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26 Learning Activities for Preschoolers

26 Learning Activities for Preschoolers

by Melissa Droegemueller | Mar 15, 2020 | FREE Learning Activities

This month only, join our FREE Preschool at Home Facebook group, where we’ll have daily conversation starters, weekly Q&A sessions, and lots of free resources. Click here to join us. Do you have a toddler, preschooler, or primary grade student who needs some...
10 Simple Learning Activities: Straw Pieces

10 Simple Learning Activities: Straw Pieces

by Melissa Droegemueller | Sep 5, 2019 | FREE Learning Activities

This month only, join our FREE Preschool at Home Facebook group, where we’ll have daily conversation starters, weekly Q&A sessions, and lots of free resources. Click here to join us. Do you need fancy curriculum or complicated activities for your preschool...
5 Winter Learning Activities for Kids {FREE Printable}

5 Winter Learning Activities for Kids {FREE Printable}

by Melissa Droegemueller | Dec 27, 2018 | FREE Learning Activities, Winter Activities

Hooray, it’s winter! I know it’s not common, but I LOVE winter. (I actually really love celebrating all the seasons, after living in Texas most of my life.) Winter is such a fun time to observe nature with our kids: watching squirrels and bunnies frolic in...

5 FREE Pumpkin-Themed Invitations to Play

by Melissa Droegemueller | Oct 3, 2017 | Fall Activities, FREE Learning Activities

October has arrived, and so have the pumpkins! When we went apple-picking, the farm was full of families heading to the pumpkin patch. We’re also seeing grocery stores, farm stands, and home improvement warehouses  setting up their fall displays. Meanwhile, in...

5 FREE Apple-Themed Invitations to Play

by Melissa Droegemueller | Aug 25, 2017 | Fall Activities, FREE Learning Activities

Fall is my FAVORITE season! The weather is cooling down, the leaves on the trees are changing colors, and pumpkin-spice is about to take over the world for the next few months. I have been SO happy pinning fall-themed activities and dreaming about Halloween costumes...

Solar Eclipse Tips and Resources for Kids

by Melissa Droegemueller | Aug 16, 2017 | FREE Learning Activities

If you’re like me, your newsfeed is FULL of news and updates about the upcoming U.S. solar eclipse on Monday, August 21st. There’s a lot of information out there, so I wanted to grab the “best of the best” for all of you to peruse quickly before Monday. We like to use...
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Melissa Droegemueller | Rolling Prairie Readers

About Melissa

I am an elementary school teacher–turned–homeschooling mom with over 13 years experience working with babies through 4th graders. I believe in making learning FUN for ALL kids.

Around here, we are passionate about learning through play, chasing adventures, and good books!

Our mission is to create a community of lifelong learners where parents inspire and empower their children to follow their passions and use their unique gifts to make the world a better place.

