
  • Label all materials that will be distributed
  • Prepare simple activities for the first day of school

Prepare an Attractive and Welcoming Classroom Environment

Students enjoy a nicely organized and decorated classroom. When a teacher puts effort into the appearance of the classroom, it tells the students that she believes they are important enough to give them a pleasant place to be each day. When preparing the classroom, remember to:

  • Determine the best way to arrange students desks and location of teacher desk.
  • Decide on student desk nametags and either put on desks or prepare for students to make.
  • Put up informative and engaging bulletin boards.
  • Set up specific areas such as reading corner, workshop centers, and displays.
  • Set up calendar and circle time area, if necessary.
  • Post classroom rules and consequences.
  • Post daily schedule and specials schedule.
  • Determine classroom jobs and post information.
  • Prepare any materials related to buses, walking, etc.

Gather and Organize Classroom Supplies

Supplies can vary greatly from school to school and grade to grade. However, most teachers will want at least the basics on hand the first day. These will include:

  • Paper – plain, handwriting, construction, drawing and computer
  • Pencils, pencil knobs and pencil sharpener
  • Pens – blue, black, red
  • Highlighters
  • Markers
  • Crayons
  • Stapler, staples, staple remover
  • Tape – clear, masking
  • Folders – manila, pocket, three prong, three ring
  • Rulers
  • Scissors
  • Rubber bands, brads
  • Glue – sticks, liquid
  • Facial tissue, paper towels, hand sanitizer

Preparing a classroom for the first time is both exciting and overwhelming for a new teacher. But by carefully making checklists, going about the organizing in a systematic way and planning classroom management strategies, you can be ready and confident for the first day of school!

 

Posted in Back to School, Classroom, Early Elementary, Fall/Autumn, Summer, Teacher Resources, Teaching, Upper Elementary | 3 Comments

Thanksgiving Fact Cards for Calendar Pocket Charts – Unit Extension Activity

SB-Thanksgiving-Pocket-Fact-Cards-PREVIEW-051813-2-4Thanksgiving Fact Cards for Calendar Pocket Charts are a fun, colorful and easy way to extend your study of Thanksgiving.

You will receive 32 cards, each with an interesting fact about Thanksgiving. The facts take you beyond the basics to intriguing tidbits that will spark the interest of your students and generate additional conversation.

The 3×3 cards easily slide behind your date cards on the monthly calendar pocket chart. Each day during calendar time, you can either remove the card yourself or have a student take it out to discover the fact of the day.

The cards are unnumbered so they can be used in any month and in any sequence. You can use the Thanksgiving cards all November or you can use half of them for two weeks and then use another set of fact cards relevant to the month (such as Pumpkin Fact Cards) for the other two weeks. This provides maximum flexibility for the teacher and her schedule.

Also included is a hyperlinked list of the relevant websites where the facts were located.

These are just one in a series of fact cards for calendar pocket charts that you can use all year long! Click here to see all of the topics currently available with more being added regularly!

Thanksgiving Fact Cards for Calendar Pocket Charts - Unit Extension Activity
Thanksgiving Fact Cards for Calendar Pocket Charts - Unit Extension Activity
28 Thanksgiving Fact Cards for Calendar Pocket Charts
Price: $3.00
Posted in Calendar, Early Elementary, Fact Cards for Calendar Pocket Charts, Fall/Autumn, First Grade, History and Geography, Holidays, Kindergarten, Math, My Store, Printables, Seasons, Second Grade, Thanksgiving, Third Grade | Leave a comment

ABC Mouse Website for Toddlers, Preschool, Kindergarten and First Grade

Perhaps the best website I’ve used with Caroline is ABC Mouse. It is by subscription, but worth every penny in my opinion.  There are two things that set ABC Mouse apart from other learning websites.

ABCmouse.com - Kids Ages 2-6 – Click here to get your First Month Free!

The first is the high quality of the site in general. The graphics and production level are far superior to much of what is out there.  For example, we also use Starfall and subscribe to More Starfall, but their overall production quality is not on the same level as ABC Mouse. Caroline has definitely learned a lot at Starfall, but the quality is not quite the same.  Everything on ABC Mouse is top-notch. They recently added a section with an original animated music video for each letter of the alphabet and many of them are very impressive.

The second is the wide variety of material available. I don’t think Caroline has come even close to utilizing every opportunity on there. ABC Mouse has so much more than any other website. A child could use ABC Mouse for years and not run out of new content to explore.

ABC Mouse has a feature where the parent can log in and select the activities she wants the child to do. It is called Lesson Builder and it is a great way for the parent to direct the child’s learning. I have done this a bit, but mostly I have let Caroline just explore.

One feature that was very helpful in a real life kind of way was the opportunity for Caroline to earn tickets when she completed different activities. The child can accumulate the tickets and use them to buy things in the stores.  They can buy things to decorate their room, clothes, toys, etc. This single-handedly taught Caroline the relationship between work and money. No amount of discussing it with her in real life made the same impact as realizing if she wanted to buy something in the ABC Mouse store she had to do work on the website.  Honestly, that alone was worth the price!

If you have a little one, I encourage you to check out ABC Mouse. I’m actually kind of sad that Caroline has started to outgrow it over the past year.  She still enjoys playing on there, but she’s mostly beyond it academically.  I imagine by the end of the summer we won’t be ABC Mouse subscribers any longer. But I will continue to tell people about it because I really think it is a fantastic website. If you would like to check it out, just click the graphic up above.

Posted in Early Elementary, Home Education, Kindergarten, Language Arts, Learning Websites, Literacy, Math, Preschoolers, Product Reviews | Leave a comment