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Rainbow Noodles, Water Beads, and Gradient Blocks for Tactile Play

Rainbow Noodles, Water Beads, and Gradient Blocks for Tactile Play

by Melissa Droegemueller | Mar 18, 2017 | Learning At Home

Play is the work of the child. –Maria Montessori After teaching in a classroom for several years, teaching our girls at home is a real gift for our family. I love being able to personalize our days to how each of our children learn best. Our older daughter loves...

Raising Children and Emotional Outbursts

by Melissa Droegemueller | Mar 4, 2017 | Child Development

There we stood, toe-to-toe, arms crossed, eyes blazing. “You aren’t helping!” she yelled and turned away from me. I dropped to my knees on the floor of her room so she could look into my eyes. “You’re right, and I’m sorry. I’d...
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Melissa Droegemueller | Rolling Prairie Readers

About Melissa

I am an elementary school teacher–turned–homeschooling mom with over 15 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
Now that Christmas and New Year’s Day have passe Now that Christmas and New Year’s Day have passed, the cold winter days can be hard for our kids. We are constantly looking for new indoor play ideas to help the days pass more quickly. We turn to our sensory bins, our favorite indoor toys, and our invitations to play to make the best of winter. Ever since we packed away our Christmas boxes, our girls have been looking forward to our Valentine’s Day activities. Years ago, I realized my younger daughter could get a few hours of play out of just a few materials. I started setting up a new “invitation to play” for her each afternoon when she would wake up from her nap. If she really liked the activity, she would ask for it again the next morning while I was homeschooling her big sister. I started creating seasonal invitations to play from new materials I found at the craft store, Dollar Tree, and dollar spot section from Target. The best part is that these materials could be reused each year as the girls got older and learned new skills. ❤️ Today’s freebie for you: a printable download with FIVE simple Valentine's Day invitations to play, including a materials list! ❤️ Here’s a sneak peek at some of the skills found in our Valentine’s Day invitations to play: * Color sorting * Object transferring * Counting * Letter recognition * LOTS and LOTS of learning through open-ended play Grab yours here: https://rollingprairiereaders.com/5-free-invitations-to-play-valentines-day/ #homeschoolpreschool #preschoolathome #earlylearning101 #littlelearners #totschool #toddlerfun #toddlerlearning #preschoolplay #preschoolfun #earlyyearsideas #preschoollearning #preschoollife #preKathome #playbasedpreschool #toddleractivities #preschoolactivities #preKactivities #kidsactivities #homeschoolingideas #homeschoolideas #lifewithlittles #invitationtoplay #simpleplay #imaginativeplay #playideas #quickandeasyplay #learningthroughplay #playbasedlearning #playtolearn #playingislearning
More snow art! ❄️❄️ This is a fun, indoor More snow art! ❄️❄️ This is a fun, indoor activity using just water + food coloring, pipettes, and clean snow! Kids can explore color-mixing while building up those fine motor skills AND having fun. Just have an old towel handy for spills. 😂 #homeschoolpreschool #preschoolathome #earlylearning101 #littlelearners #totschool #toddlerfun #toddlerlearning #preschoolplay #preschoolfun #earlyyearsideas #preschoollearning #preschoollife #preKathome #playbasedpreschool #toddleractivities #preschoolactivities #preKactivities #kidsactivities #homeschoolingideas #homeschoolideas #invitationtoplay #simpleplay
It is Winnie the Pooh Day (also known as author A. It is Winnie the Pooh Day (also known as author A.A. Milne's birthday). Some years, we have a large(r) celebration, with tea and cake. This year, we're going to watch the Christopher Robin movie on DIsney+ and call it good. ;)
Let's talk BEST children's books of 2022! I read Let's talk BEST children's books of 2022! I read just under 100 titles this year, and this blog post includes my fifteen favorite 2022 children’s books. Each of the books listed received a 5-star rating from me on Goodreads. (I don’t give out five stars easily, so you can trust that every book earned their way onto the list.) Read it here: https://rollingprairiereaders.com/2022-childrens-books/ #learningathome #learnathome #homeschoollife #homeschoolersofinstagram #homeschoolblog #homeschoolfamily #thisishomeschool #homeschoollookslikethis #homeschoolmoms #homeschooling #readeveryday #readingisfun #readersofinstagram #whatwearereading #kidsbooks #kidlit #homeschoolbooks #homeschoolbookshelf #homeschoolbookstack #homeschoollife #childrensbooks
My word for 2023 is COZY. One of the ways we're m My word for 2023 is COZY. One of the ways we're making this real in our house is Cozy Family Hour on Wednesday evenings. An hour before bedtime, we all put our screens away and snuggle on the couch. In our family, it’s really easy to get into a screentime habit when it’s cold outside. Cozy family hour is a chance for all of us to reset with a book, our journal, a quiet activity, or craft project. (My tactile learner likes to build with her LEGO bricks during our time together.) I also asked my oldest daughter to make a calming, cheerful playlist for us. We even cast a fireplace video to the TV for ambiance, since our gas fireplace in the basement doesn’t make that relaxing sound. Other must-haves for cozy hour in our latest blog post: https://rollingprairiereaders.com/cozy-family-hour/
One of my favorite things about January are the go One of my favorite things about January are the gorgeous sunsets. 😍
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