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Melissa Droegemueller
For the past several years, we have done "family s For the past several years, we have done "family space camp" at home during the month of July. One year, we worked through the entire 'From the Earth to the Moon" series from our library. Another year, I bought an Astronaut Academy workbook and did many of the activities together. This year -- not in July -- we took a family field trip to the US Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL. Our tour guide was pretty impressed with our kids' ability to answer his questions about the Apollo program and the future of space exploration. 😉 Enjoy this look at one of three remaining Saturn V rockets -- I was mesmerized. #learningathome #learnathome #homeschoollife #homeschoolersofinstagram #365homeschool #homeschoolblog #homeschoolfamily #thisishomeschool #homeschoollookslikethis #homeschoolingmom #homeschoolmoms #homeschooling #simplechildhood #enchantedchildhood #intentionalmotherhood #thisismotherhood #motherhoodjourney #parenting #momlife #slowdownmotherhood #joyfulmamas #kidsforreal #momsofinstagram #momsoninstagram #happyfamily #raisinghappykids #parentingwin #momentsinmotherhood #parentinggoals #raisingkids
Almost July already? Where has the time gone? I'm Almost July already? Where has the time gone? I'm still working on packing away last year's materials and cleaning out the bookshelves, but I did plan out the first semester of my 9th grader's British literature course this weekend -- we're both VERY excited to dig into some classics. We have just five and a half weeks until the new school year. Better get back to planning! :)
SUMMER YES LIST FOR THE WIN! My kids are both ear SUMMER YES LIST FOR THE WIN! My kids are both early risers -- something they did not get from either of their parents. 😉 When I got up this morning, both of them had gotten dressed, eaten breakfast, done their chores, and were happily entertaining themselves with pre-approved activities. My oldest was diligently working on her novel, while my youngest was playing with her kinetic sand. She got everything out independently (remembering to use a tray!), made a variety of "desserts" for her pretend bakery -- and when she was done, she cleaned everything up without any help from me, including sweeping under the table! Yes, it took a lot of practice to get to this point -- but boy, is it worth it now. I don't especially care for messy play, but my child DOES, and she's shown me that she's responsible enough to choose her own activities from our "yes list" all summer long. ❤ You can see the kinetic sand set we have here: {affiliate link} https://amzn.to/3OsIIbt #learningathome #learnathome #homeschoollife #homeschoolersofinstagram #365homeschool #homeschoolblog #homeschoolfamily #homeschoolingmom #homeschooling #kidsactivities #homeschoolingideas #sensoryplayideas #sensorylearning #sensoryactivity #sensoryactivities #messyplay #tactileplay #handsonlearning #handsonactivities #finemotorskills #looseparts #kidsforreal #momsofinstagram #raisinghappykids #parentingwin #momentsinmotherhood #playmatters #letkidsplay #purposefilledplay #simpleplay
It is our first full week of summer vacation, and It is our first full week of summer vacation, and I am ecstatic! This school year seemed SO LONG, and I am very ready to do absolutely nothing for as long as I possibly can...which means I lasted until about 10 a.m. before I started making a summertime to-do list. Y'all. I know I can not be the only adult who grew up with a productivity = self-worth mindset. I have the hardest time sitting still without feeling guilty. Over the weekend, I was talking with my husband about my plans for the week, and I told him I wanted to start planning the first 6-8 weeks of our homeschool lessons so I'm "less stressed" in the fall. (The look he gave me. 😂) I will be stressed in the fall whether I plan out our lessons or not. NO MATTER WHAT. Melissa = stressed. It's embedded in my DNA. So, I might as well take some time to rest and relax this summer whenever I can turn my brain off for a while. Rest is not a reward. I don't have to prove anything to anyone...especially myself. #intentionalmotherhood #thisismotherhood #motherhoodjourney #parenting #momlife #slowdownmotherhood #joyfulmamas #kidsforreal #momsofinstagram #momsoninstagram #respectfulparenting #happyfamily #raisinghappykids #parentingwin #momentsinmotherhood #parentinggoals #raisingkids #sahmlife #growthmindset #emotionalintelligence #learningathome #learnathome #homeschoollife #homeschoolersofinstagram #365homeschool #homeschoolblog #homeschoolfamily #thisishomeschool #homeschoolingmom #homeschooling
Recently, as I began to choose our curriculum for Recently, as I began to choose our curriculum for next year, I realized we’ve never done an “official” early US history course together. We’ve spent a lot of time learning about the American Revolution, thanks to the Liberty’s Kids series. We’ve also discussed different time periods of American history on our travels around the United States. (Just last month, we went to Fort Moultrie in Charleston, located just a few miles away from Fort Sumter. On the same trip, we visited both the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln in Kentucky and his final resting place in Illinois. These real-world learning experiences are one of our family’s favorite ways to homeschool.) My kids also love to read, so they’ve gleaned a lot of historical facts from Jenny L. Cote’s fiction series, the American Girl books, and Dan Gutman’s Flashback Four books. Still, I knew it was time to work through a complete US history curriculum to fill in some of the gaps. For the past two school years, we have used literature-based history curriculum. We’ve covered modern US and world history (starting with the Civil War) and ancient history. This coming year, my 6th grader will be working her way through Sonlight’s History/Bible/Literature D: Intro to American History, Year 1 of 2. You can read why @sonlightcurriculum is the perfect fit for our rising 6th grader at this point in our homeschooling journey: https://rollingprairiereaders.com/elementary-american-history #learningathome #learnathome #homeschoollife #homeschoolersofinstagram #365homeschool #homeschoolblog #homeschoolfamily #thisishomeschool #homeschoollookslikethis #homeschoolingmom #homeschoolmoms #homeschooling #sonlightstories #whatwerereadingwednesday #raisingreaders #littlebookworms #readeveryday #readingisfun #readaloud #readaloudfamily #readtome #whatwearereading #kidsbooks #kidlit
Summer already?! Wasn't it *just* winter? (It was Summer already?! Wasn't it *just* winter? (It was. Apparently we got one week of spring here in Iowa -- and it might have been the exact same week we were on our national parks road trip.) Anyhoo, my kids are very excited about their upcoming break -- there will be lots of uninterrupted reading, writing, and LEGO-building while I lesson-plan for next school year. After many years, my kids have gotten quite good at entertaining themselves -- and I think our flexible family schedule has a lot to do with it. They know which activities happen like clockwork (meals! quiet time!) and how to fill all those other pockets of time with YES activities. (Those are the ones they have ongoing permission to do, so they don't have to ask every day.) They also know that they need to get their chores done before they hop on their screens, which is a great motivator -- and bonus, I don't have to nag! We will probably brainstorm a big list of family activity ideas, too. Lately we've been listening to audiobooks in the evenings and working on a puzzle together, but we also had an impromptu water fight in the yard the other night and it's reminded me I need to be a bit more spontaneous, too. If you need ideas, check out this summer planning resource: https://rollingprairiereaders.com/summer-schedule/
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